The set of jewels, drawings, objets d'art and glassware acquired by the Collector directly from the artist, with a single exception, between 1899 and 1927, is well representative of Lalique's work. René Lalique (1860-1945) and Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955) shared the experience of a time marked by the fascinating transition of the so-called Belle Époque - with its particular end-of-the-century spirit, present mainly on the remarkable set of Art Nouveau works. Both men were tied by friendship and mutual consideration, well evidenced in the words of the Collector: "My admiration for his unique work increased throughout the fifty years our friendship lasted... I am proud to own, I believe, the largest number of Lalique's works...".

Showcases the world's largest collection of jewelry, artistic glass, and other works by the turn-of-the-twentieth-century artist, in a catalog that offers insight into the breadth of Lalique's achievements.

This volume and the exhibition it accompanies bring together eighty of the finest masterpieces in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon. All of the works of art are richly illustrated in color and described in authoritative texts by the curators of the Gulbenkian Museum. These magnificent pieces, which reflect the renowned art collector Calouste Gulbenkian's eclectic taste, include paintings by Rubens, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Turner, and Manet; silver from services created for the nobility of Russia and Western Europe; Roman medallions; Ottoman ceramics; Japanese lacquerware; jewelry by Lalique; and books and textiles from both East and West. These works of art offer dazzling testimony to Gulbenkian's devotion to the quality of the individual object and to his refined connoisseurship. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum was created under the terms of Gulbenkian's will in order to preserve under one roof the artworks in his collection--one of the preeminent art assemblages of the first half of the twentieth century. Gulbenkian, a successful businessman who was born in 1869 in Ottoman Turkey to an Armenian family, made his fortune in the oil industry. In April 1942, in the midst of World War II, he arrived in Lisbon seeking a peaceful place to live. Portugal had remained neutral in the conflict that was engulfing the world. Gulbenkian spent the rest of his life in Lisbon, where he died in 1955. As a collector--whether of ancient Egyptian art, Islamic art, or European painting and decorative arts--Gulbenkian acquired "only the best."

Showcases the work of the Art Nouveau glass craftsman and jewelry designer.

Winner of the BAC Wadsworth Prize for Business History 2020 When Calouste Gulbenkian died in 1955 at the age of 86, he was the richest man in the world, known as 'Mr Five Per Cent' for his personal share of Middle East oil. The son of a wealthy Armenian merchant in Istanbul, for half a century he brokered top-level oil deals, concealing his mysterious web of business interests and contacts within a labyrinth of Asian and European cartels, and convincing governments and oil barons alike of his impartiality as an 'honest broker'. Today his name is known principally through the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, to which his spectacular art collection and most of his vast wealth were bequeathed. Gulbenkian's private life was as labyrinthine as his business dealings. He insisted on the highest 'moral values', yet ruthlessly used his wife's charm as a hostess to further his career, and demanded complete obedience from his family, whom he monitored obsessively. As a young man he lived a champagne lifestyle, escorting actresses and showgirls, and in later life - on doctor's orders - he slept with a succession of discreetly provided young women. Meanwhile he built up a superb art collection which included Rembrandts and other treasures sold to him by Stalin from the Hermitage Museum. Published to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, Mr Five Per Cent reveals Gulbenkian's complex and many-sided existence. Written with full access to the Gulbenkian Foundation's archives, this is the fascinating story of the man who more than anyone else helped shape the modern oil industry.

With Contemporary Jewellery in Portugal Cristina Filipe presents a comprehensive examination of the history of Portuguese studio jewellery from the dawn of the avant-garde in the 1960s through to the contemporary trends of the early twenty-first century. Filipe sheds light on societal upheavals as well as on the actors who helped to transform jewellery design in Portugal. For here, too -- and even under the pressure and restrictions of the Estado Novo dictatorship under António de Oliveira Salazar (1930s through to the so-called Carnation Revolution of 1974) -- artists reacted to international influences and developed their specific responses to them. Courtesy of numerous interviews with protagonists from the different generations, the author has accomplished a detailed record of developments and trends in contemporary jewellery in Portugal.

The innovative genious of French artist René Lalique (1860-1945) is fully explored and documented in this volume which features one hundred and fifty objects created by the master jeweller . Symbols of the very idea of art nouveau, René Lalique's creations did not limit themselves simply to effecting a stylistic renewal of jewellery. Indeed, Lalique developed a unique form of art somewhere between applied arts, poetry, painting and literature. This volume highlights the technical and poetic contribution of Lalique through a comparison with the creations of such contemporaries and examines Lalique's creative process, through the presentation of a selection of decorative works that inspired him, photographs taken by him, preparatory sketches and life-size studies preceding the creation of a jewel. The authors also contextualize the work as regards the creative arts of the time (theater, literature, music, the glass industry) and the special relationship Lalique had with some of his contemporaries, such as actress Sarah Bernhardt. Through 150 creations---jewellery, glassware, accessories, paintings, photographs, designs for clothes---and authoritative essays, this monograph will illuminate the full range of this ingenious craftsman.

The glory of classic Cartier jewelry is exhibited through fifty years worth of designs shown in this exhibition catalog. It shows how surprising the First Cartiers were, in two clear ways: first, art nouveau elements are almost totally absent. Instead there is a singular reinterpretation of the neoclassical vocabulary: floral motifs, acanthus scrolls, and garlands or drops. Care for detail in these architectural motifs-often in three dimensions-is paramount. At the same time, Cartier introduced the use of platinum for the mounts. This metal was more solid and more luminous but also harder to work. It required a revolution in setting techniques as well as new tools and underlying techniques. Layer by layer, these foundation designs raised Cartier to the position of visionary and pioneer.Specialists, collectors, fans of Cartier objects, and those who love decorative arts will discover a surprising new view of Cartier in this major catalog.