Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926-1933
at the Whitney Museum – New York, NY USA – Oct.16, 2008-Feb.15, 2009
then travels to:
the Centre Pompidou – Paris France – March 18-July 20, 2009

This exhibition looks at Calder’s formative years (1926-1933) when he arrived at his revolutionary notion of “drawing in space”.

“Calder’s Circus” will be presented in a new installation.

Wire sculptures will include all four extant Josephine Bakers together for the first time, mechanized moving abstractions, some never-before-exhibited animals from Calder’s bestiary and his first ceiling-suspended mobile.

His first Paris sketchbook will be on view along with previously unexhibited drawings.

Rare films include:
Sculptor Discards Clay, of 1928
Le Grand Cirque Calder 1927 (1955) by Jean Painlevé
Montparnasse–Where the Muses Hold Sway 1929 – Calder is seen as a member of the artists’ community of Montparnasse creating a wire portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse.

Calder and his works portrayed in photographs by Brassaï, Kertész, Thérèse Bonney, Agnès Varda, and Marc Vaux.
A catalog of the show is available.

This book is the catalog for two of the first major exhibits to show only modernist jewelry from such a broad group of artists. Both take place in 2008 in Fort Wayne, Indiana: one at The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (May 2 to Aug. 24, 2008) and the other at The University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts (May 2-30, 2008). Over fifty collectors and living art jewelers have lent some of the best examples of this innovative style. Sculptors Alexander Calder, Harry Bertoia, Jose de Rivera, Peter and Daniel Macchiarini, Earl and Tod Pardon, and Merry Renk are among the 96 artists featured, along with their extensive jewelry creations. Their work was experimental and stimulated originality in successive generations. Plastics, pearls, brass, copper, silver, gold, and enamels are among the materials found here in mini-sculptures and jewelry ornaments for men and women alike. The author’s extensive research uncovers connections among the artists and documents this important art period and medium. Artists, collectors, cultural historians, and students all will want to see the exhibits and own the catalog.

Previously written by the same author is:
Modernist Jewelry 1930-1960: The Wearable Art Movement – Marbeth Schon 2004

This beautifully written book explores the work of 175 of the most important American modernist artist jewelers through a comprehensive text and over 540 color and 35 black and white photos. Beginning with the streamlining of Art Moderne, modernist jewelers mirrored the consciousness of their age. They were free thinkers artists who broke away from the mainstream of jewelry design and looked to the fine arts for inspiration; they were Surrealists, Cubists, and Abstract Expressionists functioning as sculptors in small scale, painters in enamels, and architects in miniature. The modernist metalsmiths of the 1930s through 1960s laid the groundwork for the enormous expansion of metalsmithing in the 1970s and ’80s. These creative jewelers produced personal designs as they absorbed the changes happening in the world around them. The artists’ stories and jewelry are arranged chronologically and linked to four pivotal exhibitions held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, in 1946; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, in 1948 and 1955; and an exhibition on paper in 1959. Together, the artists at these important events comprise the modernist movement of wearable art directly and through their influence on the subsequent generations. This important book will stand as the primary reference to art jewelry of the mid-20th century and be consulted by all who want to understand the innovations it embraces.

Exhibition of Silver Jewelry Designed by Legendary Modernist Jeweler Art Smith

This exhibit will honor the gift of twenty pieces of silver and gold jewelry created by the Brooklyn-born modernist jeweler Arthur Smith (1917–1982), primarily from Charles Russell, Smith’s companion and heir.

The presentation of Art Smith jewelry will be enhanced by archival material from the artist’s estate, including his working tools, the original shop sign designed by Smith, period photographs of models wearing his jewelry, preparatory sketches, and account books. Presented along with Smith’s work are twenty-three pieces of modernist jewelry from the permanent collection by such artists as Elsa Freund, William Spratling, Frank Rebajes, Eva Eisler, Ed Weiner, Claire Falkenstein, Jung-Hoo Kim, and others. Inspired by surrealism, biomorphicism, and primitivism, Art Smith’s jewelry is dynamic in its size and form. Although sometimes massive in scale, his jewelry remains lightweight and wearable due to his awareness of the female form. The jewelry dates from the late 1940s to the 1970s and includes his most famous pieces, such as a "Patina" necklace inspired by the mobiles of Alexander Calder; a "Lava" bracelet, or cuff, that extends over the entire lower arm in undulating and overlapping forms; and a massive ring with three semiprecious stones that stretches over three fingers.

Trained at Cooper Union, Art Smith, an African American, opened his first shop on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village in 1946. He later moved the business to 140 West Fourth Street, where it remained throughout his career. Not only one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-twentieth century, Smith was also an active supporter of black and gay civil rights, an avid jazz enthusiast, and a supporter of early black modern dance groups.

This exhibition is organized by Barry Harwood, Curator of Decorative Arts, Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition is supported by the Harold S. Keller Fund with additional support from the Donald and Mary Oenslager Fund.