News

Dirk Allgaier in conversation with Sharon Berman (The Jewelry Journey)

Sharon Berman is on the board of the Art Jewelry Forum and a member of the Association for the Study of Jewelry & Related Arts, the American Society of Jewelry Historians, the Society of Jewellery Historians and the Society of North American Goldsmiths. In her podcast The Jewelry Journey, she regularly has jewelry artists, gallery owners and other people who deal with contemporary jewelry as guests. They talk, for example, about very personal approaches to art and jewelry or about what art collectors need to bear in mind.

Dirk Allgaier was also invited by her and talked to her about publishing and the production of books. How does the collaboration with authors actually work? What do young artists need to know before they want to publish a book? And how and why has the art book market changed in the last 10 years? are just some of the questions discussed.

Click here for the first and here for the second part of the episode.

The French Ceramicist Gilbert Portanier is dead

Portanier died at the age of 96 in his home in Vallauris. We are happy to have had the opportunity to work with this great artist, who published his monograph with arnolsche in 2009.

His paintings on ceramic recall his encounters with Picasso and Gilbert Portanier’s lifelong need to make color resonate beyond form. The large, optimistic paintings are the reflection of a man whose face beamed and whose eyes sparkled when he spoke about his art: “All my pieces I look at with love, because I loved all this creation. It proves to me that I could never have survived and flourished anywhere else but in the world I chose. I have never doubted. I do not seek, I find. When I stand in front of my easel, inspiration comes naturally. It’s like breathing.”

— From the obituary by Philippe Depetris, Nice-Matin, read in its entirety in French here.

Mandala. Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism

A cosmos of sand

The world of mandalas has never been described so sensitively and in such depth of detail. As H. H. the XIV Dalai Lama implies in the foreword to the book, mandalas were simply viewed as works of art for many years. That simplistic interpretation of sacred signs has led to numerous misunderstandings.

That is why Martin Brauen has focused on the connection between sacred doctrine and meditation images in his book, MANDALA ‒ Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism. A basic introduction to the “Buddhist way” hones the viewer’s senses to perceive essentials. Thus the many descriptions of mandalas provided become a cultural feast for the eyes, which at the same time provides insights into Buddhist teaching. This sacred art has attained its zenith in the sand mandalas. They are created by monks clad in reddish orange robes, who sprinkle pigments on a cloth, taking days of ceremonial ritual to do so. The result is not, despite what one might expect, a rough juxtaposition of coloured fields. On the contrary, the monks draw exquisitely detailed figures, script signs and patterns with brightly coloured sand. Magnificent decoration spirits the viewer away to another world. Yet no sooner has one abandoned oneself to this cosmos of sand than it has been consigned to the past. For the fate of so many mandalas is that they must be destroyed to pass through the cycle of transformation.

This book (all 264 pages of it) pulses with life, from its scholarly and always highly readable texts to its many illustrations in large formats and brilliant colours that pay fitting tribute to the mandala’s infinite richness of detail. A section of this extraordinary book is a lavishly illustrated catalogue of 38 top-quality examples taken from museums of international standing supplemented by detail photographs, tables and plates elucidating the world of mandalas. This is a particularly lucid work on the “sacred circles”, which, according to Buddhist doctrine, represent the unity of man and cosmos in an infinite variety of ways.

We are very pleased that our publication Die Mysterien der Zeichen: Johannes Reuchlin, Schmuck, Schrift & Sprache has been awarded the Certificate of Typographic Excellence by the Type Directors Club (TDC) New York.

Launched in 1953, the TDC competition is the oldest and most prestigious global competition for typography and type design. In its 69th year, these awards are all about how letterforms are used and drawn, recognising typographic excellence and celebrating new typeface designs in all global languages. All the winning projects will now be on display in a travelling exhibition in numerous cities in the United States, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain and Taiwan.

Edited by Matthais Dall’Asta and Cornelie Holzach, the publication takes the 500th anniversary of the death of the humanist Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) as an occasion to bring jewellery, writings, and language into a stimulating dialogue and to offer new meanings to the titular mystery of signs. In addition to selected manuscripts by Reuchlin, which are highlighted from new perspectives, another emphasis is placed on objects that reflect Reuchlin’s cognitive world through script and symbols from the resplendent collection of the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim [Pforzheim jewelry museum

Our special thanks go to the graphic designer, Ina Bauer, and to our partner, the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim.

