Siegfried De Buck: Ring

Siegfried De Buck : Welcome back to the museum

My first acquaintance with Siegfried De Buck and his work goes back as far as 1978. That is the year when he was given the Award of the Province of East Flanders for Decorative Crafts (what’s in a name ?), an award which in that year addressed the goldsmith’s trade, enamel, and woodcraft.

As the Province of East Flanders at the time did not have an exhibition space of its own, the work of the laureate was shown at Ghent’s Design Museum. The scope of the exhibition was a modest one, for Siegfried De Buck had worked as a jewel artist for a few years only and his oeuvre was still fairly limited.

In 1984, however, his artistic production had grown so extensive that the museum was able to set up a retrospective exhibition with a companion catalogue. All biographical notes on Siegfried De Buck state that even as a child Siegfried was fascinated by the arts. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that he saw a training course for the goldsmith’s trade as a logical step, and equally logical was his choice for the abbey school of Maredsous, one of the best in Belgium in this particular field.

The school must have laid the foundations for Siegfried’s quest for technical solutions and his passion for experimenting. However, his interest in experiments has never induced him to abandon his basic conception of the art of jewel making: a distinctive design all of his own, expressed in precious metals. In the eighties, for instance, he consistently continued working in his own style, not heeding the experimental movement of ‘Jewellery redefined’, which made use of all possible materials (except precious metals). Not, of course, that Siegfried was not interested in basic materials other than gold and silver: plexiglass, rubber, steel, and elephant hair have gradually found a place in his designs.
A recurrent element in Siegfried De Buck’s work is his respect for the material used, and another one is his firm decision to go for the uniqueness of the objects he creates. He has always resolutely refused to engage in the production of series, though from the economic point of view that might have been quite profitable.

Apart from jewel design, Siegfried has also practiced other disciplines: he has made coffeepots, walking canes, a chocolate box, a carpet, and a table with assorted cutlery. All these will be on display on the occasion of Siegfried’s 60th birthday.

But this exhibition is not to be regarded as a purely retrospective one. Thanks to Siegfried’s ardent enthusiasm for his craft recent work will also be presented, among which is his latest creation: the 60ring. At this very same moment he is still working on this, and those among us who know Siegfried are sure it will be a big surprise. And it ought to be if you’re sixty!
Siegfried, a cordial welcome at the Design Museum Ghent. Three times does the trick!

/ Lieven Daenens, Director Design Museum Ghent.