Form and Function

This book is the catalog for two of the first major exhibits to show only modernist jewelry from such a broad group of artists. Both take place in 2008 in Fort Wayne, Indiana: one at The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (May 2 to August 24) and the other at The University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts (May 2 to May 30). Over fifty collectors and living art jewelers have lent some of the best examples of this innovative style. Sculptors Alexander Calder, Harry Bertoia, Jose de Rivera, Peter and Daniel Macchiarini, Earl and Tod Pardon, and merry rank are among the 96 artists featured, along with their extensive jewelry creations. Their work was experimental and stimulated originality in successive generations. Plastics, pearls, brass, copper, silver, gold, and enamels are among the materials found here in mini-sculptures and jewelry ornaments for men and women alike. The author's extensive research uncovers connections among the artists and documents this important art period and medium. Artists, collectors, cultural historians, and students all will want to see the exhibits and own the catalog. AUTHOR: Marbeth Schon is a jewelry historian and dealer in modernist jewelry and mid-20th century pottery and glass from Natchez, Mississippi. She is the author of Modernist Jewelry, 1930-1960, The Wearable Art Movement and the curator for two important 2008 exhibitions of modernist jewelry and sculpture at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and at The University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, both in Fort Wayne, Indiana.