Eight Jewelry Exhibitions To See This Spring
From Cartier in London to Melanie Eddy in Bermuda, via Hannah Martin at Sotheby's Hong Kong and the Diane Venet collection in Florida, these are the jewelry shows to see right now.
Hazel, Briar Rose, Chestnut in Silver, Alex Monroe for the Garden Museum
The jeweler Alex Monroe presents his first solo show of art and objects at this hidden gem of a London museum, exploring the connection between Nature and creativity. Silver buttercups, cow parsley and strawberry leaves fill a vase, while branches of apple blossom and Scots pine shed petals and pines, like a Dutch still life in precious metal. Through five floral sculptures, each representing an endangered UK natural habitats created with the designer Hazel Gardiner, Monroe explores the life cycle of death and renewal, and encourages viewers to reflect on how they interact with nature and the role they themselves can play in conservation. From sketches and drawings, to hand-thrown vases and a 20-piece capsule collection inspired by the theme of the exhibition, the pieces showcase the creative talent that underpins his work as a jeweler inspired by the fields and forests of his childhood.
Alex Monroe: Into the Wild is at The Garden Museum, London; May 1 - June 1.
Three silver bangles by Melanie Eddy, on show at the Bermuda National Gallery
There's still time to catch Melanie Eddy's first retrospective, and it's on home soil for the native Bermudan, at Hamilton's Bermuda National Gallery. Now based in London, Eddy's distinctive geometric jewels have a cult collectorship, and with two shows at Sotheby's and a commission from the V&A Museum under her belt, and the show demonstrates how deeply inspired the goldsmith still is by her homeland after 20 years living abroad. The exhibition explores the island's influences on her work, including the vernacular architecture, the triangular sails of the Bermuda rig, and the stark shadows produced by bright sunlight, through key collections that chart the development of her sculptural style over 20 years from geometry in silver through to the high jewelry she created for the Brilliant & Black exhibition in 2022. New for the show, is the Breakers collection, which uses gentler, more rounded forms to capture a period of personal grief through an exploration of the swirling currents around her island home. 'The work references the crest of rolling waves, the breaker reefs, breaking waves and ocean swells. It's about the things that threaten to break us, the rules we break and the things that crash and break upon us. Like rocks, or shards of glass worn smooth by water over time, we're still made of the same stuff, but visibly altered, the same but also different somehow and softer.'
Meditations on Form: Jewellery by Melanie Eddy is at Bermuda National Gallery, City Hall & Arts Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda; until May 31.
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Bandeau in Tutti Frutti style, English Art Works for Cartier London, 1928. Emeralds, rubies, ... More sapphires, diamonds and platinum, currently on show at the Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum, London.
Curated by Helen Molesworth and Rachel Garrahan, this comprehensive exhibition shows how the Cartier founder's grandsons set out to make the Place Vendôme jewelry house and household name. They succeeded, and more; and the show features over 350 items going back to the turn of the 20th century including the Williamson Diamond brooch commissioned by Queen Elizabeth, Grace Kelly's engagement ring and a broad selection of Cartier's emblematic panther jewels. 'Cartier is one of the most famous jewelry houses in the world. This exhibition will explore how Louis, Pierre and Jacques Cartier, together with their father Alfred, adopted a strategy of original design, exceptional craftsmanship and international expansion that transformed the Parisian family jeweler into a household name,' say the curators. 'With its world-class jewelry collection, the V&A is the perfect stage to celebrate the pioneering achievements of Cartier and its transformational ability to remain at the centre of culture and creativity for more than a century.' Move fast, as it's selling out quickly.
Cartier is at the V&A South Kensington, April 12th - November 16th.
Rings by Jilian Maddin, on show at the LOVE Ring exhibition, at Tomfoolery London
London's Tomfoolery gallery is one of the city's stand-out jewelry destinations. In leafy Muswell Hill, it's currently showing the annual Love Ring exhibition, a curation of contemporary commitment rings by gallery owner Laura Kay, which this year, comes with a focus on genderless ring designs. 'There's a clear contrast coming through this year between bold, expressive maximalism and more refined minimalism—both are strong in their own right. Green sapphires remain popular, and we're also seeing a rise in bright whites, particularly lab-grown stones, which are becoming a standard choice, especially in larger pieces,' she says. 'It's been great to see such a strong focus on colour and some really thoughtful work from new designers.' With new designers this year including Jilian Maddin and her exquisite engraved portrait rings, plus an exclusive lab-grown diamond ring capsule collection from Ellis Mhairi Cameron and a preloved curation, it's a must-see if you're in the city. A snapshot of the current landscape for modern wedding, engagement and union bands from some of the hottest international designers around.
