Gilbert Albert. Nature's Jeweller

Taking after the movements initiated around the turn of the 20th century, heralding the advent of contemporary craft jewellery with his use of novel materials, the Geneva-based jeweller Gilbert Albert (born 1930) developed a style deeply rooted in nature. The exhibition proposes to explore this connection through a selection of “naturalistic” collections (crystals, corals, fossils, unpolished stones and gems, scarabs, etc.), as well as prominent examples of modern jewellery (Art Nouveau jewellery, Geneva School of Industrial Arts, etc.), all part of the MAH collections. These pieces re-contextualise Gilbert Albert’s work within the frame of evident infl uences and less obvious inspirations. Though the master was known as a very critical witness of his time, famous for his “swiping claws” as much as for his “interchangeable beads”, the multiplicity of his vocabulary (beading, wrinkling, organic chasework, navette cut and fi ngerprinting, etc.) offers a new take on jewellery sets, both baroque and highly cultured. The exhibition relies on an extensive body of works donated to the museum in 2016 by the Gilbert Albert Foundation and will mark the master’s 90th birthday. To echo his favourite theme, the scenography will evoke luxuriant greenery.