The origins of contemporary goldsmith research: the jewel from artisan work to work of art - seventh part

The push for a new goldsmith experimentation, as Vinca Masini underlines, comes from the Northern countries, because they, strong in the past experiences of De Stijl and the Bauhaus, starting from the second post-war period, have renewed the whole field of applied arts.

This revolution in the field of precious metals was possible because schools and academies were established with a section dedicated to goldsmithing, such as, for example, the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim, Germany, the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich, the Royal College of Art in London, or the Academie Gerrit Rietveld in Amsterdam and the Escola Massana in Barcelona.

Outside of Italy, then, some of the greatest events related to the world of contemporary jewelry have taken place, starting with the international exhibition held in London in 1961, the International Exhibition of Contemporary Jewellery 1890-1961. In this event, not only the works of the great goldsmiths were exhibited, but also the first experiments of young jewelry artists. It was the first international exhibition since the Second World War.


In the same year, the new headquarters of the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim was opened to the public. The rooms of this museum exhibit the most comprehensive collection of contemporary goldsmith pieces from all over the world; moreover, for years, the Schmuckmuseum has dedicated itself with constancy and dedication to the promotion and diffusion of new languages ​​of goldsmithing.