ARTS & CULTURE
Thailand. Schlumberger’s lively, experimental designs graced the necks, wrists and lapels of style icons of the era like Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Diana Vreeland, Elizabeth Taylor and Bunny Mellon. More than 30 years after Schlumberger’s death in 1987, Tiffany & Co. still carries his designs. After premiering at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts last year, Jewels of the Imagination: Radiant Masterworks by Jean Schlumberger from the Mellon Collection brings more than 150 priceless pieces of jewelry and objets d’art to the Museum of Fine Arts. Visitors should prepare themselves for a dazzling experience. It’s a visual blockbuster, so stunning that a dimly lit “recovery room” complete with plush lounge chairs has been added for those who are literally knocked off their feet. What makes this show so spectacular is that it’s a double exhibit, basically two breathtaking collections in one. Visitors enter first through a companion exhibition, Drawn to Beauty: The Art and Atelier of Jean Schlumberger, created by curators at the MFA to explore Schlumberger’s process as an artist and designer. Here we see jewelry, sketches, photographs, objets d’art and personal items belonging to the artist. It’s the perfect introduction to Schlumberger, and sets the stage for the grand collection to follow. The main exhibit, Jewels of the Imagination, highlights spectacular pieces from the personal collection of philanthropist and art collector Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. It is presented in the context of four “seasons” or galleries representing the four seasons of Mrs. Mellon’s palatial gardens at her estate in Virginia. An avid gardener, Bunny Melon delighted in the beauty of nature and surrounded
herself in it. Nationally renowned designer Rush Jenkins of WRJ Interior Design, who has designed more than 40 exhibitions for Sotheby’s New York, created the dreamlike spaces. Bunny Mellon’s extensive collection of Schlumberger pieces is the largest, most comprehensive public collection of his work in the world. It was donated to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts between 1985 and 2015. No value has been publicly announced on this collection, a museum representative relayed, but we can only guess it’s beyond imagination (pun intended.) Mrs. Mellon’s love of gardening inspired many of Schlumberger’s botanical jewelry pieces, such as Flower Pot (Pot de fleurs), 1960, an ornate flowering plant emerging from a tiny terracotta pot, encrusted with emeralds and diamonds, with an amethyst flower bursting with gold petals. Another famous piece, Jellyfish, 1967, is a brooch that floats mysteriously on the wearer’s lapel, with a body of moonstones, and dynamic tentacles made of diamonds and sapphires appearing to move through flowing lines. But the exhibit offers much than jewelry. Tabletop sculptures of gold and precious jewels, lapis and gold cigarette cases, bejeweled urns candlesticks and much more bring a world of impossible beauty to our eyes. Jewels of the Imagination is presented by Sabal Trust and organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It will be on view through March 31, 2019. Drawn to Beauty will be closing a few weeks earlier on March 10. The Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg is located at 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg. For hours and ticket information, go to mfastpete.org or call (727) 896-2667
From left: Jellyfish (1967)/ Dot Losange Bangles (1960) /Sea Star (1960) Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon Photo: Travis Fullerton © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts January/February 2019
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