Love Ring will be on at Tomfoolery, 109 Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, London, N10 3HP, England; until June 28.
Razor ring, gold and sapphire, by Hannah Martin and Guy Berryman, currently on show at Sotheby's ... More Hong Kong.
Sotheby's Maison exhibition space is hosting an exhibitions of the work of London-based goldsmith Hannah Martin this month, including A Vanitas Stoned, a new stream in her collaboration with Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman. Alongside other emblematic Hannah Martin pieces like the gold mesh Liquid Harness Chain and the Delirium Trance Amulet, the new pieces include gold razor blade rings and dog tag necklaces studded with sapphires, in a meditation on the fleeting beauty and fragility of life inspired by the Dutch vanitas tradition. The pair met on a flight to Los Angeles, when Martin spotted Berryman wearing an earring she had designed years previously and combined forces on the original line, released in 2023. 'With a vision to infuse heirlooms with defiance, I aim to craft pieces that are historically rooted yet rebellious - fresh and charged with contemporary spirit. When Guy and I began this creative journey, we sought to create objects that not only adorn but also ignite conversations about the beauty of seizing the moment,' says Martin.
A Vanitas Stoned Collection by Hannah Martin, is the The Salon, Sotheby's Maison, &/F, Landmark Chater, 8, Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong; April — May.
A pearl necklace on show in the Exhibition Pearls in Paris, at L'Ecole des Arts Joailliers, Paris.
Art and fashion meet history at this exhibition at the new L'Ecole School of Jewellery Arts in Paris, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels. Paris, City of Pearls explores a mainstay of luxury jewellery that became emblematic of parisian style itself, thanks to trade in pearls between the Gulf region and France between the 1860s and 1930s. Their arrival on Place Vendôme would spark a craze for layering long strings of pearls known as sautoirs, à la Coco Chanel, and the gemstone from the sea is still seen as having a quintessentially Paris look today. Don't miss L'Ecole's library and reading rooms while you're there.
Paris, City of Pearls is at L'Ecole des Arts Joailliers, Hôtel de Mercy-Argenteau, 16 bis boulevard Montmartre, 75009 Paris, France; until June 1, 2025.
PABLO PICASSO (Spanish, 1881 – 1973) Le Grand Faune , 1973 Pendant 23 - k arat gold Edition 3 of 20 ... More 3 3/8 x 4 3/4 in. (8.5 x 12 cm) Diane Venet Collection
For 40 years, Diane Venet has had an all-access pass to the art world, born into a family of collectors, then traveling the world with her artist husband Bernard Venet for shows and exhibitions. During that time, she has amassed an impressive collection of artist jewelry, described as 'second to none' by Ghislain d'Humières, Kenneth C. Griffin Director and CEO of the Norton Collection, which is currently hosting an exhibition of over 150 of her jewels. Many of which are displayed alongside paintings and sculptures by the same artists from the Norton archive, and some were commissioned especially for the show. 'The story of this collection is largely that of my friendships in the art world over the past forty years,' said Venet. 'In my rather itinerant life, this collection of jewelry is thus an intimate museum that I can take everywhere with me and the treasure trove which I can find on my return home.' Make sure you see Man Ray's Optic Topic (1974), and Picasso's Le Grand Faune necklace (1973).
Artists' Jewelry: from Cubism to Pop, the Diane Venet Collection opens April 12th – October 5th at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida.
A drawing of an Egyptian scarab brooch, Pierre-Georges Deraisme, (c. 1905). Graphite pencil, ink and ... More gouaché on paper currently on show at the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. A donation of Monsieur and Madame Martin L'Ébranly, 2001.
