Alba Cappellieri's new book traces jewelry from Art Nouveau to 3D printing

Published by Skira, Alba Cappellieri's 'Gioielli. Dall'Art Noveau al 3D printing' offers a comprehensive study of jewelry design through the 20th century. The director of the Museo del Gioiello di Vicenza adopts a pluralistic perspective linking jewelry to context, ideas, fashion, and key figures. Starting from the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, the book explores technological and aesthetic transformations. It highlights René Lalique's nature-inspired forms and the influence of Symbolist poetry. The Maison de l'Art Nouveau of Siegfried Samuel Bing is presented as a Gesamtkunstwerk featuring works by William Morris, Émile Gallé, Lalique, Auguste Rodin, Pierre Bonnard, and Paul Signac. The narrative covers avant-garde movements, including Alexander Calder's Cirque Calder and his wire jewelry, which inspired Riccardo Dalisi. Elsa Schiaparelli's 1937 metal jewelry designed by Jean Schlumberger is noted, as is the involvement of artists like Picasso, Dalí, Giacometti, and Man Ray. The book also examines kinetic and programmed art by Bruno Munari, Alberto Biasi, Gabriele De Vecchi, the Padua school, the Gruppo N, Gaetano Pesce, and Giampaolo Babetto, whose work Germano Celant called 'a purifying vortex between past and present'. Contemporary Italian designers such as Giulio Iacchetti, Monica Castiglioni, Odo Fioravanti, and Paolo Ulian are featured. The volume includes a rich iconographic apparatus.