FRIEDRICH BECKER PRIZE 2008 FOR ROBERT BAINES
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

The Friedrich Becker Prize which is endowed with €5,000 made available by the private foundation of Hildegard Becker in Düsseldorf, is awarded by the Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst e.V. (Association of Goldsmith’s Art) in memory of a very special person and great designer, Professor Friedrich Becker (1922 - 1997).
Just as Friedrich Becker would have wanted, this year, for the fourth time, an artist of the upcoming generation of designers was awarded the prize on May 31 at Goethe Museum, Schloss Jägerhof in Düsseldorf. A total of 131 artists from 18 nations competed for the 2008 Friedrich Becker Prize, producing jewelry and silver appliances. Gold and silversmiths, jewelry and metal designers were invited to submit their work in precious metals supplemented by precious stones, pearls, synthetic stones and glass.
Independent design executed in the highest quality was an important criterion in the selection of the prizewinner by the jury consisting of Prof. Dr. Florian Hufnagl, Director in charge of the Neue Sammlung Collection at the Staatliches Museum für Angewandte Kunst Design in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Klaus Jürgen Maack, ERCO Leuchten GmbH, Lüdenscheid and Susanne Veltins, Brauerei C. & A. VELTINS GmbH & Co. KG. Meschede-Grevenstein.
The jurors chose Professor Dr. Robert Baines from Melbourne, Australia, an internationally acclaimed gold and silversmith, art historian and archaeologist.
Born in Melbourne in 1949, the artist has researched and experimented with ancient goldsmith’s techniques for many years. Robert Baines understands, in his own special way, how to reinterpret the traditions of the goldsmith's art to his own ends. At times highly intricate, his items of jewelry and little objects draw their effect from their baroque sumptuousness which the artist achieves through his adroit reinterpretation of traditional techniques in combination with structural composition.
Robert Baines has been the recipient of numerous reputed prizes in his own country and in 2005 was awarded the Bayerischer Staatspreis. Many museums throughout the world consider themselves fortunate to number one of the artist's works amongst their collection.
Museums and galleries in the United States, New Zealand, Italy and Germany repeatedly devote solo exhibitions to Robert Baines.
Robert Baines has published the results of his scientific research in books and papers; he has received repeated invitations to speak at symposia and conferences.
Robert Baines is currently involved in a research project at the "Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation" in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Alongside the prizewinner, the jury also decided to honor two other artists with a mark of recognition: Karl Fritsch from Munich and Annelies Planteijdt from Kapelle, Netherlands.
Born in 1963, Karl Fritsch studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich. Amongst other things, he has held guest lectureships in New York, London, Amsterdam, Jerusalem and Boston between 1989 and 2004. The artist has been awarded numerous renowned prizes. Most recently, he received the 2007Herbert Hofmann Prize. His jewelry items take their effect from their baroque splendor, bright glass or precious stones are heaped up into towers that stretch out seemingly into infinity. The results are known as the "Steinhaufen Ringe" (stone heap rings).
Born in 1956, Annelies Planteijdt attended the technical college in Schoonhoven from 1974 to 1978. From 1978 through 1983 she studied at the Rietveld Akademie in Amsterdam, in 2004 she held a guest lectureship at the Royal College of Art in London.
A strictly geometric concept lies at the heart of every necklace designed by this artist and she has been playing with this idea for many years, in different ways every time. She carefully introduces elements of color to gold and silver, rendering her jewelry items real eye-catchers.

Alongside in the prize-winning work by Robert Baines and the two marks of recognition, selected works from the competition by the following artists were also presented at the Goethe Museum: Michael Becker, Munich - Tanya Becker-Mohr, Aitrang - Franz-Joseph Bette, Hanau - Andreas Decker, Hildesheim - Ewa Doerenkamp, Frankfurt - Sam Tho Duong, Pforzheim - Petr Dvorak, Vienna - Christiane Förster, Kaufbeuren - Simone Giesen, Soest - Justus Gröning, Seligenstadt - Mari Ishikawa, Munich - Jiro Kamata, Munich - Rui Kikuchi, Osaka - Peter Schmid, Konstanz - Renate Schmid, Augsburg - Heidi Schulze-Merian, Bonn - Oliver Smith, Rozelle (Australia) - Martina Tornow, Rodenbach - Lilli Veers, Lüneburg - Elke Wolf, Mainz.

The exhibition can be seen at Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus in Hanau from June 03 - 29.

If you have any questions please contact:
Dr. Christiane Weber-Stöber, Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst e.V. Hanau
c.weber-stoeber(at)gfg-hanau.de phone +49 (0)6181-256556 fax +49 (0)6181-256554