Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Jugendstil Schmuck at the Leopold Museum

I love that the German word for jewelry is schmuck.  In English a schmuck is someone who's stupid, obnoxious, a jerk.  The English meaning comes from Yiddish (if you want a real surprise look up what the real Yiddish definition meant), while the German comes from low German.  It doesn't matter, it's a great word to say.
At the Leopold Museum we saw an exhibit on Jugendstil Schmuck (or Art Nouveau jewelry) in Europe.  Some pieces were done in metal and semi-precious jewels, others featured colorful enamel.  It was a feast for the eyes and a very easily digestible exhibit which really showed the vast range of artistic talent involved in this movement.
Joseph Hoffmann Brooch 1905

Rene Lalique enameled brooch

Kirchgaessner & Kraft, Pforzheim, belt buckle, ca. 1903-1905

No comments:

Post a Comment