Unique by Design: Contemporary Jewelry in the Donna Schneier Collection, includes work by gallery artists Giampaolo Babetto, Jamie Bennett, Melanie Bilenker, Helen Britton, Lola Brooks, Myra Mimlitsch-Gray (above), Sondra Sherman and Bettina Speckner.
The exhibit will open in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art Design and Architecture and run from May 13 through August 31, 2014, will provide a close look at more than 100 pieces that came to The Metropolitan Museum of Art through a significant 2007 gift from collector Donna Schneier. In the counterculture environment of the 1960s, a dramatic shift occurred in Europe that changed the art world’s perception of jewelry and ornament. Jewelry makers broke tradition by questioning the use of precious materials and art jewelry entered a phase of critical introspection and material exploration on an international scale. The postwar economic boom and new educational opportunities ignited the field’s transformation. Donna’s Schneier’s approach to collecting jewelry has been based on documenting the central figures and works from this adventurous era. She began by collecting post-World War II international jewelry in the mid-1980s, beginning with pieces by artists such as Caroline Broadhead and Otto Kunzli and since then has continued to collect museum-quality works.
pictured: Myra Mimlitsch-Gray Brass Knuckles Ring, 1993 24K gold over brass, brass charms H. 4 x W. 4 x D. 2 in. (10.2 x 10.2 x 5.1 cm) Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Donna Schneier, 2007