Often overlooked by its famous counterpart over the road — the Grand Palais, home of Chanel runway shows and blockbuster exhibitions — the Petit Palais is a delightful art museum with a substantial house collection. This season, its shining the spotlight on the art of jewelry drawing with a comprehensive curation of drawings and jewels from the museum's 5,500-strong collection. With a focus on the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, the show bears witness to the evolution of styles and progress in technique through graphic art, lifting the lid on the design process and celebrating the precise art of gouaché. Don't miss the Art Nouveau and Art Deco drawings, plus the final room, which shows jewels like George Fouquet's Sycamore pendant (1910), next to their exquisite drawings.
Jewelry Drawing, Secrets of Creation is at the Petit Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris, France; until July 20.
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CNN
6 days ago
- CNN
Inside the home of Pauline Karpidas, the art-world ‘grande dame' who could be the last of her kind
Behind the elegant but unassuming entryway to an apartment near London's Hyde Park, one of Europe's most prominent collectors has amassed a remarkable trove of Surrealist and postwar art in a home bursting with color and eclectic design. Now in her 80s, Pauline Karpidas is selling nearly all of the art and custom furniture housed in her dwelling, where major contemporary artists and other cultural figures have socialized among works by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. As a patron, she's been an influential and connecting force in the art world for decades, yet Karpidas has remained a private figure who rarely speaks to press. But her upcoming sale, expected to fetch some £60 million, ($79.6 million), will be the most expensive collection from a single owner ever offered by Sotheby's in Europe. 'I cannot think of a more comprehensive place, outside of any major museum collection, really, to study and to look and to be encircled with so many core masterpieces from the surrealist movement and beyond,' said Oliver Barker, the chairman of Sotheby's Europe, in a phone call from London. Karpidas' Warhol works feature Marilyn Monre (left) and the artist Man Ray (right). In the living room salon hang paintings by Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Francis Picabia, Leonora Carrington and Yves Tanguy, among others. Out of the sale's 250 artworks and design pieces the top lot is a later Magritte painting 'La Statue volante,' estimated to sell for £9-12 million ($12-$16 million). Other highlights include two Warhol works inspired by the painter Edvard Munch; a Dalí pencil drawing of his wife, Gala; a Hans Bellmer painting made just before the artist was imprisoned in France during World War II; a formative, mystical Dorothea Tanning painting of her dog; and the collector's bed, made of sculptural copper twigs and leaves, by Claude Lalanne. The sale will take place on September 17 and 18, and the works will also go on view in London earlier in the month, providing a rare glimpse at many artworks that have been off the market for decades and will soon be scattered into private hands. The landmark auction comes just two years after Sotheby's sold off the contents of Karpidas summer home in Hydra, Greece, which became a summer hotspot for artists through her Hydra workshops. In that sale, which more than doubled its high estimate, works by Georg Baselitz, Marlene Dumas and Kiki Smith earned a combined €35.6 million ($37.6 million). 'She's a real diva, in the most positive sense of this word,' said the Swiss artist Urs Fischer in a video call. 'She's also a bit of a mystery to me, despite knowing her for a long time.' Fischer met Karpidas more than two decades ago when he was in his twenties, participated in one of her Hydra gatherings in the mid-2000s, and has regularly attended art-world parties with her. Fischer noted her 'larger-than-life' presence: She's often in striking hats, cigarette in hand, and has the tendency toward telling grand stories and scrawling, multi-page handwritten letters, he said. 'When I think of any memory of her, she's always at the center of a place — she's not the person on the periphery,' he recalled. 