Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917-2010)

Grete Prytz Kittelsen, born in 1917, was a goldsmith, enamel artist, and designer from Oslo, Norway. She is often referred to as the grand dame of Norwegian Modernist design. The daughter of the well-known Norwegian goldsmith, Jacob Tostrup Prytz, her father was her first teacher of goldsmithing and enameling.

Grete studied at Chicago’s Institute of Design (New Bauhaus), from 1949 to 1950. At the start of her career, Kittelsen created inexpensive pieces of high quality that targeted a younger generation. However, in the 1950s, she contributed to a series called “Med Punkter (With Dots)”—the modernist response to the filigree brooch worn as part of traditional Norwegian dress. Med Punkter became Grete’s entry into Georg Jensen’s Nordic competition in 1953, and eventually became one of Grete’s best-selling series.

Visit our exhibition page for "MEDITATIONS ON MODERNISM: Thirty Years of Jewelry Design by Jacqueline Rabun, 1990–2022 WITH Selections from Notable Post-WWII Nordic Jewelers" to learn more about the innovative and exquisite Nordic jewelry in our collection.