Exhibition displays together for the first time Man Ray’s photographs and paintings with the mathematical objects that inspired them

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Aline et Valcour, c.1900, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Main Ray, Man Ray, Mannequin with Cone and Sphere, Mathetical Object, Merry Wives of Windsor

Man Ray, Julius Caesar (1948). The Rosalind & Melvin Jacobs Collection, New York. © Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2014

Washington, D.C.—On February 7, 2015, The Phillips Collection introduces Man Ray—Human Equations: A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare, an exhibition exploring the intersection of art and science that defined a significant component of modern art on both sides of the Atlantic at the beginning of the 20th century. Highlighting the multimedia work of the legendary Surrealist artist, Man Ray—Human Equations is on view through May 10, 2015.

Man Ray, MATHEMATICAL OBJECT, Real Part of the Function w=e  (c. 1900). Brill-Schilling Collection. Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris. Photo: Elie Posner

Working in Hollywood in the late 1940s, Man Ray (American, 1890–1976) created his Shakespearean Equations, a series of paintings that he considered to be the apogee of his creative vision. Drawing upon photographs of 19th-century mathematical models he made in the 1930s, the series was a culmination of 15 years of multimedia exploration. Featuring more than 125 works, Man Ray—Human Equations displays side-by-side for the first time the original plaster, wood, papier-mâché, and string models from the Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP) in Paris, Man Ray’s inventive photographs of these unusual forms, and the series of Shakespearean Equations paintings they inspired.

Man Ray, Merry Wives of Windsor (1948). Private Collection, Courtesy Fondazione Marconi, Milan. © Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2015

“Although nearly every significant Man Ray exhibition since 1948 has included at least one of the Shakespearean Equations, no publication or exhibition has ever brought all three components together for an in-depth study,” says exhibition curator Wendy Grossman. “In fact, Man Ray never witnessed the triangle of mathematical object, photograph, and painting displayed as an ensemble. Placed in context with his other paintings, photographs, and objects, these works illustrate the artist’s proclivity to create art across media that objectifies the body and humanizes the object, transforming everyday materials into novel forms of creative expression.”

Man Ray, MATHEMATICAL OBJECT. Imaginary and Real Part of the Derivative of the Weierstrass ℘–Function (c. 1900). Brill-Schilling Collection. Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris. Photo: Elie Posner

The exhibition’s diverse works—including 70 photographs, 25 paintings, eight assemblages or modified “readymades,” and 25 original mathematical models—juxtapose Man Ray’s Surrealistinspired photographs of mathematical models and the associated Shakespearean Equations paintings within the larger context of the role of the object in the artist’s work. This is evidenced by other canvases, photographs, and objects—both celebrated and little-known—linking his wider artistic practice with the Shakespearean Equations project and casting these accompanying works in a new light.

Man Ray, All’s Well That Ends Well(1948). Courtesy of Marion Meyer, Paris. © Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2015

Man Ray—Human Equations sheds light on the development and appreciation of new art forms at the heart of the art/science matrix and the growing acceptance of photographs
as works of art in their own right. The exhibition investigates the journey crossing two decades and two continents that brought the artist from mathematical models to human equations and, ultimately, to the translation of Shakespeare’s plays into an amalgamation of these elements.

Man Ray, Mathematical Object (1934-35). Courtesy of Marion Meyer, Paris. © Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2015

FROM PHOTOGRAPH TO PAINTING

In 1934, Man Ray, already established as a leader of the Dada and Surrealist movements, visited the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris to see a collection of three-dimensional mathematical models, made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to illustrate geometrical properties for the investigation and teaching of algebraic equations. Man Ray accepted a commission from art historian Christian Zervos to take a series of photographs in preparation for an issue of Cahiers d’Art devoted to the “Crisis of the Object.” In so doing, he transformed their appearance through innovative lighting and composition, highlighting forms that would be intriguing, dramatic, suggestive, and disturbing to the observer. His photographs exploited the viewer’s propensity to seek out readily recognizable human forms, emphasizing human and anatomical associations.

Man Ray, MATHEMATICAL OBJECT, Algebraic Surface of Degree 4 (c. 1900). Made by Joseph Caron. The Institut Henri Poincaré, Paris, France. Photo: Elie Posner

Man Ray’s photographs captivated his Surrealist colleagues and art historians and contributed to the debate regarding the importance of the Object that was becoming increasingly integral to recent developments in Surrealism. In 1936, 12 photographs were illustrated in Cahiers d’Art and his original photographs were displayed in major Surrealist exhibitions, including the International Surrealist Exhibition in London, and Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Man Ray, Aline et Valcour (1950). Private Collection.

