The 2019 De Mains De Maîtres scholarships

On Friday, December 6, 2019, Their Royal Highnesses, the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess, together with Lex Delles, Minister for Small Business, Jo Kox, First Government Advisor at the Ministry of Culture, and Roland Kuhn, President of the association, presented the 2019 “De Mains de Maîtres” grants to three artisans selected for their professional development projects submitted in response to the call for applications launched in March of this year.

• Doris Becker is a Luxembourgish ceramicist. The theme of her current work, “Origins,” is the egg—a symbol of creation, productivity, reproduction, birth, and new life. She would like to take on new challenges by participating in a residency at the JDZ-JCI Ceramic Institute in Jingdezhen, China to create larger-scale ceramic sculptures, continue her research on wheels, rings, and Möbius strips, and foster exchanges with other artists.
• Anne-Claude Jeitz, born in Esch-sur-Alzette, has been working with glass for 13 years. Her delicate, lace-like sculptures are created using various techniques, including glass spinning. Eager to explore new horizons, Anne-Claude Jeitz hopes to train in torch-blowing with Jörg Hanowski at his studio in Witten, Germany.
• Ellen van der Woudehas been working with ceramics for 12 years. Her body of work consists of one-of-a-kind pieces, all made by hand. Pushing the boundaries of clay and porcelain, she creates delicate and imaginative sculptures reminiscent of anemones, sea urchins, and corals. She has chosen to raise the bar by learning techniques for creating larger-scale works through training in Quebec.

The success of the two editions of De Mains De Maîtres—an event launched in December 2016 by H.R.H. Princess Stéphanie to highlight the exceptional craftsmanship of Luxembourg’s designers and artisans—made it possible to fund these grants, each financed by proceeds from the sale of the exhibited works of art.

For the record, the first grant was awarded to the project by Sarah Meyers, a textile artist and ceramicist, who traveled to China to specialize in working with color on porcelain.

Continuing its efforts to promote and highlight the arts and crafts, De Mains De Maîtres held an exhibition in late 2019 in a new “gallery” format in downtown Luxembourg City, featuring a unique selection of rare works and objects created by the Grand Duchy’s finest artisans.