Art, Jewelry, Düsseldorf, 30. January 2022, by C. Mauer

Friedrich Becker, goldsmith and inventor of kinetic jewelry

Selected works on the occasion of the 100 year anniversary

Professor Friedrich Becker portrait

The goldsmith and inventor of kinetic jewelry would have turned 100 this year and the "Prof. Friedrich Becker e.V." is planning big celebrations. 

Photo: ©Privat

As an internationally known goldsmith, inventor of kinetic jewelry and kinetic objects, as well as with his teaching activities, Professor Friedrich Becker became formative for the goldsmith art of the second half of the twentieth century. He received prizes and awards for his works all over the world. Today his works are in important international museums.

His most important artistic achievement was the further development of his work in the direction of movement and variation. He experimented and completed variable jewelry with interchangeable stones and finally developed kinetic jewelry. His inventions and modern formal language brought him the highest recognitions in the art world as well.

Since 2011, the artistic legacy of Friedrich Becker has been taken care of by the eponymous association "Prof. Friedrich Becker e.V." (www.prof-friedrich-becker.de), founded by his wife Hilde Becker and chaired by Heike Kappes.

Selected works of Professor Friedrich Becker

Friedrich Becker jewelry is distributed among numerous museums, such as the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, the Goldschmiedehaus Hanau, and museums in Hamburg and Cologne. Goldsmiths' Hall in London held an exhibition on rings in November 2021 and they displayed a tray exclusively of Becker rings. Friedrich Becker jewelry was also sold in two jewelry auctions in 2016 and 2019 at the Lempertz auction house in Cologne, the oldest family-owned auction house with exceptional results.

Find more at:

www.lempertz.com

2016 and 2019, Auction at Lempertz, Cologne:

Number 142 - Ring, gold, exchangeable stones. Bavarian state price 1959

©lempertz, Robert Oisin Cusack

Number 144 - Kinetic ring, white gold, 750, ruby

©lempertz, Robert Oisin Cusack

Spiral bangle, white gold, 750, diamonds, sapphires 

©lempertz, Robert Oisin Cusack

2016, Auction at Dorotheum, Düsseldorf:

In 2016 another auction of Friedrich Becker jewelry took place at the auction house Dorotheum, Düsseldorf.

Find more at:

www.dorotheum.com

Friedrich Becker Kinetic two-finger ring, dated 1987.

Photo: ©Dorotheum Vienna auction catalog 04.11.16

Friedrich Becker Kinetic Turmalinring, ca 28 ct, white gold 750,

cabochon cut tourmaline

Photo: ©Dorotheum Vienna Auction Catalog 04.11.16

Exhibition of Friedrich Becker rings in the Schweizer Nationalmuseum:

Friedrich Becker Kinetic ring - obviously from the year 1964

Photo ©Schweizer National Museum

Friedrich Becker Kinetic ring in movement

Photo ©Schweizer National Museum

Friedrich Becker ring  with 2 Cabochons

Photo ©Schweizer National Museum

Friedrich Becker ring

Photo ©Schweizer National Museum

Insignia of the city of Düsseldorf - icons of design

Professor Friedrich Becker was a goldsmith for the insignia of the city of Düsseldorf.

The Amtskette des Stadtoberhaupts (chain of office of the head of the city) dated from 1958. Made of 750/000 gold, rubies, sapphires and diamonds. The set city coat of arms is framed by 12 key events from Düsseldorf's city history. Strung together in the chain are stylized Radschläger.

The numbers refer to special historical events of Düsseldorf 

1288 - elevation of Düsseldorf to a city.

1658 - year of birth of the Elector Jan Wellem.

1958 - year of creation of the chain by goldsmith Friedrich Becker.

1797 - year of birth of the poet Heinrich Heine.

1838 - opening of the first West German railroad

 from Düsseldorf to Erkrath.

1945 - beginning of the democratic reconstruction of Düsseldorf

after the Second World War.

The chain shows different coats of arms like an anchor as the original city coat of arms of Düsseldorf. Another field shows the coats of arms of the Bergian regents of Düsseldorf from Count Adolf von Berg to the Pfalz-Neuburg dynasty.