In 1937, Man Ray published La Photographie n’est pas l’Art, L’Art n’est pas de la Photographie, a manifesto that would signal his abandonment of photography as his major artistic and commercial endeavor. This new direction reflected his renewed interest in painting in France and later engagement with object-making in Hollywood. At the start of World War II, Man Ray fled France and returned to the United States, eventually settling in Hollywood in late 1940.

Man Ray, Untitled (Mannequin with Cone and Sphere) (1926). The Bluff Collection. © Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2015

Having been forced to leave the majority of his work behind, he set about repainting some of his most emblematic Surrealist paintings of the late 1930s. Even without having his photographs of the mathematical objects in his possession, the influence of geometry and mathematics remained prominent in Man Ray’s work.

Man Ray, Main Ray (1935). The Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Dada and Surrealist Art in the Israel Museum, B03.0076. 

During a brief trip to France in 1947, Man Ray retrieved much of his pre-war artistic output and shipped many works back to the United States. These included his photographs of the mathematical models that would inspire an ambitious series of new paintings, signaling a return to figurative “non-abstraction” painting. Ultimately dissatisfied by the typically Surrealist titles that André Breton suggested in 1936 for the corresponding photographs, Man Ray instead assigned the title of a celebrated play to each canvas and named the series Shakespearean Equations. Man Ray considered this series his “final realization of the mathematical equations.” Indeed, these 20 canvases arguably comprise the final important series of paintings by the artist and clearly reflect his affinities with Surrealism.

Man Ray, Shakespearean Equation, King Lear, 1948. Oil on canvas, 18 1/8 x 24 1/8 in. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1972 © Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2015. Photography by Cathy Carver

Man Ray—Human Equations is organized by The Phillips Collection and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The exhibition will also be on view at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, June 11–September 20, 2015, followed by The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, October 20, 2015–January 23, 2016.

Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry Exhibition at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago

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"Three Graces" Pendant, c. 1895-1914, c.1900, c.1915, Chrysanthemum pendant-brooch, Elie Napper, Frederick James Partridge, Galleon Pendant, Guild of Handicraft, Henry Charles Barker, Joël Descomps, Liberty & Co., Lily-Pad hair comb, Mrs. W.H. (Elinor) Klapp, Octopus Waist Clasp, René Lalique, The Artificer's Guild, The Kalo Shop, Tiara with Corn Design, Winged Sylph Brooch

Frederick James Partridge (English, 1877-1942) for Liberty & Co. (English, established 1875), Tiara with Corn Design, c. 1900. Collection of Richard H. Driehaus. Photograph by John A. Faier, 2014, © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

CHICAGO – The Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago presents the major exhibition Maker & Muse: Women & Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry, opening February 14, 2015.

René Lalique (French, 1860-1945), Winged Sylph Brooch, c. 1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Maker & Muse is comprised of works drawn from the Collection of Richard H. Driehaus and prominent private and public collections throughout the United States. Driehaus Museum founder and art collector Richard H. Driehaus began acquiring Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts jewelry in the 1990s and has never publicly shown his collection before. Additional pieces are being loaned from museums and private collectors from across the country including the Newark Museum, Tiffany & Co. Archives, and the Chicago History Museum.

René Lalique (French, 1860-1945), Chrysanthemum Pendant-brooch, c. 1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

The exhibition features more than 250 stunning pieces of jewelry created between the late Victorian Era and World War I. During this vibrant period, jewelry makers in the world’s centers of design created audacious new styles in response to the growing industrialization of the world and the changing role of women in society. Their work—boldly artistic, exquisitely detailed, hand wrought, and inspired by nature—became known as art jewelry.

René Lalique (French, 1860-1945), Aquamarine Pendant, c. 1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

“The urge for a new aesthetic emerged simultaneously in many countries at the turn of the century,” says Elyse Zorn Karlin, Exhibition Curator. “Art jewelry styles are as unique to the regions in which they were created, but together were defined by a rebellion against the strictures of the past and a look toward an exciting, less-encumbered future. This exhibition is the most extensive look to date of the sheer diversity and beauty of art jewelry during this period, and offers a new and groundbreaking perspective on woman’s role within that world.”

Wilhelm Lucas von Cranach (German, 1861-1918), Octopus Waist Clasp, c.1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Women were not only the intended wearers of art jewelry during the early twentieth century, but an essential part of its creation. From the world’s first independent female jewelry makers to the woman as artistic motif, the art jewelry of the new century reflected rapid changes in definitions of femininity and social norms.

