This essay was first delivered at SOFA NY in April 2012 as an AJF-sponsored talk. The lecture has been modified to meet the format and needs of the AJF website. Margaret De Patta, Untitled Painting, c. 1917-21, gouche on paper, Margaret De Patta Archives, Bielawski Trust, Point Richmond, California Margaret Strong was born in Tacoma,
The Transcendent Jewelry of Margaret De Patta: Vision in Motion Read More »
After eleven years as an editor for Lark Books, Marthe Le Van is leaving to pursue new opportunities. In charge of the jewelry list, she has, since 2000, been responsible in one way or another for more than 60 publications. As a key player in contemporary jewelry publishing, AJF was keen to find out what
Packing My Library Read More »
John Paul Cooper, Brooch, 1908, 15-karat gold, ruby, moonstone, pearl, amethyst, chrysoprase, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gift of Susan B. Kaplan John Paul Cooper, Brooch, 1908, 15-karat gold, ruby, moonstone, pearl, amethyst, chrysoprase, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gift of Susan B. Kaplan The gallery in which Jewels, Gems, and Treasures is housed is a reasonably
Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Ancient to Modern Read More »
The international critical discourse on art jewelry is still not consistent with the use of labels (art – author – studio – contemporary – research jewelry) but the meaning is clear. ‘Just as the rectangular canvas was freed from representation and became an arena for the exploration of a range of other themes, so has
Jewelry By Visual Artists in Italy: A Critical Review Read More »
This essay was first delivered as a talk at SOFA NY in May 2011. The Museum of Art and Design’s exhibition, Crafting Modernism: Midcentury Art and Design (opening in October 2011) features over 20 jewelers. Some are well known, such as Alexander Calder, while others have been resurrected from obscurity and brought forward for re-evaluation.
For People Who Are Slightly Mad: American Modernist Jewelry Read More »
In the late 1950s, Dr Ümit Bir set out with his stethoscope in his bag, traveling around the world and including frequent visits to Turkey, his home country. In 1960, he met an architect, Dr Rudolph Steinbach, who gave the order to ‘start collecting!’ Trained in ‘the strenuous and exacting practice of medicine,’ Bir turned
Jewellery from the Orient: Treasures from the Bir Collection Read More »
In the early 1990s word traveled quickly through collectors of contemporary jewelry, museum curators, and the craft world at large that a major collection of modernist jewelry had “escaped” the United States. Collective gnashing of teeth decried “the one that got away.” The collection had been assembled by Mark McDonald, Mark Isaacson, and Ralph Cutler, partners in
What’s Modernism Got to Do With It? Read More »
Conferences stimulate the development of critical discourse in the craft world. In the United States, the American Craft Council, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, the Society of North American Goldsmiths all organize craft-specific gatherings that fuel ideas and provide face-to-face networking. Craft is a small fish in a big pond at
Craft’s Emerging Identity: The CAA Conference 2011 Read More »
A comprehensive catalog of the contemporary jewelry collection of the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim, this book, by Fritz Falk and Cornelie Holzach (who have both worked at the museum) is also a substantial introduction to the development of contemporary jewellery in Europe and, less comprehensively, the rest of the world. Falk and Holzach offer pithy surveys
Schmuck der Moderne/Modern Jewellery 1960-1998 Read More »
Celebrating 70: 70 Years by 70 Artists, published by Lorene Publications and Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery, is like a charming little book of hours, only six-and-a-half inches square. Its purpose is to celebrate as AJF member Karen Lorene, head of Facèré gallery in Seattle, turns 70 on August 19, 2010 and looks back to enjoy the past. The artists
Celebrating 70: 70 Years by 70 Artists Read More »
‘You are only what you surround yourself with? No. You surround yourself only with who you are.’ (Rob Walker, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Random House, 2008.)
Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box Read More »
In May 2007, Sally von Bargen interviewed Jo Lauria, a long time AJF member and previous board member. She is the chief curator for the touring exhibition Craft in America: Expanding Traditions and co-author of the companion book Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects. Cover, Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton (ed),
Jo Lauria in Conversation Read More »
