23 May 2018

U. A. M. jewelers at the Centre Pompidou

Alongside works by architects, builders and interior designers, the exhibition “U. A. M. : une aventure moderne” features around twenty jewelry items from the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In 1929, designers including Jean Desprès, Jean Fouquet, Gérard Sandoz and Raymond Templier joined the U. A. M. (Union of Modern Artists), eager to move fast, change the world and create something new. A world away from jewelers like Boucheron and Cartier, these inventors of modern jewelry banished all superfluous ornamentation, simplified lines and found stimulation in machines, speed and mechanical pieces like nuts, bolts and ball bearings. To create more affordable pieces, they used cheaper stones like citrine and amethyst, or lacquer. And yet they only really appealed to enthusiasts and an elite that included the Maharajah of Indore. The U. A. M. was dissolved in 1958.

 

« U. A. M., une aventure moderne », 30 May to 27 August 2018 at the Centre Pompidou

To read : « Raymond Templier – Le bijou moderne » by Laurence Mouillefarine and Véronique Ristelhueber,  Norma Editions , 2005.

  • Raymond Templier - Cigaret case in silver and lacquer, 1930 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • Gabriel Guévrékian, villa Noailles' garden - 1926-1928 Picture Thérèse Bonney © Courtesy Bancroft Library, Univ. of California / Raymond Templier, brooch in platinum, onyx, frosted crystal, diamonds - 1929 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • Raymond Templier - Bracelet in gold, platinum and diamonds, 1937 / Ring in platinum, diamonds, 1937 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici Villa E 1027, 1926-1929 © Imbernon éditions, Marseille, 2006

  • Jean Fouquet - Bracelet in gold, platinum, diamonds, amethysts and moonstones - 1937 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • Robert Delaunay - Manège de cochons, 1922 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI

  • Jean Desprès - Ring in silver, 1930 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • Roger Parry, photomontage Sans titre - Ca 1929 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Jean Fouquet, clip in gold, lacquer and diamonds - 1937 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • Jean Desprès - Necklace in vermeil, ca 1937 © MAD Paris/Jean Tholance

  • To read, the first monographic work dedicated to Raymond Templier by Laurence Mouillefarine - Norma Editions

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