The Art of Bulgari
Reflecting on over four decades of iconic jewellery pieces from Bulgari, the exhibition ‘The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita & Beyond 1950–1990’ highlights a pivotal time in the world of Italian design.
Bulgari notably began to create its own trademark in jewellery in the 1960s by embracing boldly-coloured combinations of gemstones and the use of heavy gold. Their forms were derived from Greco-Roman classicism, the Italian Renaissance and the 19th-century Roman school of goldsmiths. Bulgari helped to develop a look that would come to be known as the “Italian school” of jewellery design. Pieces in the exhibition, display the jeweller’s eclectic creativity and invention during this period.
The 1970s and 1980s also feature heavily throughout the exhibition, in what were significant periods for Bulgari, with influences of Pop Art and cultural motifs. “The hard-edged designs of the 1970s included a whole range based on the Stars-and-Stripes motif, while in the 1980s the Parentesi collection had a smoother, modular, almost architectural presence,” said Martin Chapman, curator European Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita & Beyond, 1950‒1990 is on view at the de Young Museum in San Francisco through Monday 17 February 2014.
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The award-winning fluoro9 explored Bulgari’s role in the history of European jewellery design highlighting their journey through time, space, history and design.
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