The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

1001 Bissonnet Street, Houston, TX 77005, 713.639.7300

Admission:
Adults $7.00
Seniors & Children (6-19) $3.50

Free general admission on Thursday is courtesy of a generous gift from the Shell Oil Company Foundation.

Hours of operation: Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Thursday 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. Sunday 12:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Closed Monday, except Monday holidays
Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde

Jewelry from the Helen

Williams Drutt Collection

On view through January 27th, 2008 at the Audrey Jones Beck Building

(Courtesy of The Museum of Fine Art)

In 2002, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired the Helen Williams Drutt Collection of contemporary jewelry. Comprised of 720 pieces of jewelry dating from 1963 to the present, the collection provides a global look at the field. Over 175 artists from 18 different countries are represented in the holdings.

Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection fully explores the impact of contemporary jewelry as a global art form. The goal of the exhibition is to broaden the understanding of contemporary jewelry through a multilayered, critical assessment of the history, issues, and most importantly, the jewelry itself. Placed in context with seminal movements in the non-craft art world, the exhibition encourages the appreciation of contemporary jewelry beyond its traditional boundaries without ignoring its roots. Approximately 300 objects, including about 275 pieces of jewelry, 20 drawings and watercolors, and 3 constructions and sculptures are included in the exhibition.

The exhibition begins in the 1960s, when a dramatic shift occurred in how ornament and jewelry were perceived. Breaking with tradition, artists placed their works within larger artistic movements, signaling a period of independence in which concepts and ideas were valued more than precious materials. In Europe, artists such as Claus Bury, Gijs Bakker, Gerd Rothmann, and Emmy van Leersum incorporated alternative materials into their dynamic, often sculptural, pieces. The influence of these avant-garde artists, based in Germany and the Netherlands, on jewelry artists in Europe and particularly America, cannot be overstated. Their work in the exhibition includes seminal pieces from this era as well as drawings. American jewelers were exposed to Claus Bury´s jewelry through his Philadelphia lectures in 1973, his teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1979, and his visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as the Objects to Wear exhibition of Dutch jewelry that toured the United States in 1969.

In America, Stanley Lechtzin´s innovative use of industrial technology made possible the development of organic forms and the fusion of diverse materials, while Albert Paley developed a forged aesthetic that boldly challenged the prevailing traditions. Lechtzin, Paley, and Olaf Skoogfors´s residencies at the Tyler School of Arts and the Philadelphia College of Arts made Philadelphia an early center for progressive jewelry. The jewelry department at RISD also played a vital role by hosting European jewelers for workshops, teaching fellowships, and lectures.

The growing sense of community in the 1970s is captured by examining the importance of university programs, exhibitions such as Objects USA, journals, and the establishment of galleries such as Electrum in London, Galerie am Graben in Vienna, Galerie Ra in Amsterdam and Helen Drutt:Philadelphia. This community accelerated artistic development across geographical lines resulting in a widespread use of plastics, fiber, and other materials throughout the 1980s. It also began to encourage the building of collections by museums and private individuals.

The exhibition continues into the 1980s and 1990s demonstrating the growing maturity of American jewelry, as well as the development of second generation artists abroad. The avant-garde nature of the works, the artist´s sometimes controversial use of scale and form, as well as the reliance on concept and ideas are explored.

Listing of Showings from Jan - March, 2008

Houston Wilderness: A Collaboration
Through January 6, 2008
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary: Books and Photographs by Lee Friedlander
Through January 13, 2008
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Gráficas Políticas: Mexican Prints, 1900—1950
Through January 13, 2008
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Kara Walker and Vasco Araújo: Reconstruction
Through January 13, 2008
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building

Pompeo Batoni: Prince of Painters in Eighteenth-Century Rome
Through January 27, 2008
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building

Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c. 1600-1900 and Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy and the Qur´an
Through February 3, 2008
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Love Tokens: Portrait Miniatures from the Caroline A. Ross Collection
Through March 2, 2008
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

Modern and Contemporary Masterworks from the MFAH
Through March 2, 2008
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building

Nan Goldin: Stories Retold
Through March 30, 2008
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building

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