How Van Cleef & Arpels’ ‘Time, Nature, Love’ exhibition in Milan shines a light on the craft of making gorgeous jewellery
Rarely-seen pieces, owned by the rich and famous, such as Elizabeth Taylor and the Aga Khan’s former wife, are now on show in Milan’s Palazzo Reale
When we look at high jewellery, it’s easy to get so dazzled by the gemstones (and the prices) we forget the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into bringing those creations to life. Exhibitions have been a great way of lifting the veil on how these pieces are created. One French jewellery maison highlighting the way these gorgeous pieces are made is Van Cleef & Arpels, which is holding a three-month long exhibition, “Time, Nature, Love”, at Milan’s Palazzo Reale that ends on February 23, 2020.
The free exhibition will feature more than 400 exceptional creations, including 100 archival sketches, designs or documents from the maison’s Heritage collection. The exhibition is curated by Alba Cappellieri, professor of jewellery design at Milan Polytechnic University and director of the Vicenza Museum of Jewellery, with scenography by American architect and designer Johanna Grawunder.
This is the first time Van Cleef & Arpels has held a patrimonial exhibition in Italy. “Palazzo Reale was the ideal place because of its excellence in exhibitions; it is a major museum internationally, and [has] marvellous spaces: the neoclassical interiors of the apartments of the prince and the tapestry rooms are an exceptional setting to do an exhibition,” says Lise Macdonald, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Heritage and Exhibition Director.
Curator Cappellieri was inspired by the late Italian writer Italo Calvino’s Six Memos For The Next Millennium (lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility and multiplicity) in coming up with the overarching theme of the exhibition.
“Literary artifice served to reveal that each of the five ‘memos’ hold within it certain iconic creations of the French Maison, which, in their eternal beauty, crystallise and represent the spirit of the times that produced them,” says Cappellieri.
“The values identified by Calvino are still relevant today, testifying to their veracity, and help us understand Van Cleef & Arpels’ ability to interpret, chisel and transfer time in its precious objects.”
