Unique by Design: Contemporary Jewelry in the Donna Schneier Collection

The collection of post-World War II jewelry assembled by Donna Schneier chronicles the history of modern and contemporary jewelry worldwide. Her gift to The Metropolitan Museum of Art of 132 necklaces, bracelets, brooches, earrings, and rings created by 88 makers embodies an era in which artists and craftspeople experimented with new materials, techniques and concepts.

The artists represented in the Donna Schneier Collection conceived their works within larger artistic movements, signaling a period in which concepts and ideas were valued more than precious materials. They were inspired by important turn-of-the-twentieth-century jewelers such as René Lalique and Louis Comfort Tiffany, but also looked to artists like Alexander Calder—who began making jewelry in the 1930s—and midcentury modernists like Art Smith and Sam Kramer. Abstraction, Conceptual art, and Minimalism were all powerful influences, along with earlier modernist movements such as the Bauhaus and De Stijl. Performance art, Pop art, and a keen interest in narrative and figurative work also came into play.