Cartier, the Power of Magic Exhibition Opens at Shanghai Museum
Panthers, birds, dragons and more spring to life in Cartier, the Power of Magic — an enchanting Shanghai Museum exhibition of Cartier Collection treasures and Chinese artefacts
“This is a show about the power of magic, and the magic intrinsic to jewels,” read the introduction to Cartier, the Power of Magic — an exhibition of over 300 items from the Cartier Collection (the house’s careful selection of jewels, watches and precious objects, from the 1850s to modern day, meant to represent its iconic style), accompanied by 50 artefacts, at the Shanghai Museum. Astonishing it is, with pieces including María Félix’s flexible snake necklace from 1968, the Duchess of Windsor’s Panther brooch from 1949, and a selection of Cartier mystery clocks.
Cartier Collection Director, Pascale Lepeu reminds us that the exhibition’s title comes from a quote by the late French poet and artist, Jean Cocteau, “Cartier, a subtle magician who captures fragments of the moon on a thread of sun”. And so it’s only right that the exhibition begins with the Academician’s sword, designed by Cocteau himself and made by Cartier in 1955. A first for both Cartier and the Shanghai Museum: Scenography was realised with the help of Artificial Intelligence — to be precise, cAITM, an AI model custom built by Chinese artist Cai Quo Qiang and his studio. While it is the second time that Cartier is exhibiting at the Shanghai Museum, Lepeu tells L’OFFICIEL SINGAPORE that Cartier, the Power of Magic is “completely different” from the first, which opened 20 years ago. “Both of us have evolved. We started first with museum artefacts in separate showcases. And now, they are together in showcases — really showing the interaction,” says Lepeu.
Read the full interview with Pascale Lepeu in L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE's Dec/Jan 2025 issue. Cartier, the Power of Magic is open from now to 17 February 2025 at the Shanghai Museum.
