jeweler Harry Winston. The diamond, which has been set into a ring, is a member of the rare and coveted type IIa classifi cation that applies to less than 2 percent of all of the world’s gem diamonds. Sotheby’s gave this piece of pink ice a pre-
sale estimate of CHF27 million to CHF38 million (£17.5 million to £24.7 million) but it achieved a staggering CHF45,442,500 (£28.8 million). Its appearance at auction, courtesy of a private collection, was the fi rst time the stone has been on the open market since it was purchased 60 years ago from Harry Winston.
Whilst on the topic of exquisite jewellery, in recent times (the last four or fi ve years) Sir Anthony Caro (see Arts & Collections issue
2, 2009, pp.62-66), now aged 86, has been working in gold and silver to produce jewellery pieces that are in fact miniature sculptures, each refl ecting many of Caro’s sculptural interests. These beautiful pieces will undoubtedly be
eagerly sought after by serious collectors. As with his sculptures, Caro’s jewellery combines functional or industrial elements to create intricate structures that are at once complex, architectural and mechanical. Their sweeping shapes of divergent planes and surfaces create a sense of great spontaneity, with light gliding over and bouncing off the play of
forms. The intimacy of modelling such small- scale work with his fi ngertips, also served as a counterpoint to his large and monumental constructions. In February 2006, Grassy, the famous
Madrid jewellers, presented the fi rst exhibition of jewellery made by Caro. Two and a half years later, after a period of frenetic creative activity, the artist developed a second collection of pieces—19 unique works in gold and silver. Grassy again presented Anthony Caro’s sculptural jewellery, and this time with closer ties and a greater participation in both the creative process and production of the pieces. This latest collection of Caro jewellery can
currently be viewed at The Artists’ House Gallery, New Art Centre, Roche Court, East Winterslow, Salisbury, Wiltshire—a trip that could give you the perfect day out. Sharing this exhibition with Caro is Edmund
de Waal. Small-scale, intimate and formed initially by hand, the ceramics of Edmund de Waal share essential qualities with the jewellery of Anthony Caro. For this display of new work, de Waal continues his preoccupation with vitrines, in which items are at once framed and yet held at a distance by the layer of glass, thus blurring the threshold between the viewer and the ceramic vessels inside. Apertures in the vitrines allow natural light from above to fl ood in, highlighting the occasional glimpse of
The new wing at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and below, an avante-garde Caro ring
gold leaf on some of the vessel’s rims, which change ceaselessly according to the time of day; the light is also absorbed and refl ected by the different textures, giving shape to the vessels.
In the USA, one of the biggest happenings of 2010 has been the opening of the new wing at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston—this is the Art of the Americas Wing which opened in November to a great fanfare. This has been a colossal undertaking
because of the sheer scale of the exhibition space and the extraordinary historical breadth of the exhibits displayed—which are essentially a summation of America’s rich cultural heritage. For instance, one level contains Ancient American, Native American, 17th-Century, and Maritime Art, another has 18th-Century Art of
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COLLECTIONS INTERNATIONAL 19
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