An Expert Tour of Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love
Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love, the enthralling and poetic exhibition, arrives at Seoul’s D Museum with over 300 awe-inspiring jewellery pieces and precious objects on display until mid-April. The exhibition's custodians tell L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE more
Time, Nature and Love — to Alba Cappellieri, the curator of Van Cleef & Arpels’ latest, one-week old exhibition in Seoul, these are the three “most important and most representative values of life, and consequently, of the objects that accompany our daily lives.” Revolving around these three paramount themes, the Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love exhibition landed in Seoul’s D Museum last week. And until 14 April 2024, one can expect to discover more than 300 jewellery pieces, watches and precious objects (such as jewelled powder cases, minaudières and fragrance bottles), which have been created since the Maison was founded in 1906, gathered with loans from private collectors and over 90 original archives.
President and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, Nicolas Bos explains that the Time, Nature, Love exhibition was in fact first presented in Milan in 2019 and 2020. “In 2022, it was held at the Power Station of Art, Shanghai’s museum of contemporary art. And in Saudi Arabia at the Saudi National Museum from January to April 2023. Today, we are proud to see it travelling to D Museum, in Seoul," he says.
The exhibition’s key custodian, Cappellieri is an Italian scholar and author, and the Director of the International Master in Jewelry & Fashion Accessories at Politecnico di Milano. She shares that through this exhibition, she has been able to find seminal values as Time, Nature and Love all together in a single jewellery Maison for the first time.
“High Jewellery indulges in a timeless dimension, uninterested in the spirit of the times. This does not apply to Van Cleef & Arpels, which has always had a strong focus on time. This exhibition will demonstrate its ability to represent a fragmented period like the 20th century and its aporiae, the capacity to epitomise the eternal values of beauty, and, at the same time, the fleeting power of seduction. Through the Maison’s creations, nature becomes art, in terms of gems and craftsmanship, but also as a humanistic attitude towards harmony. For me, love is the most powerful energy in the world, and every piece of jewellery is crafted with love. Moreover, Van Cleef & Arpels influenced some of the most legendary love stories of the 20th century with its symbols and gifts of love,” she adds.
The exhibition’s first section, Time, is expansive and one in which Cappellieri drew key concepts from Italian writer Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium to assemble the Maison’s pieces according to their relationship with time. Time extends over 10 sections with the first five reflecting the DNA of the house: Paris, the Elsewhere, Fashion, Dance, Architecture. The next five sections follow values identified by Calvino: Lightness, Quickness, Visibility, Exactitude and Multiplicity. Within Time, you’ll find treasures like the Arc de Triomphe powder case from 1945, the Mystery Set Wild Rose Minaudière from 1938, and even the “Jarretière” bracelet, which was owned by the late actress Marlene Dietrich and is being exhibited for the first time ever. The section is also home to both Cappellieri’s and Bos’ favourite piece, the Zip necklace. “In my view, it is an absolutely central piece that epitomises the Maison. This necklace was the starting point for my dialogue with Alba, as it also inspired her to reflect on the convergence of two features: timelessness and the ability to capture a given era,” explains Bos.
In the second part of the exhibition, prepare to have your mind and body immersed in blooms and greens, as well as birds in flight and cheeky animals — nature, a consistent inspiration for the house, is conveyed through the sub-sections of Fauna, Botany and Flora. Last but certainly not least, the third section, Love displays some 30 precious pieces — clips, rings, bracelets and objects — along with archival sketches and documents that reveal the power of the Maison’s gifts of love.
One can expect scenography and architectural decor that are as captivating as the pieces on display. For the exhibition, designer-artist Johanna Grawunder used pastel lights — referencing celadon ceramics, South Korea’s light blue skies, and manhwa — all around to create a soothing and poetic space. She even fashioned a “luminous sculpture” of scattered, dangling acrylic pieces in the Love section.
“The exhibition is designed as a total aesthetic experience where visitors discover the beautiful pieces while moving through an other-worldly environment built of light, colour and natural geometry. The idea is to weave the history of the two protagonists, Van Cleef & Arpels and D Museum, into a magical, immersive and moving visit. With the use of materials that respond to reflection, luminosity and the light of the jewels themselves, these towers, tables and cases, placed within the organically flowing ribbon of space, offer an emotional and memorable exhibition experience,” says Grawunder.
Of course, even if you've read our exhuastive report, there's nothing quite like seeing in person the incredible high jewellery pieces, secret watches, and ultra-precious objects of Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love — so if you're in Seoul over the next few months, you now know what exhibition to book yourself in for.
Scenography Images: ©Yongjoon Choi
Patrimony Shoot Images with Korea Creative Director, Younghee Suh: ©Eshingoo
