GRIEGST: Three Generations. One Extraordinary Artistic Voice
GRIEGST
Three Generations. One Extraordinary Artistic Voice.
Text by Mikkel Erik Brøgger
Few names in Danish decorative arts possess the singular artistic voice of Griegst. Across three generations, the family has created an extraordinary body of work spanning jewellery, silver, sculpture, porcelain, glass, monumental public art and royal commissions. Their creations resist categorisation. They belong to no single movement, no prevailing fashion and no commercial formula. Instead, they reveal an artistic universe shaped by imagination, exceptional craftsmanship and an unwavering commitment to originality.
Arje Griegst belongs within the rare company of twentieth-century artist-jewellers who transformed jewellery into an independent artistic language. Like Jean Vendome in France, Andrew Grima in Britain and Art Smith in America, he rejected convention in favour of sculptural form and personal expression. Yet Griegst's imagination extended even further. His poetic universe, where precious metals appear to grow organically and mythological creatures inhabit shells, forests and the sea, shares an affinity with the dreamlike jewellery of Salvador Dalí and the fantastical worlds of Line Vautrin and Claude Lalanne. Unlike any of them, however, Griegst remained deeply rooted in the Scandinavian tradition of craftsmanship, creating a body of work that is unmistakably Danish while standing comfortably among the most original artistic voices of the twentieth century.
My first encounter with Arje Griegst stretches back to my own apprenticeship as a goldsmith in Copenhagen. While training in Gothersgade, I had the privilege of meeting Arje Griegst on several occasions when he visited the workshop to oversee specialist work or speak with my master. Even then, it was immediately apparent that one was in the presence of an artist rather than simply a designer. His curiosity, confidence and uncompromising artistic vision left a lasting impression.
This month, that early admiration came full circle when I visited the House of Griegst in Copenhagen. Hidden behind an unassuming doorway in the city’s historic centre, just behind the former Royal Theatre, today home to the Royal Danish Ballet, and only moments from Nyhavn, is one of Denmark’s most remarkable creative houses.
In 2021, Noam Griegst opened the House of Griegst, a living archive, showroom and creative workshop dedicated to preserving more than a century of artistic heritage while ensuring that the family's uncompromising creative spirit continues to evolve.
This sense of continuity feels especially poignant given the international life of Arje and Irene Griegst, whose work moved between their Copenhagen workshop and ateliers in Paris, Jerusalem and Pietrasanta in Italy. Today, that wide artistic world has found a new centre in Copenhagen.
Together with his wife, Amalie Adrian, and a small, dedicated team, Noam has created a place where the past is not merely preserved but brought into dialogue with the present. The House of Griegst is a working archive, showroom and creative workshop, where the family's artistic legacy continues to evolve through new commissions, collaborations and research.
Beyond the showroom, the Griegst story remains deeply rooted in family life. Noam and Amalie now live with their three children, Ava, Salomon and Romy, in the former home of Arje and Irene Griegst, carrying forward a tradition in which art, craftsmanship and everyday life have long existed side by side.
It is a reminder that the Griegst legacy is not only one of remarkable objects, but of generations connected by creativity, imagination and the continuity of home.
The family's creative legacy also lives on through their daughter, Lia Griegst, an accomplished artist whose independent practice continues the tradition of artistic expression.
Over the years I have returned repeatedly to Griegst's work through museums, exhibitions and publications, particularly Arje Griegst – A World of Gold by Henrik Steen Møller and Griegst: Goldsmith, Designer and Sculptor by Kerstin Wickman. Both offer invaluable insight into the breadth of his artistic universe, yet neither fully captures what first strikes anyone encountering a Griegst creation in person: its extraordinary sense of life.
Long before international recognition followed, Arje Griegst had already developed a language entirely his own. Emerging during the height of Scandinavian Modernism, he consciously chose another path. While many of his contemporaries pursued restraint, rationalism and functionalism, Griegst embraced mythology, fantasy, movement, nature and emotion. His work was exuberant where others were restrained, poetic where others were practical, and deeply personal where others sought universality. Gold appears to grow organically, silver flows like water, coral becomes architecture, and gemstones seem less cut than discovered.