The last three fields are dedicated to the 20th century: debris and crosses, legacy of the World Wars, the year 1945 for the beginning of the democratic reconstruction and as a symbol a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Photo: ©Michael Berger

Amtskette des Stadtoberhaupts of Düsseldorf, dated 1958

750/000 gold, rubies, sapphires and diamonds

Stylized Radschläger chain

Photo: ©Michael Berger

More insignia of the city of Düsseldorf - the 3 Rings of Honor by Friedrich Becker.
The conditions for awarding the rings can be found in the Düsseldorf Amtsblatt.

Find out more:

www.duesseldorf.de

Ring of honor of the council

The Council Ring of Honor is made of gold and shows the Bergisch Lion. Inside are engraved the name of the recipient and the day on which the temporal requirements were met.

Photo: ©Michael Berger

Large ring of honor

750/000 gold, ruby and diamond carées.

The ring is made of gold and shows the Düsseldorf city colors red and white. Inside are engraved the name of the recipient and the day of the council decision.

Photo: ©Michael Berger

Jan Wellem ring

The ring is made of gold and shows the image of the Elector Jan Wellem. Inside engraved with the name of the recipient.

The Jan Wellem Ring is awarded to a maximum of ten living wearers.

Photo: ©Michael Berger

The designer: Professor Friedrich Becker was also the goldsmith

 for the insignia of the city of Düsseldorf.

Photo: ©Privat

Sculptures and the first Radschläger

Still in use today!

Prof. Friedrich Becker attached the first Radschläger to the Lambertuskirche in 1960. It was the first Radschläger to appear in Düsseldorf. The pastor needed a new doorknob because, as he said, the 'Pänz" (Düsseldorf expression for little children) had broken it. Professor Friedrich Becker put his Radschläger on the night before Karfreitag with his wife Hilde because, as so often, he was not satisfied and had not finished in time.

The first Radschläger ever at the Lambertuskirche Düsseldorf

Photo: ©Heike Kappes

Kinetic sculptures

Here is a work from the Goldschmiedehaus Hanau. Friedrich Becker was not only the inventor of kinetic jewelry but revolutionized the jewelry market when he introduced stainless steel and synthetic gemstones.

Find out more:

www.goldschmiedehaus.com

Friedrich Becker Kinetic Sculpture, Stainless Stone

Photo: ©UweDettmar

Friedrich Becker Kinetic Sculpture, Stainless Stone

Photo: ©Uwe Dettmar

Curriculum vitae

Born on May 25, 1922 in Ende near Herdecke, Friedrich Becker grew up in Grevenstein in the Sauerland region. In 1936, he began an apprenticeship as a machinist in Düsseldorf. He then took up studies in aeronautical engineering. After the war, he took a second degree in goldsmithing and worked as a goldsmith artist. Friedrich Becker completed his habilitation in 1973, and the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences appointed him professor of goldsmithing.

Emeritus in 1981, Professor Friedrich Becker passed away in Düsseldorf on May 15, 1997, at the age of nearly 75. In 2016, a room of honor for Prof. Friedrich Becker was opened in the Düsseldorf City Hall, where pictures of his works can be seen.

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AUSZEICHNUNGEN: 

1959 Bayerischer Staatspreis 1965 Staatspreis für das Kunst- 

handwerk von Nordrhein- 

Westfalen 

1971 Ehrenmitglied der „Worship- ful Company of Goldsmiths“ in London

1972 Ehrenring der „Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst“

1973 Bundesverdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (1. Klasse)

1997 Der Künstler stirbt vor der Verleihung des Ehrendoktor- Titels des Royal College of Art (London)

AUSSTELLUNGEN: 

„Friedrich Becker“,
Goldsmiths ́ Hall, London „Friedrich Becker, Schmuck und kinetische Objekte“, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau „Rand Show“, International Gold Corporation, Johannesburg, Südafrika
„Friedrich Becker, Goldschmied. Schmuck – Silbergerät – kinetische Objekte, 1951–1983“, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf 

Text sources:

Source: City of Düsseldorf

https://www.duesseldorf.de/stadtrecht/1/17/17-004.html

Source: Weit weg vom Normalen; Festschrift 100 Jahre Friedrich Becker, Prof. Friedrich Becker e. V.

www.prof-friedrich-becker.de

By. C. Mauer

30, January 2022