Josep Civit. Joies

Josep Civit was born in the Horta district of Barcelona in 1927. He is one of the benchmarks of contemporary Catalan jewellery, a versatile figure, a jeweler who is also an artist, painter and sculptor. In 1999 the Decorative Arts Museum of Barcelona bought several jewels from Civit to enrich its funds.

As a child, I spent many hours sitting in front of the counter where my father kneaded the dough to make bread. He always gave me pieces to entertain me and I, with that dough, started playing while imitating his buns, round loaves and braids that he then baked in the oven. I soon discovered, to my amazement, that with my hands and imagination, I could create realities that opened the doors to mystery for me, while having fun. This was the beginning of a path that was to be my future.

Civit's artworks meet two distinct criteria. On the one hand, the gem of research with which the artistic fact achieves greater prominence: unique pieces where he experiments with those materials and techniques he considers valid as plastic objects. And, on the other, the jewel is made as a piece of serial production, more commercial, in which, despite the repetition of modelling, the finishes are done manually in order to maintain the artisanal aspect of the craft.