POETRY in MOTION As a fascinating new exhibition comes to the Design Museum, Vivienne Becker muses on how Van Cleef & Arpels has perfected the art of movement in jewellery
J
ewellery possesses one particular characteristic, or function, which sets it apart from other decorative arts or design disciplines: it’s made to be worn, to interact with the body, to float on the skin, harmonise with our movements. It is an essential role that makes the art of jewellery, the seamless fusion of design excellence and virtuoso craftsmanship, so challenging. Jewellery has to come alive when worn, in motion, as its precious components play with light, sheen and silhouette. For the Parisian heritage maison, Van Cleef & Arpels, movement, physical and metaphorical, has been part of an everevolving design language, a driver of creativity since its founding in 1906. Now a new exhibition at London’s Design Museum, ‘The Art of Movement’, delves deep into the maison’s ongoing quest to imbue precious materials with movement, dynamism, fluidity and melody. An exhibition that shows how movement, in all its meanings and iterations, is embedded in the raison d’être of a jewel. Lise Macdonald, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Patrimony and Exhibitions Director and the exhibition’s curator explains: ‘The maison witnessed the evolution of mobility in society, and the increasing importance of motion in 20th century artistic movements. Representing movement has thus been one of Van Cleef & Arpels’ selfimposed challenges, leading it to imagine creative designs and develop techniques.’ The first historical Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition to be held in London, the show is the third movement-related event in the UK over the past year, following ‘Dance Reflections’, a festival of dance and choreography in collaboration with Sadler’s Wells, the Royal Opera House and Tate Modern, and the maison’s movement-themed presentation at Masterpiece art fair, showing objects
including a vintage ballerina brooch, the mesmerising ‘Rêveries de Berylline’ automaton, a leaping frog brooch and a shooting star clip. Together, the trio of events is fittingly called ‘Pas de Trois’. Tim Marlow, Chief Executive and Director of the Design Museum, shares his point of view: ‘Jewellery design has such a long and illustrious history but it often gets overlooked. I know our audiences are excited by the opportunity to see the intricate, dynamic and highly original designs that have characterised Van Cleef & Arpels’ work over the past century and which remain at the forefront of contemporary jewellery.’ Comprising around 100 jewels and objects, most from the maison’s heritage collection, along with archive documents and loans from private collections, the exhibition is divided into four thematic chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of movement, interpreted through different eras, styles and creative expressions. The scenography, with its floating ribbons and pleated fabriccovered showcases, amplifies the theme by referencing Van Cleef’s long connection to the world of couture, to fabric, folds and frills; visitors are welcomed with a hypnotic vision, an anamorphic ribbon curled into a stylised flower form. Nature, first among Van Cleef’s themes and inspirations, opens the exhibition. ‘Nature Alive’ highlights the unstoppable growth of plants, flowers, leaves in constant flux, animals in motion, birds in flight and a diamond feather wafting on the breeze. An abundance of flower clips includes a silhouette flower brooch (1937), its undulating gold outline suggesting overblown petals, while a Bellflower sapphire and diamond clip (1969) demonstrates the maison’s signature technique, serti mystérieux, enabling intense colour and light to ripple across the surface of floral and foliate creations. The dial of a secret watch (1956) is hidden behind sapphire-
PHOTOS: © VAN CLEEF & ARPELS SA
CULTURE | Exhibition
88 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.COM | September/October 2022
Van-Cleef-V4 STG.indd 88
25/08/2022 14:19
