Paris, France — The Art Nouveau movement came in 1890 and went circa 1910, but its soothing, return to nature objects have fortunately remained with us to this day. Flora and fauna, these were central to the movement and working in difficult materials to shape and set, like precious metals and precious gemstones, the jewelry creators of the day, like René Lalique produced tiny masterpieces.  Some 100 of these beguiling jewels have been brought together in an exhibition entitled A New Art, the Metamorphosis of the Jewel, 1880-1914 being held at the L’Ecole, the School of Jewelry Arts which is supported by the house of Van Cleef & Arpels. The venue is located just steps away from the world capital of high jewelry, the Place Vendôme.

Science and scientific knowledge became widely disseminated from the middle of the 19th century into the turn of the 20th, spurred on by Darwin’s  research into the origin of the species.  And designers and creators of the arts and crafts marveled at the natural world and its phenomena. Their only constraint was the difficulty of working the materials that went into their creations. Which makes these creations even more precious and sensational. Artists like René Lalique, Georges Fouquet, Élisabeth Bonté, Victor Prouvé, Jean Dampt, Jules Desbois, Edward Colonna and Eugène Grasset pieced together precious stones like diamonds and emeralds and pearls into extraordinary, priceless jewels. It was during this period that jewelry was raised to the rank of art object. 

There is the sphinx brooch from René Lalique in rock crystal, gold, enamel and diamonds. Georges Fouquet’s seascape comb is a wonder world of gold, tortoise shell and abalone mother-of-pearl. A brooch depicting a woman and an enchanting floating  octopus by the jeweler and goldsmith Louis Aucoc delighted many of the visitors while René Lalique’s brooch with four fireflies fascinated. Other jewels feature winged fish and entwined dragons. And a mysterious sylph, wings spread, revealing gold, enamel and diamonds is a highlight of the show. « Art Nouveau was able to poeticize the world and make people dream, » commented Rossella Froissart, the exhibition curator in an interview. 

Founded in 2012, L’Ecole, the School of Jewelry Arts, is supported by the world renowned jewelry house of Van Cleef & Arpels, and brings the fascinating universe of jewelry to the world through exhibitions, classes and conferences, in both English and French. And this for over a decade now. Exhibition until September 30th which on certain days can be combined with a jewelry class. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. Exhibition is free of charge, reservations obligatory at: https:/www.lecolevancleefarpels.com/fr/en, 31 rue Danielle Casanova, 75001 Paris, France, +33 (0)1 70 70 38 40