Attributed to Guild of Handicraft (English, 1888-1907), Doubled-side Enamel Necklace, c. 1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Exemplary examples of necklaces, brooches, bracelets, pins, rings, jeweled and enameled boxes, pendants, buckles, cloak clasps, accessories, and tiaras are featured in Maker & Muse. Each of the Museum’s second-floor galleries is devoted to jewelry showcasing the five areas of design and fabrication: the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain, Art Nouveau in France and Belgium, Jugendstil in Germany and Austria, Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York, and American Arts and Crafts in Chicago. Each gallery explores the historic social milieu associated with these movements, accompanied by selected contextual objects of the period.

Elie Napper (English, 1886-1972), Lily-Pad hair Combs, c. 1906 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

“The true beauty and value of art jewelry lies in the artist’s vision and mastery of technique, rather than in the sum value and size of precious metals and stones. Each of the works in the exhibition is truly a complete work of art in miniature,” says Mr. Driehaus. “I’m delighted to exhibit my jewelry collection for the first time for Driehaus Museum visitors to enjoy, and am honored to be joined by the distinguished collectors and museums who recognize and celebrate their artistic quality. Together, these works tell a complete story of many jewelers’ aspirations, techniques, and accomplishments.”

Joël Descomps (French, 1872-1948), « Three Graces » Pendant, c.1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Highlights include four revival-style works by Mrs. Newman of London, who paved the way for female jewelry makers of the British Arts and Crafts movement; a daring brooch depicting the female nude form by the consummate French jeweler René Lalique; a Jugendstil pin by the Wiener Werkstätte, to be worn by the hostesses of Vienna’s premier Cabaret Fledermaus; rare designs by Julia Munson, the first director of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s jewelry studio; and exceptional works from Chicago’s distinguished Kalo Shop, founded by Clara Barck Welles.

The Artificer’s Guild (English, 1901-1942), Pendant, c.1900 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

The companion book Maker & Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry (The Monacelli Press) features essays by prominent experts in the jewelry field with each revealing new research about the unique women who created or inspired art jewelry. The book’s authors include Elyse Zorn Karlin, exhibition curator; Yvonne Markowitz and Emily Stroehrer of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Janis Staggs, of the Neue Galerie, New York; Jeannine Falino, Independent Curator, New York; and Sharon Darling, Historian, Chicago. The publication is comprised of stunning, full-color images by primary photographer John A. Faier and features a preface by collector Richard H. Driehaus.

Henry Charles Barker (English, 1850-1950), Galleon Pendant, c.1915 © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

Mrs. W.H. (Elinor) Klapp (American, 1845-1915), Brooch, c. 1895-1914. Collection of the Bronson Family. Photograph by Firestone and Parson © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

René Lalique (French, 1860-1945), Panel Brooch, c. 1900. Collection of Richard H. Driehaus. © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photograph by John A. Faier, 2014, © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

The Kalo Shop (American, 1900-1970), Necklace, 1900. Collection of Neil Lane. Photograph by John A. Faier, 2014, © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum.

Lucien Gaillard 1861-1933 Attrib., Art Nouveau Comb, French, c.1900

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Art Nouveau Comb, c.1900, Lucien Gaillard

Lucien Gaillard 1861-1933 Attrib., Art Nouveau Comb, French, c.1900. Photo Tadema Gallery

Horn Gold Sapphire. H: 13 cm (5.12 in)  W: 11 cm (4.33 in). Signed in Japanese script Kozan. Original fitted case marked: ‘Osaka, Paris’. Original Fitted Case

Literature: The Comb, Its History and Development, Jen Cruse, 2007, illustrated p.35
The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery 1850-1910, Munich, 1991, page 265 & 272 for similar combs.
Pre-Raphaelite to Arts & Crafts Jewellery, 1989, Gere & Munn, page 18 for a similar unmarked example
Imperishable Beauty, Art Nouveau Jewelry, Yvonne J. Markowitz & Elyse Zorn Karlin, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2008, p. 68, 106 & 147

(source Tadema Gallery)

Powerhouse Museum unveils its largest jewellery exhibition yet

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1884-85, 1896-1908, about 1860, August Hollming, ‘Wasekaseka’ necklace, bee brooch, c.1900, Cigarette case, Egypt, Egyptian style necklace, Fabergé, faience pottery, Fiji, FJ Partridge for Liberty & Co, Giovanni Antonio Santarelli, Goldfields brooch, Lola Montez brooch, London, Luigi Freschi, mid 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte, Nicole Kidman, Phillips, Russia, Shoe buckles, St Petersburg, Stefano Canturi, The Lady Granville Beetle Parure, Tiara, Wedjat eye

SYDNEY.- The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences is displaying rarely seen treasures from its rich decorative arts collection in a striking new exhibition A fine possession: Jewellery and identity, at the Powerhouse Museum from 24 September 2014 – 20 September 2015.

