{"product_id":"estatefreshaustincom-3597","title":"Ilias Lalaounis (1920-2013) 18k gold on Amethyst Easter Egg","description":"Ilias Lalaounis (1920-2013) !8k gold on Tigers Eye Easter Egg. Great piece\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;tested 18k gold on cats eye. Unmarked Custom made one of a kind piece created by\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;a master and being offered at a fraction of it's original cost. I also have\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;another listed. No issues.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Jump to navigationJump to search\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;LH OMRI\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis in 1920.jpg\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis in 1990\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Born 4 October 1920\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Athens, Greece\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Died 30 December 2013\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Athens, Greece\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Nationality Greek\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Alma mater University of Athens\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Occupation Jeweler\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Spouse(s) Lila Altitzoglou\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Children 4 daughters\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis (4 October 1920 − 30 December 2013) was a pioneer of Greek\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;jewelry and an internationally renowned goldsmith.[1] He is especially known for\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;his collections inspired by Greek history.[2] In 1990 he became the only jeweler\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;ever to be inducted into the Académie des Beaux-Arts.[3][4]\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Contents\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1 Early life\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;2 Career\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;2.1 1969-1970s\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;2.2 1980s–1990s\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;3 Museum\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;4 Personal life\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;5 Honors and awards\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;6 References\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Early life\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis was born on October 4, 1920 in Athens, Greece.[3][4] He was a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;fourth generation jeweler whose family originated from Delphi.[4] He graduated\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;from the University of Athens, where he studied Political Science and the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Law.[3][4]\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Career\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Lalaounis started his career working for the jewelry business of his uncle,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Xenophon Zolotas.[4] In 1940 he took over the administration of the firm, which\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;he managed and designed all jewelry for until 1968.[3] He founded the Greek\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Jewelers' Association and exhibited his first collection, the Archaeological\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Collection, at the Thessaloniki International Fair in 1957. It was inspired by\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Classical, Hellenistic and Minoan Mycenaean art. In 1969 he started his own\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;firm, Greek Gold - Ilias Lalaounis S.A..[4]\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1969-1970s\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Lalaounis provoked a sensation with his collection Blow Up (1970), draping the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;human body in gold jewelry inspired by Minoan civilization.[5] The following\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;year he organized an international exhibition of jewelry in Athens, joined by\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Van Cleef, Bulgari, Rene Kern and Harry Winston. In 1976, he had one of his most\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;important commissions which would prove to be one of the most inspiring for his\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;portfolio. Empress Farah of Iran commissioned Lalaounis to create a collection\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;of jewelry and objects inspired by Persian art, which went on display at the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Imperial Palace in Tehran.[6]\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Between 1970 and 1978 Ilias Lalaounis opened stores in most European countries.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;He opened his first international store in Paris at 364 rue Saint-Honoré, near\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Place Vendôme and produced a short film explaining the sources of inspiration\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;for the jewels on display. Since then, he regularly produced short films to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;illustrate his collections, such as: Aube of Art, Byzantine Arcs in Gold,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Choreography, The Shield of Achilles, Ilion - The Treasure of Troy, Art and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Gold, The Common Roots of the Creator Man, Treasures of the Holy Land.[3] In\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1979, Lalaounis opened a store in New York on the corner of Fifth Avenue and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;57th Street. A year later, the Smithsonian Institution invited him to give a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;lecture on his art and to exhibit his collection The Achilles Shield at the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;National Museum of American History.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1980s–1990s\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Ilias Lalaounis continued to create innovative collections and expand the brand\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;to international markets during the 1980s. On the inauguration of the Lalaounis\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;store in Tokyo, he created a jewelry collection inspired by Japanese art. The\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;same year, he opened a store in Hong Kong where he presented a collection of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;jewels inspired by the drawings of the Greek geometric period, very similar to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the geometric designs of Chinese art. A second store was opened in Hong Kong in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;1982.[3] Lalaounis exhibited his Helen of Troy collection at the Penn Museum in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Philadelphia as well as in Houston, Texas, where he was made an honorary citizen\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;by the mayor.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1984, he published Metamorphoses, a book in which he presented nineteen of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;his collections by analyzing his philosophy on the nature and function of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;jewelry. The jewel, for Ilias Lalaounis, is not a simple decorative object,\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;rather it carries a message, is an expression of inner life, a link with the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;distant past, a symbol and a memory.[3] He received the Thorlet Award (Prix\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Thorlet) for the book from the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Subsequently, a\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;retrospective exhibition of his creations was presented in the Sorbonne Chapel.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;For his contribution to the arts, Lalaounis was made Knight of the Order of Arts\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and Letters (Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et Lettres) by the French government\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and Commander of the Order of Academic Palms (Commandeur des Palmes\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Académiques). He was also elected as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the Institut de France, the only jeweler ever to be inducted.[3][7] The\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Academicians' swords (épées d'Académiciens), given to members on their\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;induction, were originally designed by Salvador Dali, and when Dali became too\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;frail to continue, he named his close friend Ilias Lalaounis to continue his\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;work.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In November 1987, Lalaounis was invited by Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem, to\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;present his collection Treasures of the Holy Land, in an exhibition specially\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;organized by the Israel Museum and subsequently shown in New York, London and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Paris. The following year he presented Arabesques, a collection of gold and\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;silver creations set with precious and semi-precious stones. The Minister of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Foreign Affairs of Turkey invited him to exhibit Arabesques, as well as another\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;complementary collection, Soleiman the Magnificent, at the Islamic Art Museum of\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Istanbul.[8] He launched Ameridians in New York, a collection inspired by the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;art of North American Indians and in 1991, opened his store on Madison Avenue in\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;New York, where he presented his collection inspired by Celtic art.\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Museum\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;In 1994, he founded the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, located under the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;Acropolis, in the center of Athens. The permanent exhibition displays jewelry\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;and micro-sculptures from forty-five collections, designed by Lalaounis in the\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;period 1940-1992.[9] Some special commissions are also kept on permanent\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;display, such as the Olympic torch, designed by Ilias Lalaounis, used to start\u0026lt;br\u0026gt;the Olympic torch rally before every Olympic Games.","brand":"sale - www.estatefreshaustin.com Estate Fresh Austin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47389655072984,"sku":"4860885476_2C7D","price":955.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/6284\/7960\/files\/ilias-lalaounis-1920-2013-18k-gold-on-amethyst-easter-eggestate-fresh-austin-877130.png?v=1757951390","url":"https:\/\/estatefreshaustin.com\/es\/products\/estatefreshaustincom-3597","provider":"Estate Fresh Austin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}