In the city of Vienna, along the banks of the river Wien, lies the Museum für angewandte Kunst also affectionately known as MAK. Completed in 1871, the building was modeled off London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (known as the South Kensington Museum at the time). From July 10 to September 27, this Museum of Applied Arts presents a spectacular display of jewels not just from the famous Parisian design house, Van Cleef and Arpels, but rare works from the permanent collection of the museum itself in an exhibition called GLANZSTÜCKE Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry × Masterpieces from the MAK Collection. Exhibits include approximately 160 masterpieces from the thirteenth to the twentieth century displayed alongside 350 pieces of high-jewelry and watchmaking to depict a story in six parts. What makes all of this better is that being in Vienna is not in the travel plans until September 29 (which is when this exhibition ends), the presentation can be experienced via the next best thing – the official exhibition catalogue published by Hannibal Books.
diamonds. © Van Cleef & Arpels Collection. All images courtesy of Hannibal books
This experience is divided into themed sections, each with subject matter that covers a specific idea. The rooms are named Wanderlust, Architecture, Rhythmic Designs, On Stage, Metamorphosis, and Nature and Cosmos and are designed to be experienced at a leisurely pace–a quality beautifully translated into the catalogue itself. A publication of significant weight, this book engulfs the reader through the visual, olfactory (the “new book smell” provides an added dimension to the pleasure of the experience), and tactile senses all at once. Each double-page spread focuses on a single object on display with didactic text in both German and English. The Van Cleef and Arpels pieces are compared stylistically to a myriad of works ranging from furniture and wallpaper to clothing and serveware.
A rich history of the works in question is told using relevant examples that adhere to the themed sections of the exhibition. The chapter named “Wanderlust” opens with a mouth-watering image of one of the first objects d’art from the Van Cleef and Arpels studios–the Varuna Yacht. Inspired by the aristocratic tradition of the Grand Tour in the early twentieth century, the design house produced pieces that touched upon many relevant subjects of the period.A miniature of the luxury yacht that belonged to the Gilded Age socialite Eugene Higgins, the miniature objet is a representation of the extravagant nature of the global adventures of the nineteenth-century elite. When British archaeologist Howard Carter, funded by Lord Carnarvon, unearthed the ancient Egyptian tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, the world was struck with the third wave of Egyptomania, something that even the jewelry makers of Paris were not immune to. The Van Cleef and Arpels Egyptian pattern bracelets and brooches took off with robust popularity, bringing the geometric motifs of the hieroglyphs back into fashion’s ever wandering eye. And on the subject of eyes, fellow Egyptomaniac Gustav Klimt has included the symbol which represents the connection between order and chaos in ancient Egyptian mythology in the Stoclet friezes painted by Kilmt for the Palais Stoclet in Brussels and a great example of the artist’s use of Egyptian motifs.
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Other notable objects include the stunning art deco silver serving tray by Kolomon Moser which is presented in complement with the iconic Belle De Jour necklace which now resides in the Van Cleef and Arpels design archives, making an appearance for the eyes to feast on the wonders of modernist design. The catalogue also provides an exploration between textiles, fashion and jewelry. One can also find the delicate pleats of Maison Fortuny displayed as an exhibit with the jewelry house’s Mystery IV Aircraft necklace evoking similar linear forms, tying together the visual story of the experience. This exhibition catalogue published by Hannibal Books is the perfect mirror, reflecting the exhibition that it documents in vivid detail and shimmering imagery. Step inside its pages, you won’t regret it.