'A mirror of her' Karpidas, originally from Manchester, was introduced to art collecting through her late husband, Constantine Karpidas, known as 'Dinos,' whose own eye was fixed on 19th-century art including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet. Then by meeting the art dealer Alexander Iolas, Karpidas found her own path. Iolas, nearly retired by that point, had been a formidable dealer of major 20th-century artists, particularly Surrealists, and his approach was the 'blueprint' for international mega-galleries such as Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth today, according to Barker. But with Karpidas' financial means and determination, he worked with her to build a singular collection of 20th-century art. Pauline with Constantinos Karpidas, known as Dino, who introduced her to art collecting when they married. Karpidas is part of the lineage of 'grande dames,' Barker said — the affluent 20th-century women who built social networks across the most prominent artists, fashion houses and designers of the time — and she may be the last of her kind, he noted. She was close friends with Andy Warhol and frequented his parties at The Factory, she was dressed by Yves Saint Laurent, and her homes were the efforts of prominent interior designers Francis Sultana and Jacques Grange. She's been compared to the late, great female patrons Peggy Guggenheim and Dominique de Menil, both of whom she knew. But though her counterparts' collections have become important cultural institutions, through Sotheby's, the bulk of Karpidas' collection will be disseminated across the art market. In her London residence, Fischer said, 'the whole space became one artwork. Every fragment of that apartment has its own little story.' While he's been in many homes of affluent collectors over the years, Karpidas' apartment stands out for how personal and exuberant it is. 'In some way, it's probably a mirror of her interest and her psyche,' he said. 'It's not just like a wealthy person's home. It's like a firework.' Barker explained that Karpidas' acquisitions have not only been the result of her financial means, but her judicious timing, too. She was well-positioned in 1979 for the record-breaking sale of the collector and artist William Copley's personal collection, netting a 1929 painting by the French Surrealist Yves Tanguy, which will be resold in September. Many works owned by Karpidas have been passed down through famous hands, such as Surrealism founder André Breton, poet Paul Éluard, gallerist Julian Levy, and the family of Pablo Picasso. 'She was not only there at the right time, but she was choosing the right works,' Barker said. Important patrons have often become subjects themselves, and the same is true of Karpidas. In 2023, Fischer depicted her in an ephemeral piece, with a lifespan of a single gallery show. On the floor of LGDR (now Lévy Gorvy Dayan) in New York, he cast a sculpture of the collector gazing at a reproduction of the 2nd-century 'Three Graces,' an iconic Ancient Greek statue symbolizing beauty and harmony in art and society, which Karpidas purchased in 1989 before selling it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Fischer's version, he rendered the three female nudes, as well as Karpidas, as life-size wax candles. All white except her dark oversized jewelry, the wax effigy of Karpidas looked to the sculpture she'd purchased decades before, all of the figures' wicks' aflame. Eventually, like many of Fischers' works, they all melted down, the fire winking out.
CNN
04-08-2025
- CNN
Inside the home of Pauline Karpidas, the art-world ‘grand dame' who could be the last of her kind
Behind the elegant but unassuming entryway to an apartment near London's Hyde Park, one of Europe's most prominent collectors has amassed a remarkable trove of Surrealist and postwar art in a home bursting with color and eclectic design. Now in her 80s, Pauline Karpidas is selling nearly all of the art and custom furniture housed in her dwelling, where major contemporary artists and other cultural figures have socialized among works by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. As a patron, she's been an influential and connecting force in the art world for decades, yet Karpidas has remained a private figure who rarely speaks to press. But her upcoming sale, expected to fetch some £60 million, ($79.6 million), will be the most expensive collection from a single owner ever offered by Sotheby's in Europe. 'I cannot think of a more comprehensive place, outside of any major museum collection, really, to study and to look and to be encircled with so many core masterpieces from the surrealist movement and beyond,' said Oliver Barker, the chairman of Sotheby's Europe, in a phone call from London. Out of the sale's 250 artworks and design pieces the top lot is a later Magritte painting 'La Statue volante,' estimated to sell for £9-12 million ($12-$16 million). Other highlights include two Warhol works inspired by the painter Edvard Munch; a Dalí pencil drawing of his wife, Gala; a Hans Bellmer painting made just before the artist was imprisoned in France during World War II; a formative, mystical Dorothea Tanning painting of her dog; and the collector's bed, made of sculptural copper twigs and leaves, by Claude Lalanne. The sale will take place on September 17 and 18, and the works will also go on view in London earlier in the month, providing a rare glimpse at many artworks that have been off the market for decades and will soon be scattered into private hands. The landmark auction comes just two years after Sotheby's sold off the contents of Karpidas summer home in Hydra, Greece, which became a summer hotspot for artists through her Hydra workshops. In that sale, which more than doubled its high estimate, works by Georg Baselitz, Marlene Dumas and Kiki Smith earned a combined €35.6 million ($37.6 million). 