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Last month, members of the Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern
Virginia Community College in Annandale took Part V of a continuing journey
through the endless glories of jewelry throughout the centuries. The latest
three sessions covered the period from approximately 1890 to the mid 20th
century. Each session consisted of two hours of dazzling color slides
accompanied by a lecture that placed each beautiful item in the historical,
social and political context of its day. Topics included:
1890-1914: Lalique & Faberge – Looking Forward, Looking
Backward
Participants explored this brief period in which Lalique revolutionized
jewelry design and made Art Nouveau jewelry a worldwide rage, even if
a short-lived one. Meanwhile, his contemporary in Russia, Faberge, was
making jewelry and objects d’art that looked far more to the past,
but whose appeal has endured to the present day, even to the point of
fueling a thriving “Fauzberge” industry.
The 20th Century: Art Deco, Cartier, Harry Winston
This section started with the great watershed of World War I and the
explosion of the Art Deco style onto the worldwide scene with the Exposition
des Art Decoratifs in Paris in 1925. The headlong creation of new materials
and technologies in the wake of the war both inspired and made possible
the striking new departures in color, motifs and materials of Art Deco
jewels.
Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels & Others
In this session members viewed slides depicting a series of works by
the great jewelers of the 20th century. Their works constitute a glittering
chronicle of both traditional and innovative 20th century styles. The
sessions concluded with the dazzling works of Harry Winston, which typified
post-World War II wealth and optimism.
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September 7, 2008
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