The Brooklyn Museum in New York is currently hosting a wonderful exhibit called "From the Village to Vogue."  The exhibit will be showing the gift of 21 pieces of gold and silver jewelry which were created by modernist jewelry designer Arthur Smith.

 

The presentation honors the gift of twenty-one pieces of silver and gold jewelry created by the Brooklyn-reared modernist jeweler Arthur Smith (1917–1982).  Smith, an African American,  was trained at Cooper Union and opened his first shop in Greenwich Village in the early 1940s.  He is known as one of the leading modernist designers of the mid 20th century.

 

The exhibit also includes archival material from the artist's estate, such as tools, period photographs of models, sketches and even the original shop sign.

 

There will also be an additional thirty pieces of modernist jewelry on display from the permanent collection by such artists as Elsa Freund, Claire Falkenstein, Ed Weiner, and Frank Rebajes.

 

The designs of Art Smith are inspired by primitivism, surrealism and bimorphicism.  The jewelry is dynamic in both size and form, even ranging to very large pieces such as the one shown here which extends over most of the model's forearm.

 

The jewelry dates from the 1940s to the 1970s so will be of particular interest to vintage jewelry collectors.  The exhibit started in early January and will be on display until March 14, 2010.  If you will be in New York, it's a must see.