To describe Arje Griegst merely as a jeweller is insufficient. He was a sculptor, storyteller and world-builder. His creations inhabit a mythology where Nordic folklore, ancient civilisations, the sea, forests and the cosmos coexist. Whether designing a pendant, a monumental fountain, a chandelier or a porcelain tureen, he approached every commission with the same artistic freedom. The material changed; the imagination did not.
What has always fascinated me most is that the work was never driven by fashion or commercial considerations. It emerged from artistic necessity. Jewellery, silver, glass, porcelain and sculpture were created not because the market demanded them, but because the ideas themselves demanded to exist. That independence is extraordinarily rare and perhaps explains why Griegst's work feels every bit as compelling today as when it was first conceived.
The story, however, begins a generation earlier.
Arje Griegst was born in Copenhagen in 1938 to the master ciselør Baruch Griegst (1887–1959) and Sara Chalupovitz (1906–1997). Having emigrated from Lithuania around the turn of the twentieth century, Baruch became part of the celebrated workshop of Mogens Ballin, one of the leading figures of the Danish Skønvirke movement. Vejen Kunstmuseum documents Baruch among the craftsmen working in Ballin's atelier—an extraordinary creative environment that also nurtured talents such as Georg Jensen and established ideals of craftsmanship, artistic integrity and artistic individuality that would profoundly shape Danish decorative arts.
Those ideals became the foundation upon which the Griegst family would build its own remarkable legacy.
If Baruch provided the technical discipline, Arje transformed it into an entirely new artistic language. After apprenticing as a silversmith with the Just Andersen Company, he received a scholarship from Georg Jensen that enabled him to travel to Paris, where he immersed himself in the ancient cire perdue, or lost-wax casting technique. The process became fundamental to his sculptural approach, allowing precious metals to retain an organic vitality rarely achieved through conventional goldsmithing.
His journey continued to Jerusalem, where he taught at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. There he met the young enamel artist Irene Attar, born in Casablanca in 1945 to Haim Attar and Freha Abisror. They married in Israel in 1967, beginning one of the most remarkable artistic partnerships in modern Danish decorative arts. Irene became far more than a collaborator. Her exceptional enamel work and artistic sensitivity enriched the Griegst universe with colour, texture and poetry for decades.
Over the course of his career, Arje Griegst created a succession of iconic jewellery collections, including Spiral, Wave, Cosmos and Faces, each expanding his extraordinary artistic universe.
With Arje's passing in 2016 and Irene's in 2023, an extraordinary artistic partnership came to its close. Yet the world they created endures, one unlike anything seen in Danish decorative arts before or since.
*Danish Skønvirke movement: Denmark's distinctive interpretation of Art Nouveau, Jugendstil and the Arts & Crafts movement.
Other Works
Expand beyond jewelry.
Triton 1976, also known as Konkyliestellet, Royal Copenhagen, porcelain.
Xanadu, 1983, Holmegaard Glass Factory, crystal.
Coral Fountain, 1989, also known as Konkyliespringvandet, Tivoli, Copenhagen.
The Cosmos Galaxi Chandelier, 2003, Designmuseum Denmark, Copenhagen.
Spira Cutlery, 1971, manufactured by Georg Jensen, silver.
Bronze Sculptures, Chandelier Figurines, Crystal Glass and Silver Holloware.
Today, Griegst's works are held in major museum collections and appear regularly at leading international auction houses, including Sotheby's, Christie's and Bruun Rasmussen, reflecting their enduring appeal to collectors and scholars alike.
Royal Commission
The Danish Forest Necklace, 1971–1973
Among Arje Griegst's most personal royal commissions is the Danish Forest necklace, created for Queen Margrethe II between 1971 and 1973. The Queen herself selected and supplied the remarkable deep green tourmaline that became the centrepiece of the design, entrusting Griegst to build an organic composition around it. The necklace later appeared in Niels Strøbek's official 1977 portrait of Her Majesty and remains one of the most distinctive modern jewels commissioned by the Danish Crown.