Spanning millennia of jewellery history across continents and cultures, A fine possession is the Museum’s most ambitious jewellery exhibition ever staged. With over 700 pieces spanning time, place and culture, it tells the stories of jewellery designed, made and worn in Australia and across the globe.

“This exhibition is a fascinating window into our past, exploring some of the earliest days of creative expression, and highlights the importance of our collecting institutions in preserving the material heritage and stories of New South Wales and Australian culture, history and lifestyle,” said Minister for the Arts, Troy Grant.

Among the precious pieces worn by high- profile Australians that feature in the exhibition are a star- studded ring from fashion designer Catherine Martin, a sparkling neckpiece worn by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge, and a stunning diamond brooch worn by Cate Blanchett to the Oscars. This exhibition reveals the intimate details behind these dazzling objects and many more, asking us why the appeal of jewellery remains timeless and universal.

Other highlight objects range from ancient Egyptian amulets and heart scarabs through unique pieces of Victorian mourning jewellery; an ornate Napoleon Bonaparte ring carved in onyx by Italy’s Antonio Santorelli around 1800; the beautiful and bizarre Lady Granville parure made from exotic iridescent beetles; and contemporary conceptual works including a rainbow-coloured bracelet by acclaimed Glasgow designer Peter Chang and a ‘Tiara’ made of aluminium sardine tins by Venice Biennale 2015 artist Fiona Hall.

A fine possession showcases jewels of desire made from a variety of traditional and avant-garde materials, while addressing the key theme of ‘our place in time’ through a remarkable selection of jewellery collected in Australia. The exhibition also aims to celebrate some of the diversity of Asian, African and Oceanic adornment, as well as the innovation and creativity of contemporary studio jewellers.

“This stunning exhibition brings together objects from the Museum’s own rich collection that have rarely or never been seen, alongside prized possessions from a range of private and public collections from Australia and overseas,” said Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Director, Rose Hiscock.

These include pieces borrowed from the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Galleries of NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA); as well as community galleries, private collectors such as Anne Schofield Antiques in Woollahra, jewellers, critics and academics.

A fine possession Curator Eva Czernis-Ryl says the exhibition will appeal to anyone with “an interest in creative jewellery from different periods and cultures, and in objects of intimate beauty that enchant, surprise and stimulate the imagination”.

The exhibition and key contents are broken up into the following themes:

Belief & Magic: Jewellery design has long been influenced by belief and magic. From amulets and talismans, to images and motifs inscribed on objects, prized possessions have been used to ward off evil spirits, safeguard against ill health and misfortune. The personal nature of jewellery has ensured it has forever been used to mark rites of passage, and recognised for its ability to possess protective, religious and magical powers.

Wedjat eye Amulet made of faience pottery, Egypt, 817-725 BC. Photograph: Marinco Kodjanovski./Powerhouse Museum

Love & Death: Jewellery has long been made and worn as a marker of love and death. This section juxtaposes how and why people have commissioned, exchanged and worn jewellery relating to the vastly different emotions of love and grief. Highlight objects range from sentimental jewellery exchanged by lovers through to memento mori jewellery featuring skulls and skeletons as a reminder of mortality, as well as mourning jewellery made from jet and human hair worn to mourn loved ones.

Gold ring set with an eye miniature within a border of seed pearls, plaited hair and half pearls from around 1810. Photograph: Anne Schofield Collection/Richard Gates Photography

Nature & Culture: The wonder and beauty of the natural world has inspired jewellery in every culture. From spiritual exploration to scientific interest, our desire to understand and imitate nature has been central to different jewellery styles from floral jewellery of the European rococo style to Victorian flowers and insects beautifully trapped in gold, or objects crafted from native fauna including shells and coral, birds’ beaks and feet, feathers and beetles. Highlights include Chinese hairpins made from kingfisher feathers, Pacific jewellery made from brilliantly coloured beetles and Aboriginal necklaces made from kelp shell.

