In 1980 Nissen established her gallery in Paris and in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. Festival participants over the years have browsed the window to admire and buy her eclectic collection of antique jewellery and precious stones, and the work of Rene Gruau whom she represents exclusively worldwide. Gruau the artist /illustrator famous for his work with Dior, his murals at the Lido, and t
he Moulin Rouge… was also inspired by Liz Taylor – whose eyes appear in many of his works - Princess Grace, Bettina, Lauren Bacall, Capucine… legendary figures who frequented the lounge in the Hotel Carlton also appear in his work. Born in Rimini and sharing a love of the film industry and the birthplace of the great director Fellini, Dolce Vita was immortalised in one of Gruau’s iconic posters. In the art world Sylvie Nissen is in a class of her own in the 1990s she put into action one of her secret ambitions: to exhibit and promote artists with unclassifiable talent who were ‘singular’ by a certain lifestyle and elegance. In following this passion she has achieved the rare feat of running a successful business – on an international scale – for more than twenty years. The inclusion of the works of Ariane Konstantinovskaia, continue Nissen’s ambition to foster new talent that demonstrate s a ‘singular’ concept of style. Under the careful orchestration of Sylvie Nissen, antique jewellery – from the 18th century to the 1950s – sheds its outdated and frivolous aura. Rare Berlin iron necklaces, collected by the British Museum, together with Cartier’s “caged birds” or “imprisoned hearts” – discreet witnesses to the German occupation in 1940 - Nissens’s collection hold the memory of their time and the integral ideological and artistic movements of their day. From Carl Faberge, and the treasures of Russia, to the Art Deco jewellery by Fouquet, Despres, Boivan, or Belperron - close relatives of the cubist and Bauhaus movements – the imbalance of the 1870 war is revealed in the wavy, deformed and unstable lines of Art Nouveau and an extraordinary dragonfly by Lalique all find their place in the memory-laden display cases at a Sylvie Nissen gallery. Sylvie Nissen graduated from the prestigious Ecole du Louvre in Paris, and continued her training in museography, qualifiying as a Museum Curator. Nissen’s relationships within this circle allows her to maintain valued contacts between her Gallery and the most prestigious museum exhibitions both in France and internationally.
