The artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar meditating in the Amarta space by James Turrell, during his Patina Maldives residency in January and February 2024

French-Iranian artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar is renowned for his abstract works hinting at a paradise with a twist. On the eve of the artist’s residency at an eco-luxury resort in the Maldives, the Italian collector Andrea Morante, former CEO of the Pomellato jewellery brand, which was acquired by Kering in 2013, tells LUX about why Behnam-Bakhtiar’s works have stirred his collection

It all started over a dinner with LUX’s Editor-in-Chief, Darius Sanai. He was standing – very serious, with a bottle of the Tuscan wine Masseto in hand – going on about its virtues in absolute terms, as he does… my gaze drifted behind him, to a beautiful painting I hadn’t seen before.

I decided right there that I had to know the artist: it turned out to be Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar. There was an immediate connection when I first met the artist, in the south of France where he was then based. A great dialogue soon started, perhaps because of my own childhood spent in Iran, which extended to all facets of life choices, family complexities, Iranian roots and personal sufferance.

Andrea Morante is an art collector and the former chief executive officer of Pomellato (the fifth largest European jewellery company) which was acquired by Kering in 2013

From the very beginning, the pleasure of visiting Sassan’s atelier was shared with my partner, Caroline. It was not only limited to sharing a common attraction to Sassan’s original signature style of peinture raclée, involving scraping, relaying and spreading blends of colour, it extended to a healthy competition on who would first spot the preferred work of art to acquire. (The competition continues after six years across Sassan’s artistic evolution.)

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One visit, I was looking at a specific artwork immediately respectfully signed the painting with the name of the yacht. The mutuality of the collector-artist – blue and white in colour. The blue reminded me of a gentle summer day, the white seemed a reminder of its dramatic change – all of a sudden the sea can turn into rough waves.

And, while looking at it, by utter coincidence, I saw through the window next to it the yacht I was very sad to have just sold. I felt that the yacht, Cyrano de Bergerac, was waving goodbye with one of her masts. Sassan understood, and immediately respectfully signed the painting with the name of the yacht. The mutuality of the collector-artist – blue and white in colour. The blue reminded me of a gentle summer day, the white seemed a reminder of its dramatic change – all of a sudden the sea can turn into rough waves.

Artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar with two of his works. He is a French – Iranian artist. Born in Paris in 1984, he lived in Tehran as a teenager and young adult. Many of his works are well-known for exploring his visionary and philosophical views on life and humanity.

And, while looking at it, by utter coincidence, I saw through the window next to it the yacht I was very sad to have just sold. I felt that the yacht, Cyrano de Bergerac, was waving goodbye with one of her masts.

Sassan understood, and 18 relationship has been formative, I think, for both sides. I used to travel frequently to Brazil to collect contemporary art, like that of João Câmara. Before that I’d stuck to 18th- and 19th- century Neapolitan gouaches, from Pietro Fabris to Pierre-Jacques Volaire.

Read more: Dakis Joannou interview in Hydra

But you think less about masters when you are in Brazil – there is no nostalgia there, and no very long historical track record. Spending time with artists, I found that some were destroying themselves, unable to cope with life.

Others were more able to find the balance between preserving artistic values and embracing the world of the commercial. I hoped that a collector might help with this issue, and that, conversely, the artists might also teach me.

Maria Behnam-Bakhtiar, wife of the artist, crafts luxurious interior designs.

Sassan has done just this. In his work, and in his blue and whites, one feels the tug between pain and happiness. He has taught me how pain can be transformed from negative to positive energy, and how this makes all the difference. Sassan’s art, I think, has this disposition at the moment, perhaps associated with the arrival of his first child.

Energy in Nature, from the “Life Energy” series of miniature Living Paintings, 2024, by Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Fatherhood seems to have translated onto his canvas. The stratified pain of darker colours have been gradually substituted by a calmer, more joyous, colour combination. Three of my favourite pieces of his work – coloured canvases uniquely characterised by the superimposition of an explosion of flowers – express this bold optimism. Its palpable effect is felt by many I know.

I recall a woman who, then pregnant, spoke about just how well in herself she felt seeing this work. He harnesses that power in art. When Pino Rabolini, the founder of Pomellato and a well-versed collector, was my mentor, I learned to work with artists who share the same principles and ethics.

Mixed Energy, from the “Life Energy” series of miniature Living Paintings, 2024, by Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Sassan’s attention to sustainability is an inspiration for me. There are people for whom sustainability is a marketing scheme, and those who feel in their blood that something must be done to change. Sassan is one of the latter and we share that. Indeed, in some ways his fatherhood plays into this in his recent work.

He seems to ask himself, “What world will I leave my child?”. Sassan’s work keeps me company wherever I am. Here, in this chalet near Gstaad, where I am writing this piece from, the art is mostly tied to the mountains and snow, but two little Sassans sit behind me, looking beautiful and feeling comfortable in the mountains.