Die Mysterien der Zeichen: Johannes Reuchlin, Schmuck, Schrift & Sprache
Eds. Matthias Dall’Asta and Cornelia Holzach
272 pages, 24 x 30 cm, 200 ills., cloth-bound hardcover
ISBN 978-3-89790-670-9

Museum Fünf Kontinente, Maximilianstraße 42, Munich (DE)
Book launch and talk: May 4, 7 pm 

Hailing from the cultural realm of India, the mandala serves as a meditation aid and at the same time reflects an ancient symbolism of strictly geometric basic forms accompanied by an interpretation of its sacred content. Based on masterpieces from renowned museums and private collections and illustrated in fascinating photographs of unique buildings and rituals, Mandala – In Search of Enlightenment offers an impressive first analysis of the phenomenon of sacred geometry in art and architecture and their underlying ideologies.

Peter van Ham, SPIEGEL bestselling author, photographer and curator, is known for his numerous publications, exhibitions, and TV appearances on India, Tibet, and the Himalayas. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic and Royal Geographical Societies in London and the Explorer Club in New York. He has been tracing the world’s spiritual traditions for the last thirty-five years.

The event is a cooperation with the Museum Fünf Kontinente.

Tibet House, 22 West 15th Street, New York (USA)
Book launch and signing: 21. April, 6 pm

Tibet House and Rizzoli Bookstore invite you to celebrate the launch of Mandala: In Search of Enlightenment by Peter van Ham, in conversation with Matthew R. DeSantis. This event will be held at Tibet House, followed by a signing with book sales by Rizzoli Bookstore.

Hailing from the cultural realm of India, the mandala serves as a meditation aid and at the same time reflects an ancient symbolism of strictly geometric basic forms accompanied by an interpretation of its sacred content. Based on masterpieces from renowned museums and private collections and illustrated in fascinating photographs of unique buildings and rituals Peter van Ham, author, photographer and exhibition curator, offers an impressive first analysis of the phenomenon of sacred geometry in art and architecture and their underlying ideologies.

Stuttgart State Opera, Stuttgart (DE), 18 April 2023, 6 pm

The Stuttgart State Opera and arnoldsche Art Publishers invite you on the occasion of the spring festival of the Stuttgart State Opera Knitting the Myth:

Eyes as Big as Plates // Book presentation and performance // Tuesday, 18 April 2023, 6 pm

Württembergischer Kunstverein, Schlossplatz 2, Stuttgart // admission free

In their internationally acclaimed project Eyes as Big as Plates, which has been ongoing since 2011, Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen explore the relationship between humans and nature in staged photographs. For the second volume of their photo series, published by arnoldsche Art Publishers, the two artists traveled the world, portraying 52 people in diverse landscapes – from Norway to Senegal to South Korea to Tasmania. Hjorth and Ikonen cloak their subjects in artful assemblages of natural materials such as twigs, algae, mushrooms, and even whole fish that they found in the featured person’s respective living environments.

After the Stuttgart State Opera has already used the duo’s works for its visual communication on posters, in publications as well as on the Internet during the 2022/23 season, a portrait of Helene Schneiderman, Württemberg Chamber Singer and honorary member of the Stuttgart State Theater, will be created during the artists’ stay in Stuttgart and included in the international art project.

International Crafts Fair / SCHMUCK in Munich, March 8–12

Finally, the art jewelers are back in Munich! After a hasty exit in 2020 and a rather personal fair 2022, the first post pandemic SCHMUCK will take place this year. More colorful, louder, crazier.

Of course we will come to Munich too – and will present a couple of our latest jewelry publications with international guests from all over the world. The official arnoldsche program:

– Thursday, March 3, 4 pm: book presentation of Margit Jäschke. Kairos at Galerie Biró, Zieblandstr. 19

– Friday, March 10, 10 am: book presentations of Chunghi Choo, Joyce J. Scott, Laurie Hall, InFlux, and Deganit Stern Schocken at Galerie Handwerk, Max-Joseph-Str. 4

– Saturday, March 11, 7 pm: exhibition opening of Therese Hilbert. Rot at Die Neuen Sammlung – The Design Museum, Barer Str. 40

Here’s also the complete Schmuck program. We hope to see you in Munich!