L’art en héritage

Mr and Mrs Bernard Danenberg, both renowned art collectors and famous art dealers, open their Art Gallery in the very elegant Upper East Side of New York, decorated in the Art Deco style. They exhibit their collection of master paintings ranging from Picasso, Manet, Dali to Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock as well as Norman Rockwell discovered and launched by Bernard Danenberg himself.

Valerie lives with her parents on the fifth floor of their private town house, just above the gallery, surrounded by art and a very exclusive selection of masterpieces.

Very early, she cultivates a passion for Art and is fascinated by her mothers exceptional collection of Art Nouveau and Art Deco antique jewels by Suzanne Belperron, Pierre Sterlé, René Lalique, Jean Fouquet… and many others… acquired from the most prestigious collections such as from the Duchess of Windsor. Very early in her life she is exposed to various international cultures which allows her to study the architecture of emblematic buildings such as the Chrysler which will inspire her later in her designs. With her parents she travels the word visiting the most beautiful museums. She will pursue her passion notably for old masters of the Renaissance which she particularly affections as she carefully studies the jewels worn by the noble men and women of the time. The most striking paintings to her are Leonardo’s « Ermine Woman » , « Las meninas » by Velasquez ,« The woman with the pearl » by Vermeer and the « Kiss » by Gustave Klimt. Her parents spend most of their time working hence very early they initiate their daughter to the beauty of antique jewels and the rarest precious stones. She pays careful attention to her parents' teachings and spends a lot of time observing the various craftsmen who work with them and develops a passion for diamonds which she considers particularly powerful.

Her family moved to Paris in 1975 and launched her first gallery in Paris at the opening of the Louvre des Antiquaires.

They open several galleries specialized in Art Deco, René Lalique, Gallé and Daum glass as well as Art Deco jewelry signed by the most prestigious brands.

Outside of school, Valerie spends all her free time in her parents’ shop and starts working with them by age 15. She then chose to assist her mother in the antique jewelry department entrusted to her and by supervising their various workshops. She develops the passion for their ancestral know-how and certain desuet techniques such as migraine setting. She works with their stonecutters to restaure the beauty of all shapes of diamonds, color stones, moreover ornamental stones such as Lapiz Lazuli, Onyx, Agathe, Roc crystal, green Jasper, which she also has engraved for signet rings.

She dreams of reviving all these antique techniques by reinterpreting and modernizing the lines of Art Déco jewelry into new designs that she imagines and draws. Furthermore she wishes to maintain the family tradition of her parents and crafts men with whom she continues to work, which later led her to introduce her own daughters to the trade.

A few years later she moved to a new shop in the prestigious 1er arrondissement, around the corner from the famous Place Vendome, decorated in collaboration with a Parisian architect, in the style of the Art Deco, to highlight her designs.