Paintings by award-winning artist Reena Ahluwalia celebrate diamonds and diamond stories.
For the past 500 years, Antwerp and diamonds are inextricably linked. The City and Province of Antwerp is all set to open, 'DIVA. Antwerp Home of Diamonds' museum in 2018. To mark the Antwerp 'Diamond Year', DIVA's Museum Shop opened its doors on December 7th, 2017. World-renowned artist Reena Ahluwalia's hyper-realistic diamond paintings were selected to be housed in the museum and now available for sale at its Museum shop.
“We have known Reena for a long time and always have been great admirers of her jewelry designs and paintings. We were thrilled when we could work with her for her paintings in the Museum shop. Her paintings are truly unique, beautiful from a distance and captivating from close by. We are really honored to have them hanging in our shop.” Stefan Leemans, owner of the DIVA Museum shop said.
Artist Reena Ahluwalia with her diamond paintings 'Diamond Constellation' for the DIVA Diamond Museum, Antwerp.
Brilliant like diamonds, Reena's painting series is titled The Diamond Constellation and pays tribute to the “star-like quality and unlimited potential in each one of us”. The paintings feature highly nuanced, hyper-realistic diamonds with ultra-magnified facets and have taken over 200 hours each to complete. The provenance of Reena's diamond paintings is linked to her lifelong work as a diamond artist. Her paintings are known for their imagination and storytelling. Reena's ties to Antwerp go a long way back as an award-wining diamond jewelry designer, diamond painter and educator. Her work is featured on a special edition Belgian Postal Stamp, 'Antverpia 2010' that celebrates Antwerp as a world class diamond center. With only a handful of postage stamps in the world featuring diamonds, and even rarer featuring a diamond jewelry piece; this postage stamp is a rare honor for a diamond jewelry piece and a jewelry artist’s work. Besides working with some of the most prestigious diamond companies of Antwerp, Reena is also the past winner of the HRD Awards and speaker at various Antwerp events. Reena is an ambassador of 'Diamonds & Antwerp' (DnA).
"We want to bring the story of jewels and diamonds back to the Antwerp historic city center, where it all started 500 years ago," says Mr. Luk Lemmens, Provincial Deputy Minister for Culture, Antwerp. Diva museum will celebrate the illustrious diamond history of Antwerp, its pivotal role in shaping the world of diamond trade, craftsmanship and stories that make diamonds unmatchable. The museum will officially open in May 2018.