The Lady Granville Beetle Parure in its original box, consisting of tiara, necklace and earrings made from beetles and gold, Phillips, London, 1884-85. Photograph: Hawkins Family Collection

Antique diamond and sapphire bee brooch, 18ct gold setting, English, c.1880. Photograph: Anne Schofield Collection/Richard Gates Photography

Style & Revival: The arts of ancient classical cultures have been a recurring source of inspiration for European jewellers since the 1500s. In the mid-eighteenth century jewellers returned to Ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration and from around the 1860s, once again ancient models returned to the spotlight. This time around, jewellers aimed at historical accuracy often copying archaeological finds. Led by the legendary firms of Castellani of Rome and Giuliano in London, jewellery in the ‘archaeological style’ was made alongside that reviving renaissance patterns and techniques particularly enamelling.

Egyptian style necklace and earrings made of lapis lazuli and gold by Luigi Freschi in Rome, about 1860. Photograph: Anne Schofield Collection

An 18th century English ring of rose-cut diamonds, blue enamel, silver, gold from the private collection of Moulin Rouge costumer designer Catherine Martin. Photograph: Powerhouse Museum

‘Napoleon Bonaparte’ ring: Onyx cameo, gold, carved by Giovanni Antonio Santarelli, Florence, Italy, about 1800. Private collection of Anne Schofield AM

Gold & Identity: The discovery of gold in Australia in the 1850s led to a massive influx of people, including many immigrants who were also skilled jewellers. Their beautiful craftsmanship and the abundance of materials helped to forge Australian identity and a uniquely Australian jewellery style. In addition to unique goldfields jewellery, expect to see every element of Australian flora and fauna captured in massive gold brooches and bracelets and precious collector items from the Federation period.

Lola Montez brooch : Gold, garnets, Melbourne, 1855. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2014

Goldfields brooch with foliate design, 1855 – 1865. Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, gift of Una and Winifred Lane, 1954; Purchased 1984

Status & Wealth: Traditionally people have worn jewellery as an expression of their wealth and status, but its meaning and value is shaped by society, and the materials it is made from are accorded different values by different cultures. While gold, diamonds and pearls are highly valued in the West, jade is favoured in Asia, metals and beads in Africa and whale ivory in the Pacific. Experience the vivid diversity of prized possessions from around the world through the ages.

‘Wasekaseka’ necklace made of sperm whale teeth and plant fibre in Fiji, mid-19th century. Photograph: Marinco Kodjanovski/Powerhouse Museum

Men & Adornment: Historically, most cultures recognised the power of jewellery to assert the place of important men in society. From chieftains in the Pacific and Africa, through noblemen and royalty in the grand courts of Europe, to Indian princes and mandarins in China, rich adornment has signified prowess, status, wealth and office. Highlights include coveted fobs, buckles and rings worn by European gentlemen, ceremonial ornaments worn by central Asian Warriors and Pacific chieftains and even an African Dinka corset.

Shoe buckles (from court suit): Sterling silver, paste (glass), steel, England, about 1770–1830. Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, purchased 1959

Modernity & Change: The twentieth century brought far-reaching changes to the way people lived, worked and thought and vast changes to what people wore, from fashion through to jewellery. Featured objects from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and private collections show the trajectory of objects through the ages, including the feminine decadence of the Art Nouveau, the modernism of Art Deco in the aftermath of the war, and into the psychedelic experiments of the 1960s and 1970s.

Cigarette case in a presentation box of gold, diamonds and enamel, designed and made by August Hollming for Fabergé in St Petersburg, Russia, 1896-1908. Photograph: Powerhouse Museum

Tiara of horn and moonstone made by FJ Partridge for Liberty & Co, England, c.1900. Photograph: Geoff Friend/Powerhouse Museum

Contemporary & Expressive: The last four decades have seen an explosion of creativity in jewellery studios. Jewellers created jewellery as an artistic expression rather than for trade. This segment of the exhibition showcases Australian and European contemporary jewellery marked by individuality and the desire to engage. Sources of inspiration include nature, modernism, global issues, personal and cultural identity and the potential of old and new materials and technologies; the fantasy section includes jewellery inspired by film and fictional stories.

Designer Christel van der Laan’s ‘priceless neckpiece, Kallaroo, Western Australia, 2003. What seems to be made of crystal is actually made up of polypropylene shop price tags. Photograph: Powerhouse Museum Collection / Yasuko Myer Bequest

Acrylic, polyester, polyurethane foam and silver bracelet, designed and made by Peter Chang, Glasgow, Scotland, 2004. Photograph: Powerhouse Museum

‘Satine’ by Stefano Canturi, created for Nicole Kidman’s role in Moulin Rouge and inspired by the Louis XVI style. The original featured 1308 diamonds of 134 carats, making it the most valuable piece of jewellery ever created for a film. This silver and crystal replica was its stunt double. Photograph: Powerhouse Museum, Sydney