Necklace

Artist Giò Pomodoro (Italian, 1930 - 2002)

Artist Giuseppe Fusari (Italian)

Place of OriginItaly

Date1964

Dimensions3 1/2 × 6 1/8 × 5 11/16 in. (8.9 × 15.5 × 14.5 cm)

MediumYellow and white gold with emeralds

ClassificationJewelry

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Georgia E. Welles

Object number

2019.52

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 34, Jewelry Gallery

DescriptionComposed of five pure 24ct gold textured plaquettes (the large flat sections you see in the center). These were hand-cut, shaped and textured by Pomodoro. It is decorated with an 18ct yellow gold armature, melted gold granules, and numerous fanciful elements, including a kinetic ball. It is embellished with 31 circular or square-cut emeralds, each in a tube setting. Small, rods hold the elements together and it was assembled with the assistance of jeweler Guiseppe Fusari.

Label TextGiò Pomodoro, along with his brother Arnaldo, learned the techniques of goldsmithing from jewelers in Florence, Italy in the 1950s. While his early work often included intricate relief design, this necklace is comprised of hand-cut yellow gold plaquettes, each with a border of white gold. Pomodoro’s dynamic and elegant design includes a kinetic ball and other insect-like movable elements, as well as 31 circular-cut emeralds. Regarded as Pomodoro’s masterpiece, the necklace was featured in the 1967 show Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York and subsequently traveled around the world with the exhibition.Published ReferencesBott, Gerhard, Internationale Ausstellung Schmuck Jewellery, Bijoux, exhibition catalogue, Darmstadt, 1964, no. 189, p. 222.

Neu, Reneé Sabatello, Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Modern Art, NY, 1967, no. 88 (page number needed).

Bott, Gerhard, Ullstein Juwelenbuch. Abendländischer Schmuck von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Frankfurt/M, Berlin, Vienna, 1972, repr. pp.222 (photograph of necklace), 236 (Illustration of companion necklace drawing).

Centrodi, Guiliano (ed), Giò Pomodoro, Ornamenti, 1954-1996, exhibition catalogue, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, 1997, pp. 46-47.

Haspeslagh, Martine Newby, Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors @ 50: 1976-2017, Didier Ltd, London, 2017, pp.100-101, no. 117.

Venet, Diane, Bijoux d'artistes de Calder à Koons. La collection idéale de Diane Venet, Flammarion, Paris, 2018, pp. 162-3, no. 166.

Exhibition HistoryDarmstadt, Germany, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Internationale Ausstellung Schmuck Jewellery, Bijoux, December 10, 1964-February14, 1965.

Darmstadt, Germany, Hessisches Landesmuseum; Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen; New York, Museum of Modern Art (organized exhibition); St. Cloud Minnesota, St. Cloud College; University of Texas, Austin; Roanoke, Virginia, Roanoke Fine Arts Center; Champaign, Illinois, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois; Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, May 23, 1967-May 12, 1968.

Paris, Musee des Arts Décoratifs, Bijoux d'artistes de Calder à Koons. La collection idéale de Diane Venet, March 7-September 8, 2018.