The Bejeweled Summer: The Kaplan Family Jewelry Gallery opens at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

2011 has been the year that jewelry graduated from luxury adornment to curated artwork. Famed Italian jeweler Bulgari took over the entire Grand Palais in Paris for a lavish exhibition chronicling their 150 years. New York’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum hosted “Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels”, an exhibition that was so well attended that it had to be extended twice.

However, of greatest importance to the world of jewelry scholarship and collecting is the opening of the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The MFA was the first museum in the country to hire a dedicated jewelry curator, and Dr. Yvonne Markowitz has put together an exciting exhibition to inaugurate the gallery entitled “Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Ancient to Modern”, on view through November 25, 2012. Ben and Hillary Macklowe attended the opening as a guest of Susan Kaplan. She has an impeccable collector’s eye and is the driving force behind the MFA’s sustained focus on this underserved area of scholarship. The opening party on July 18 was a joyous and lavish affair. Several hundred museum patrons stood in line to get into the intimate space where each piece of jewelry was displayed in isolation, with dramatic lighting, eliciting oohs and aahs from even the most jaded collectors. Afterwards we enjoyed champagne in the Sir Norman Foster-designed atrium where Susan Kaplan was given a much-deserved toast from MFA director Malcolm Rogers and a standing ovation from all gathered. It was a special evening and Hillary and I had to tear ourselves away to make the drive back to New York. We encourage our friends and collectors to make a visit to Boston. The MFA is one of America’s great museums and the Kaplan Gallery makes it a must-see for anyone who loves adornment. Lastly, an hour north of Macklowe Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut the Bruce Museum has mounted an exhibition “Bijoux – The Origins and Impact of Jewelry”. It is a study of the materials, makers and meaning of jewelry throughout human history, and well worth a visit.

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