The Golden Poppies Parure, 1976
Commissioned by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1976, the Golden Poppies Tiara and Parure is among the most extraordinary royal commissions of the twentieth century. Conceived by the Danish goldsmith and artist Arje Griegst, it stands as one of the most imaginative and unconventional jewels in the Danish Royal Collection, embodying his singular ability to transform nature into poetic works of art.
Design
Fashioned from delicately hammered 21-carat yellow gold, each poppy is formed from paper-thin petals surrounding centres of pearls and diamond-tipped stamens. Moonstones and aquamarines evoke glistening dewdrops, while tiny insects fashioned from opals and crystal lend the composition an almost enchanted quality, reflecting Griegst's lifelong fascination with the poetry of the natural world.
Rejecting the conventions of the traditional tiara, Griegst designed the Golden Poppies to be secured with a discreet comb at the back of the head, allowing the blossoms to cascade naturally through the wearer's hair in a graceful, almost botanical composition. Each flower is detachable and may be worn individually as a hair ornament, underscoring his belief that jewellery should possess movement, versatility and a sense of life.
The Parure
The complete suite includes:
The Hairpiece: The main headpiece: 21 karat and 18 karat gold, amber, diamonds, moonstone, pearls, opals and emerald in the shape of a summer meadow with poppies.
The Necklace: Composed of three rows of platinum chain adorned with hanging gold poppies.
The Earrings: Matching golden poppies that hang on diamond-encrusted threads.
Image Credits
Courtesy of House of Griegst, The Royal Danish House, Royal Copenhagen, Designmuseum Danmark, Vejen Kunstmuseum, The New York Times, Eurowoman and private collections, where applicable.
Photography: Noam Griegst, John Johnsen, Piotr Topperzer, Rigmor Mydtskov, Petra Kleis, Charlotte de la Fuente
Illustration of Queen Margrethe II wearing The Golden Poppies Parure created using AI based on historical reference material.
Sources
Primary sources include: House of Griegst, Royal Copenhagen, Designmuseum Danmark, Sverige National Museum, The Danish Royal House, Vejen Kunstmuseum and the Victorian & Albert Museum.
Further research and reading was drawn from:
Arje Griegst – A World of Gold by Henrik Steen Møller, Rhodos.
Griegst: Goldsmith, Designer and Sculptor by Kerstin Wickman, Vandkunsten.
En Dronnings Smykkeskrin by Heidi Laura, Politikens Forlag.
Jyllands-Posten - Når smykker bliver skulpturer, 2016.
Børsen - Nu løfter sønnen faderens eventyrlige smykke-arv by Rikke Agnete Dam, 2018.
Dansk Biografisk Leksikon/LEX - Arje Griegst by Merete Harding PH.D; Elin A. Sørenen, 2014.
Værkstedets Historie by Christina Rauh Oxbøll, mag.art.
T Magazine - An Iconic Designer’s Second Life by Rima Suqi, 2022.
To The Moon, Honey - Mama Profile by Bea Fagerholt, 2022.
Christie's - The Mermaid Pendant, by Arje Griegst, lot no. 207, 2004.
Museum collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum; auction records from Christie's, Bruun Rasmussen and Auctionet.
Dedicated to the artisan.
To those who devote their lives to beauty, craftsmanship, and the pursuit of excellence.
To the hands that shape precious metals, carve wood, blow glass, throw clay, weave textiles, engrave stone, and transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
To those who understand that true mastery cannot be hurried; that every line, every surface, and every detail is the result of patience, discipline, and unwavering devotion.
These words are dedicated to all artisans, past, present, and those yet to come, whose work enriches our world and whose creations become part of our shared cultural heritage.
May their imagination continue to inspire, their knowledge continue to be passed from one generation to the next, and their legacy remind us that the finest works of art are not merely made by hand, but by heart.