about
Father of art jewelry
Alexander Calder, the famous sculpture of the first half of the 20th Century, is known as the Father of Art Jewelry. Something around a thousand of pieces of his jewelry are seen here and there, and he used to hold shows of his jewelry at art galleries, despite the fact of being a well-known sculpture. His interest in making jewelry rooted in his childhood, when he used to make jewelry for his relatives using cheap materials. He never considered his jewelry to be less important than his sculptures and paintings after becoming famous as an established artist. In this concern, he was a follower of Bauhaus Style, and he did not admit such valuing system. In this style, any made piece, from sculpture to daily life objects, had their own special values. Calder has several works in a variety of art mediums due to his explorative nature. His works includes large-scale sculptures to tiny objects. His jewelry are some of his small-sized works, which are mainly unique and hand-made. His hanging sculptures “the Mobiles” are his most important works of art. He paid attention to these sculptures when creating his jewelry.
In his jewelry, both the motions of one wearing it, and the view of the one seeing it matter. It seems as if his jewelry is also Mobiles. Motion and body are two determinants in these pieces of jewelry. On the other hand, he has taken benefit from a variety of symbols in these pieces. Calder’s jewelry may be placed on a leg or installed onto a wall like a small sculpture. Calder’s free view towards jewelry is so special that few artists had the same view throughout the history.
Banafsheh Hemmati