American Modernist Jewelry

The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia-Cranbrook

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First ever museum exhibition of the fantastic jewelry made by Harry Bertoia, appropriately occurring on what would have been Bertoia’s 100th birthday!

“Former Cranbrook Academy of Art student and metalsmithing instructor Harry Bertoia (1915–1978) has received international acclaim for his metal furniture and sculpture, but not for his exploration of the medium originated in jewelry design. Out of the hundreds of jewelry works attributed to Bertoia, the majority was produced during his years at Cranbrook, offering an early glimpse of a creative vision that would crystallize as his career matured. The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia examines the artist’s experimentations with form, dimension, and fabrication on a concentrated and bankable scale—establishing Bertoia as a pioneer of the American Studio Jewelry movement and a master of elevating fashionable adornment to object l’art” curator Shelley Selim describes in the notification of this upcoming exhibition. The exhibition dates are March 14-November 29, 2015.

 

 

[5] Bertoia 1947 Silver Pin copymodernist jewelry-march 2009 150modernist jewelry-march 2009 076Image 17

American Modernist Jewelry Exhibition-Dallas Museum of Art

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[100] Art Smith Sterling Necklace copy

“From the Village to Vogue:The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith” is currently on view at the Dallas Museum of Art. Other jewelers of the period are included in the exhibition.
I believe “this area” of collecting is still EXTREMELY undervalued because the works are like miniature sculptures that you can wear and the jewelry is getting more and more difficult to find.