The Gallery Collection: Art History Jewelry
The Gallery Collection is jewelry inspired by art history, long walks in monumental museums, and the little-told stories of the images and symbols that shape our view of the past and present. It by no means even begins to encompass the vast history of art, which spans every inhabited place great or small across the globe and includes every culture on our diverse planet. Consider it more like a room—a small gallery—wherein I’ve hung a handful of meaningful works to contemplate and paid homage to them with my own method of interpretive reproduction.
Given the time, assets and freedom, I could have never stopped making this collection; that is to say that if your favorite artist isn’t featured, well, neither is mine. I also explicitly chose works by artists who were active in the early 20th Century and before, as I felt uncomfortable re-interpreting works by living or recently living artists for sale.
This collection is dedicated to my brother Steven, who was an avid reader and lover of all things history and art. He especially loved Gauguin, and as you’ll learn from my Van Gogh-inspired necklace, had an affinity for a certain painting by the artist.
Alphonse Mucha-Inspired Art Nouveau Cameo Necklace
Alphonse Mucha-Inspired Art Nouveau Cameo Necklace
Getting his start in Paris as a magazine illustrator, Czech-born illustrator Alphonse Mucha is one of the greatest names of the Art Nouveau movement that flourished at the turn of the 20th Century. His theatrical posters of actress Sarah Bernhardt catapulted his career in the mid 1890s, leading to prestigious projects with clients like JOB cigarette papers, Beers of the Meuse, Moët-Chandon champagne—all of which became vastly celebrated works in his collection. At the turn of the century he designed a calendar for La Plume which depicted a woman’s head encircled by Zodiac signs, which led to his The Seasons series. Many of Mucha’s illustrations feature beautiful female profiles and shapely feminine bodies haloed by the floral and geometrical patterns signature of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, and this is where I chose to draw inspiration for the Alphonse Mucha-Inspired Art Nouveau Cameo Necklace.
At the center of this cast bronze or sterling silver medallion pendant is the profile of a young woman with billowing vintage hair surrounded by an Art Deco fan pattern. The chain measures 18 inches and is 14k gold-filled or sterling silver.