'She's a real diva, in the most positive sense of this word,' said the Swiss artist Urs Fischer in a video call. 'She's also a bit of a mystery to me, despite knowing her for a long time.' Fischer met Karpidas more than two decades ago when he was in his twenties, participated in one of her Hydra gatherings in the mid-2000s, and has regularly attended art-world parties with her. Fischer noted her 'larger-than-life' presence: She's often in striking hats, cigarette in hand, and has the tendency toward telling grand stories and scrawling, multi-page handwritten letters, he said. 'When I think of any memory of her, she's always at the center of a place — she's not the person on the periphery,' he recalled. Karpidas, originally from Manchester, was introduced to art collecting through her late husband, Constantine Karpidas, known as 'Dinos,' whose own eye was fixed on 19th-century art including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet. Then by meeting the art dealer Alexander Iolas, Karpidas found her own path. Iolas, nearly retired by that point, had been a formidable dealer of major 20th-century artists, particularly Surrealists, and his approach was the 'blueprint' for international mega-galleries such as Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth today, according to Barker. But with Karpidas' financial means and determination, he worked with her to build a singular collection of 20th-century art. Karpidas is part of the lineage of 'grande dames,' Barker said — the affluent 20th-century women who built social networks across the most prominent artists, fashion houses and designers of the time — and she may be the last of her kind, he noted. She was close friends with Andy Warhol and frequented his parties at The Factory, she was dressed by Yves Saint Laurent, and her homes were the efforts of prominent interior designers Francis Sultana and Jacques Grange. She's been compared to the late, great female patrons Peggy Guggenheim and Dominique de Menil, both of whom she knew. But though her counterparts' collections have become important cultural instructions, accessible to the public at institutions, through Sotheby's, the bulk of Karpidas' collection will be disseminated across the art market. In her London residence, Fischer said, 'the whole space became one artwork. Every fragment of that apartment has its own little story.' While he's been in many homes of affluent collectors over the years, Karpidas' apartment stands out for how personal and exuberant it is. 'In some way, it's probably a mirror of her interest and her psyche,' he said. 'It's not just like a wealthy person's home. It's like a firework.' Barker explained that Karpidas' acquisitions have not only been the result of her financial means, but her judicious timing, too. She was well-positioned in 1979 for the record-breaking sale of the collector and artist William Copley's personal collection, netting a 1929 painting by the French Surrealist Yves Tanguy, which will be resold in September. Many works owned by Karpidas have been passed down through famous hands, such as Surrealism founder André Breton, poet Paul Éluard, gallerist Julian Levy, and the family of Pablo Picasso. 'She was not only there at the right time, but she was choosing the right works,' Barker said. Important patrons have often become subjects themselves, and the same is true of Karpidas. In 2023, Fischer depicted her in an ephemeral piece, with a lifespan of a single gallery show. On the floor of LGDR (now Lévy Gorvy Dayan) in New York, he cast a sculpture of the collector gazing at a reproduction of the 2nd-century 'Three Graces,' an iconic Ancient Greek statue symbolizing beauty and harmony in art and society, which Karpidas purchased in 1989 before selling it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Fischer's version, he rendered the three female nudes, as well as Karpidas, as life-size wax candles. All white except her dark oversized jewelry, the wax effigy of Karpidas looked to the sculpture she'd purchased decades before, all of the figures' wicks' aflame. Eventually, like many of Fischers' works, they all melted down, the fire winking out.
