The world’s first major exhibition on the unique role and influence of women throughout Cartier’s history, highlighting the influence of Chinese aesthetics on women's lifestyles and global fashion
The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) is proud to present an exceptional new exhibition, “Cartier and Women”, from 14 April to 14 August 2023. Organised and curated by the HKPM with the support of Cartier, this is the first major exhibition on the unique role and influence of women in Cartier’s history. Featuring approximately 300 stunning treasures created by Cartier, the exhibition showcases precious jewellery, timepieces, objects, accessories and archival records from the 19th century to the present day.
“Cartier and Women” unveils fascinating stories of the close relationship between women and jewellery. It also highlights how Chinese art, along with art from other parts of the world, has inspired the jeweller in terms of style and decorative motifs, as well as techniques and materials, and how Chinese aesthetics have influenced women's lifestyles and global fashion. The exhibition demonstrates the HKPM’s innovative curatorial approach and testifies to its mission to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration and encourage dialogue between China and the rest of the world in arts and culture.
Celebrating the role and influence of women throughout Cartier’s history
The exhibition explores the bond between women and jewellery through a series of captivating narratives that reflect Cartier’s deep connections with many influential women throughout history and in the present day. The story of Jeanne Toussaint (1887-1976) is one of the highlights. Both a trailblazer in the male-dominated society of the early 20th century and a revolutionary figure in modern jewellery, Toussaint was appointed by Louis Cartier (1875-1942, the third-generation head of Cartier) in 1933 as Cartier’s first female Creative Director. The Panthère brooch designed by her in 1949 and acquired by the Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986) has redefined the meaning of jewellery to women, which is just one example of her legacy. A symbol of boldness, independence and power, the panther has since become a signature Cartier motif. Toussaint not only supported female empowerment through her jewellery design, but also embodied and encouraged a new freedom of attitude marked by femininity, free-spiritedness and independence. Her work paved the way for other women to take jewellery beyond the enhancement of external beauty to an intimate revelation of personality and spirit.
The exhibition comprises four thematic sections. The first section, “Royal and Aristocratic Women: Elegance and Prestige”, celebrates the significant role the royal and elite women played in the early history of Cartier in the 19th century. The second section, “New Women: Breaking with Tradition”, examines advances in jewellery design that reflected women’s emancipation. The influence of art from China and other parts of the world that enlivened Cartier creations for women and fulfilled a universal thirst for novelties are explored in the third section, “Inquisitive Women: Cross-cultural Inspirations”. The fourth and final section, “Influential Women: Glamorous Legends”, explores the close relationship between Cartier jewellery and modern and contemporary female icons. Highlights include pieces from the collections of important and well-known women, including the Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly (1929-1982); renowned actresses Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011), Brigitte Lin and Carina Lau; and businesswoman Pansy Ho.
Chinese aesthetics’ strong influence on women's lifestyle and global fashion
Visitors will discover how Chinese art and culture has inspired Cartier creations in terms of style, motifs, materials and craftsmanship. Some of the works on display in the exhibition serve to illustrate the impact of Chinese art on the development of women’s lifestyles and global fashion. For example, a 1928 Chinese-style vanity case references a Kangxi period porcelain dish from the collection of Mr and Mrs Louis Cartier (1895-1952). The first Cartier pendant with the yin-yang symbol was created in 1919 and this motif was inspired by Daoism, a time-honoured philosophy and religion in China. A brooch featuring “two dragons chasing a pearl”, a popular motif in Chinese art, was acquired in 1920 by Jeanne Paquin (1869-1936), the first major female couturier in France. Upon her marriage in 1933, the American socialite and stye icon Barbara Hutton (1912-1979) was gifted a necklace made of jadeite, a beloved gemstone among the Chinese.
Dr Louis Ng, Museum Director of the HKPM, said, “This remarkable exhibition underscores Hong Kong's position as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, and highlights the Museum’s global vision and innovative curatorial approach which emphasises rigorous research and scholarship. Through the fascinating stories of the women behind these exquisite exhibits, we hope to inspire visitors to explore the role and influence of women across time and enrich their understanding of works that marry Eastern and Western aesthetics.”
The Cartier Collection embodies the essence of Eastern and Western cultures, witnessing the changes in social and fashion trends. Over the past three decades, the Cartier Collection has been exhibited in more than 30 of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions, including the Palace Museum in 2009 and 2019.
The Museum will offer a wide variety of educational programmes to accompany “Cartier and Women”, ranging from scholarly lectures to film screenings, music and dance performances, and artmaking workshops. Cartier has sponsored 5,000 complimentary admission tickets for the underprivileged.
This special exhibition will open in Gallery 8 of the HKPM on 14 April until 14 August 2023. Tickets for the exhibition, which allow access to all galleries in the HKPM, are priced at HK$120 for adults and HK$60 for concessions and will be available for sale or reservation from 14 March 2023 (Tuesday) through West Kowloon Cultural District’s online ticketing platforms and ticketing partners.
Remarks
About the Hong Kong Palace Museum
The Hong Kong Palace Museum aspires to become a leading cultural institution committed to the study and appreciation of Chinese art and culture, while advancing dialogue among world civilisations. A collaborative project between the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and the Palace Museum, it is funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust with a donation of HK$3.5 billion for its establishment, as well as some of the annual exhibitions and education programmes in 2023-2031.
Embracing new curatorial approaches, the Museum offers a Hong Kong perspective and a global vision, presenting the finest objects from the Palace Museum and other important cultural institutions around the world. Through research, exhibitions and educational and professional exchange programmes, it will build international partnerships and help position Hong Kong as a global hub for art and culture. At heart a resource that belongs to the community of Hong Kong, the Museum will inspire community engagement, foster dialogue, and promote creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration.
About the Cartier Collection
In the 1970s, Cartier began to gather together pieces that had been produced in its earlier years; jewellery, timepieces and other precious accessories were thus collected for conservation, leading to the foundation of the Cartier Collection in 1983.
Today, the Cartier Collection includes pieces dating from as early as the 1850s until as recent as the 2000s. These pieces act as material records of Cartier’s over 170-year history of style and creativity and also provide a wider historical account of evolutions within the decorative arts as well as in society since the end of the 19th century.
With approximately 3,500 pieces and still growing, the Cartier Collection has sparked the attention of museums worldwide. Since its first major exhibition in 1989 at the Petit Palais in Paris, the Cartier Collection has shown selections of its pieces at some of the world’s most renowned institutions, amongst them the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1997), the British Museum in London (1998), the Kremlin Museums in Moscow (2007), the Palace Museum inside the Forbidden City in Beijing (2009 and 2019), the Grand Palais in Paris (2013-14), the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra (2018), the National Art Center in Tokyo (2019), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (2021-2022), the Dallas Museum of Art (2022), and lately the Museo Jumex in Mexico (2023).
About the West Kowloon Cultural District
The West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest and most ambitious cultural projects in the world. Its vision is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong on 40 hectares of reclaimed land fronting Victoria Harbour. With a varied mix of theatres, performance spaces and museums, the West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances and cultural events, providing 23 hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade.
http://www.westkowloon.hk
