In September, the Kremlin Museums will display a retrospective of the finest artworks by Italian jewelry house Buccellati.
The show entitled “Buccellati. Timeless Art,” which will be held from September 25, 2008 to January 10, 2009 at the Kremlin Museums, is the first historical exposition in Russia dedicated to world-famous Italian jewelry house Buccellati established in 1919.
At a dedicated press conference on June 18, Yelena Gagarina, Director of the Museums, told that at “Buccellati. Timeless Art” it will be possible to see 150 artworks from museums and private collections, which will disclose the signature style of Buccellati to its full extent including timeless classics inspired by the legacy of Renaissance artists.
Larissa Peshekhonova, the exhibition’s supervisor, noted that special attention should be paid to artworks simulating filigree lacy wickerwork or created by way of special engraving making metal surface look like silk, flax or brocade.
Besides, the exhibition will display singular “Heroic Cigar Cases,” which Mario Buccellati, the founder of the house, made for his friend Gabriele d’Annunzio, the Italian poet, dramatist and ace flier of the First World War.
“It was not an easy task to put this exhibition together, since many exhibits are in private collections and the owners of vintage jewelry pieces are wearing them with pleasure even now – Buccellati is making such jewelry, which suits any fashion trends,” RIA Novosti cites the supervisor.
The news agency says that jewelry exhibition “Buccellati. Timeless Art” is not the first experience of this kind for the Kremlin Museums. Earlier, within their walls there displayed the masterpieces of Cartier and Carrera y Carrera.
Mario Buccellati was an apprentice in a Milan jewelry workshop whose business slowed down after the Fist World War. In 1919, Buccellati restored it under his name. From this time on, the company was working to orders from artistic elite – opera singers of La Scala, musicians, writers and painters. Buccellati’s filigree works drew attention of royal persons and European aristocracy.
“The phenomenon of the Milan jeweler’s artwork is based on his own artistic and technical methods, which made his name synonymous to the style he developed. Relying on his personal perception of the Renaissance mentality and workmanship he actually revived the old techniques of the 14th – 16th centuries. “Lacy” jewelry and consummate engraving belong to the “style” characteristic of Buccellati,” the museum attendants said. “Mario Buccellati’s son Gianmaria is holding in holy reverence and developing the undertaking started by his father for already sixty five years. From their very beginning, Buccellati artworks are exclusively singular and rare in their aesthetics and signature techniques.”
Two silver bracelets styled to “metal” lace and made by Mario Buccellati as well as a lady’s box-shaped handbag made of gold and engraved to look like brocade made by Gianmaria Buccellati were named as top exhibits by the museum attendants.
Maria Christina Buccellati, the founder’s grand daughter, representing the jewelry house, said in particular that “preserving quality and exclusivity of products is the most important factor.”