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THE JEWELS OF JAR PARIS at the Gilbert Collection The Gilbert Collection, London's newest museum of decorative arts, holds its first contemporary jewellery exhibition with this show of modern jewels, 'The Jewels of JAR, Paris'. To celebrate twenty-five years of creating spectacular jewellery, Joel Arthur Rosenthal (JAR), an artist in gems, is showing 400 extraordinary pieces in this major retrospective. These works have never before been exhibited as JAR's by-appointment-only shop in Paris's Place Vendôme remains the secret of jewellery collectors around the world. Working with a handful of artisans, the few remaining in the world today who are capable of the highest quality craftsmanship, JAR produces seventy to eighty pieces a year. These creations are eagerly awaited by collectors who quickly empty the vitrines of the tiny JAR shop. Craftsmanship and exuberant colours are the hallmarks of JAR. Inspired by nature - butterflies, spectacular flowers, beasts - or the geometrical, JAR's vision, his sense of sculpture and use of precious stones, have challenged the established boundaries of jewellery. "The Greatest Living Jeweller" Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune "The Fabergé of today" Diane von Furstenberg "A sorcerer of stones" US Vogue
François Curiel, Chairman of Christie's Europe and Head of Christie's Jewellery Department Worldwide, has described JAR's jewels as: "Classicism with a twinkle. Creating unique jewels using natural pearls, Kashmir sapphires, Oriental rubies, rare diamonds, and precious stones, JAR has, in less than twenty-five years, made an indelible mark in the world of jewellery. He has created an utterly private world of illustrious and yet anonymous clients forming an exclusive international club whose members instantly recognize their jewels and one another the world over." Highlights of the exhibition include an astonishing range of subjects, materials and colours: a bouquet of violets in multi-coloured sapphires and pink and white diamonds; a parrot tulip of rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and enamel; a Russian white agate cushion clock with diamond-initial hands chasing one another; a collection of grey pearls, perhaps the greatest in the world, set into a pair of brooches; trembling, life-size lilacs; and a diamond-thread ring spelling out 'éternité'. Four galleries in the Gilbert Collection will be transformed for this exhibition by the designer Jasper Jacob. The rooms will be near dark, the jewels seemingly suspended in their cases, dazzlingly lit up by the torches which will be handed to visitors at the entrance to the show.
An American who has worked discreetly in Paris for a quarter of a century, Joel Arthur Rosenthal was born in New York City in 1943. After graduating from Harvard University with a degree in philosophy and art history, he wrote scripts for Hollywood and French movies. He then designed tapestries with his Swiss business partner, Pierre Jeannet, a psychiatrist, before working with Bulgari in New York for six months. Together Rosenthal and Jeannet launched JAR in Paris in 1977. JAR says: "What will twenty-five years of ideas, of colours, of hundreds of thousands of hours of craftsmen at work, of pleasures and happiness, what will all this look like in four rooms? I do hope to tickle eyes, and to thank unboundedly our collectors with this exhibition." Sponsored by Additional support has been generously given
by Ellen Barkin and Ronald O Perelman, and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert
Foundation in honour of Lord Rothschild, Chairman of the Gilbert Collection
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