CNN
04-08-2025
- CNN
Inside the home of Pauline Karpidas, the art-world ‘grand dame' who could be the last of her kind
Visual arts UKFacebookTweetLink Follow Behind the elegant but unassuming entryway to an apartment near London's Hyde Park, one of Europe's most prominent collectors has amassed a remarkable trove of Surrealist and postwar art in a home bursting with color and eclectic design. Now in her 80s, Pauline Karpidas is selling nearly all of the art and custom furniture housed in her dwelling, where major contemporary artists and other cultural figures have socialized among works by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. As a patron, she's been an influential and connecting force in the art world for decades, yet Karpidas has remained a private figure who rarely speaks to press. But her upcoming sale, expected to fetch some £60 million, ($79.6 million), will be the most expensive collection from a single owner ever offered by Sotheby's in Europe. 'I cannot think of a more comprehensive place, outside of any major museum collection, really, to study and to look and to be encircled with so many core masterpieces from the surrealist movement and beyond,' said Oliver Barker, the chairman of Sotheby's Europe, in a phone call from London. Out of the sale's 250 artworks and design pieces the top lot is a later Magritte painting 'La Statue volante,' estimated to sell for £9-12 million ($12-$16 million). Other highlights include two Warhol works inspired by the painter Edvard Munch; a Dalí pencil drawing of his wife, Gala; a Hans Bellmer painting made just before the artist was imprisoned in France during World War II; a formative, mystical Dorothea Tanning painting of her dog; and the collector's bed, made of sculptural copper twigs and leaves, by Claude Lalanne. The sale will take place on September 17 and 18, and the works will also go on view in London earlier in the month, providing a rare glimpse at many artworks that have been off the market for decades and will soon be scattered into private hands. The landmark auction comes just two years after Sotheby's sold off the contents of Karpidas summer home in Hydra, Greece, which became a summer hotspot for artists through her Hydra workshops. In that sale, which more than doubled its high estimate, works by Georg Baselitz, Marlene Dumas and Kiki Smith earned a combined €35.6 million ($37.6 million). 'She's a real diva, in the most positive sense of this word,' said the Swiss artist Urs Fischer in a video call. 'She's also a bit of a mystery to me, despite knowing her for a long time.' Fischer met Karpidas more than two decades ago when he was in his twenties, participated in one of her Hydra gatherings in the mid-2000s, and has regularly attended art-world parties with her. Fischer noted her 'larger-than-life' presence: She's often in striking hats, cigarette in hand, and has the tendency toward telling grand stories and scrawling, multi-page handwritten letters, he said. 'When I think of any memory of her, she's always at the center of a place — she's not the person on the periphery,' he recalled. Karpidas, originally from Manchester, was introduced to art collecting through her late husband, Constantine Karpidas, known as 'Dinos,' whose own eye was fixed on 19th-century art including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet. Then by meeting the art dealer Alexander Iolas, Karpidas found her own path. Iolas, nearly retired by that point, had been a formidable dealer of major 20th-century artists, particularly Surrealists, and his approach was the 'blueprint' for international mega-galleries such as Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth today, according to Barker. But with Karpidas' financial means and determination, he worked with her to build a singular collection of 20th-century art. Karpidas is part of the lineage of 'grande dames,' Barker said — the affluent 20th-century women who built social networks across the most prominent artists, fashion houses and designers of the time — and she may be the last of her kind, he noted. She was close friends with Andy Warhol and frequented his parties at The Factory, she was dressed by Yves Saint Laurent, and her homes were the efforts of prominent interior designers Francis Sultana and Jacques Grange. She's been compared to the late, great female patrons Peggy Guggenheim and Dominique de Menil, both of whom she knew. But though her counterparts' collections have become important cultural instructions, accessible to the public at institutions, through Sotheby's, the bulk of Karpidas' collection will be disseminated across the art market. In her London residence, Fischer said, 'the whole space became one artwork. Every fragment of that apartment has its own little story.' While he's been in many homes of affluent collectors over the years, Karpidas' apartment stands out for how personal and exuberant it is. 'In some way, it's probably a mirror of her interest and her psyche,' he said. 'It's not just like a wealthy person's home. It's like a firework.' Barker explained that Karpidas' acquisitions have not only been the result of her financial means, but her judicious timing, too. She was well-positioned in 1979 for the record-breaking sale of the collector and artist William Copley's personal collection, netting a 1929 painting by the French Surrealist Yves Tanguy, which will be resold in September. Many works owned by Karpidas have been passed down through famous hands, such as Surrealism founder André Breton, poet Paul Éluard, gallerist Julian Levy, and the family of Pablo Picasso. 'She was not only there at the right time, but she was choosing the right works,' Barker said. Important patrons have often become subjects themselves, and the same is true of Karpidas. In 2023, Fischer depicted her in an ephemeral piece, with a lifespan of a single gallery show. On the floor of LGDR (now Lévy Gorvy Dayan) in New York, he cast a sculpture of the collector gazing at a reproduction of the 2nd-century 'Three Graces,' an iconic Ancient Greek statue symbolizing beauty and harmony in art and society, which Karpidas purchased in 1989 before selling it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Fischer's version, he rendered the three female nudes, as well as Karpidas, as life-size wax candles. All white except her dark oversized jewelry, the wax effigy of Karpidas looked to the sculpture she'd purchased decades before, all of the figures' wicks' aflame. Eventually, like many of Fischers' works, they all melted down, the fire winking out.