Energy in Nature, from the “Life Energy” series of miniature Living Paintings, 2024, by Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

I even used to have his paintings behind me on Zoom calls at work, and they were the source of many compliments. Thinking back on that dinner, shared with Darius all those years ago, it seems funny that we drank Masseto, of all wines: the company is almost exactly the same age as Sassan, who was born in 1984.

It feels only right, then, that I have a room dedicated solely to Sassan’s works at my place in Tuscany. Those wonderful colours talk to and blend in with one another, treading – with all his grace and elegance – Sassan’s tightrope walk of optimism from pain.

Soleil Couchant, from the “Life Energy” series of miniature Living Paintings, 2024, by Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar has recently completed a residency at the Patina Maldives, Fari Islands, and will be unveiling ‘Life Energy’, a new body of 20cm x 20cm miniature Living Paintings, created using sustainably sourced and natural materials during his time in the Fari Art Atelier. The series will be showcased at private gatherings in Doha and London, culminating at an exhibition and art sale at Patina Maldives in July. Sales proceeds will be donated to funding local marine conservation.

sassanbehnambakhtiar.com

Pomellato’s Kintsugi collection brings the old Japanese technique of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer and gold dust to the upcycling of broken gemstones. Courtesy of Pomellato

Continuing our focus on sustainability in line with COP26, Torri Mundell explores how jewellery house Pomellato’s latest collection makes use of broken, upcycled stones

Vincenzo Castaldo. Photo by Angela Lo Priore

Sustainability and ethical practices are a constant challenge for the jewellery industry. On the one hand, customers want the most desirable products and are willing to pay what it takes, so jewellery very rarely ends up as landfill. On the other hand, the sector is beset by reports of unsustainable practices and labour scandals.

Pomellato, the Italian jeweller known for its whimsical and colourful creativity, has set up camp firmly on the ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) side of the jewellery industry. The company is part of Kering, the French luxury giant run by François-Henri Pinault which has long made a virtue of its ethical endeavours (it was the first luxury group to introduce an environmental profit & loss account and expects its brands to follow it).

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Vincenzo Castaldo, creative director of the brand, is at the heart of the company’s challenge: how to continue its trademark originality and freshness of design, while ensuring everything is produced via a supply chain strictly internally audited for its ESG credentials.

“With its timeless nature, a jewel carries the message of sustainability like nothing else,” says Castaldo. He says the pandemic has strengthened his customers’ resolve to shop more conscientiously. Fine jewellery is no longer simply about “the intrinsic value of materials and craftsmanship but about ethical and cultural values… The events we have recently experienced are addressing us to a more conscious luxury. Our clients are more and more interested in the story you are telling, the ‘behind the scenes’ narrative.”

A selection of pieces from the collection. Courtesy of Pomellato

Establishing supply chains for precious metals and gems is the industry’s biggest challenge. The chains are notoriously murky, mainly because raw materials often originate from some of the poorest places in the world and pass through many countries and hands – miners, cutters, refiners and dealers – before they arrive to market.

In 2018, five years after its acquisition by Kering, the Italian jewellers achieved 100 per cent responsible gold purchasing – valuable because gold-sculpted pieces set with colourful precious stones as well as bold, chunky chains have been central to the brand’s relaxed, modern aesthetic since its founding in 1967.

The atelier where the collection is made. Courtesy Pomellato

A selection of rings. Courtesy Pomellato

The market for coloured gemstones and diamonds is even less regulated than that of precious metals. The brand has been collaborating with the Responsible Jewellery Council to develop their network of diamond suppliers. Brokering a direct relationship with a mining company is another way to establish the provenance of gems: lapis lazuli stones sourced ethically from an artisanal mine in Chile were used in the brand’s earlier, made-to-order Denim Lapis Lazuli collection.

Read more: Two designers on sustainable luxury design

When it comes to design, Castaldo says, “the biggest challenge is to keep alive the conversation between creativity and sustainability.” The Kintsugi collection, using upcycled stones, benefits from a “cross pollination” between the two. Castaldo was inspired by his visit to Japan in 2019, where he became captivated by the tradition of reassembling broken objects with lacquer and decorating the original fracture with a seam of gold. “I was drawn to the elegance of Japanese thinking and the idea of something broken becoming more precious through this ritual of repairing,” Castaldo remembers.

Slightly flawed stones have been used by Castaldo in previous designs, but the Kintsugi collection showcases gems that are actually broken: damaged pieces of jet and kogolong which would normally be discarded. A female kintsugi artist repairs the gems in Tokyo before they are brought to Pomellato’s craftsmen in Milan; the collaboration yields minimalist rings, earrings and pendants that tell a story through the gold seams streaking across former cracks and fissures in the gems. “Each jewel is truly one of a kind,” he says, “and this, to me, is the real essence of preciousness.”

Kintsugi is an ancient craft, but for Castaldo, “the idea of celebrating your scars as a sign of strength through healing is a very contemporary philosophy”. So, too, is the movement to reorder our priorities and shop more conscientiously.

Find out more: pomellato.com

This article was originally published in the Autumn 2021 issue.