NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The first monograph dedicated to Parisian artist-jeweler Frédéric Zaavy, featuring dazzling images by John Bigelow Taylor and Dianne Dubler, was launched in January 2021. Stardust: The Work and Life of Jeweler Extraordinaire Frédéric Zaavy presents a portrait of an artist who strived to paint the beauty of the universe in precious stones. Zaavy considered himself heir to the legacy of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, gem dealer to Louis XIV, and was chosen as the exclusive jeweler for the 21st century revival of Fabergé. Inspired by nature, quantum physics, philosophy, art, music, and literature, his poetic sensibility saw him create daringly intricate pieces with hundreds or thousands of tiny gems that came together like pointillist objets d’art.
The photographers John Bigelow Taylor and Dianne Dubler, whose work has graced the pages of over 300 books focusing on works of art, architecture, jewellery and antiquities, have created the mesmerising visual narrative for the monograph. Featuring a text by acclaimed French writer Gilles Hertzog, Stardust unveils the exquisite artistry and fluctuating fortunes of a master jeweler whose life was cut too short. Evocatively framed by his imminent mortality, the book gathers together accounts of Zaavy from his closest allies, both personal and professional, without eschewing the darkest moments of his adventurous and precarious career. Taylor and Dubler’s visual narrative shines a light on Zaavy’s work, weaving in images of his creative inspiration, atelier and domestic settings among images that are the result of a painstaking photographic process to immortalise the jeweler’s creations.