Van Cleef & Arpels in exhibition in Milan

In Milan, 400 jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels in a large exhibition that tells the story of the Parisian Maison ♦ ︎

The great, sparkling, imaginative world of Van Cleef & Arpels enclosed in the halls of an exhibition held in Milan. A unique opportunity to admire archival documents, line drawings and gouaches up close, as well as 400 jewels and watches, which tell the origins of the artistic creation of the Parisian Maison from 1906 to today.

The exhibition is scheduled for November 30, 2019 and will end on February 23, 2020 and promoted by the Municipality of Milan and produced by Van Cleef & Arpels, in collaboration with the Cologni Foundation. Set up at Palazzo Reale, the exhibition is curated by Alba Cappellieri, Professor of Jewelery Design and Accessory at the Milan Polytechnic and director of the Jewelery Museum of Vicenza. The jewels come from the Van Cleef & Arpels Collection and from private loans.

The exhibition also offers a special display, with a set designed by the American designer Johanna Grawunder, which is reflected in the rooms of the Appartamento dei Principi and the Sala degli Arazzi of the Milanese palace, which host the three sections in which the exhibition is divided: Time, Nature and Love. Themes that have always inspired Van Cleef & Arpels in creating pieces that have entered the history of jewelry, such as the clip with the dancer, the animals, the zip.

Alba Cappellieri has selected the key concepts through which to decode the creations of Van Cleef & Arpels and their relationship with time inspired by a work by Italo Calvino, Six proposals for the next millennium. The initial section on Time occupies ten rooms, dedicated to distinctive themes. The first room is consecrated in Paris, while the following ones are dedicated to the notion of Exoticism and to the five values ​​of Calvino: Lightness, Quickness, Visibility, Accuracy, Multiplicity. The last rooms of the section then focus on intersections with other disciplines such as dance, fashion and architecture.
In the heart of the exhibition, the section on Love presents creations, testimonies and love pledges, which were the expression of the strength of feelings and that accompanied some great passions of the twentieth century which have now become myths.

Finally, the last three rooms of the exhibition are dedicated to Nature with botany, flora and fauna. They reveal an enchanted world in which the artisan excellence of Van Cleef & Arpels and his search for harmony come together in an absolute art.

Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love
Palazzo Reale in Milan
from 30 November 2019 to 23 February 2020
Alba Cappellieri Curator
Exhibition promoted by the Municipality of Milan and the Royal Palace
Produced by Van Cleef & Arpels
In collaboration with the Cologni Foundation
Skira Editore Catalog
Hours Monday 14.30 – 19.30
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday 9.30 – 19.30
Thursday and Saturday 9.30am – 10.30pm
Last entry one hour before closing
Festivities Saturday 7 December 9.30 – 22.30
Sunday 8 December 9.30 – 19.30
Tuesday 24 December 9.30 – 14.30
Wednesday 25 December 14.30 – 18.30
Thursday 26 December 9.30 – 22.30
Tuesday 31 December 9.30 – 14.30
Wednesday 1st January 2.30pm – 7.30pm
Monday 6 January 9.30 – 19.30
Last entry one hour before closing
Free admission