A Touch of Class, a Touch of Splendor: The Art of Bulgari

They still razzle dazzle and sparkle at the de Young’s current exhibition titled the Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita & Beyond, 1950–1990, an exhibit of close to 150 ravishingly elegant and spellbindingly exquisite pieces created by Bulgari, the renowned Italian jeweler over four decades.

The elegance of a luminous lifestyle is reflected in this US exhibition, exclusive to the de Young, now on view through February 17th 2014, highlighting the boldly-colored combinations of gemstones, use of heavy gold, and forms derived from Greco-Roman classicism, the Italian Renaissance, and the 19th-century Roman school of goldsmiths, thus creating Bulgari’s own trademark and inaugurating the ‘‘Italian school’’ of jewelry design.

In my conversation with Brad Rosenstein, the renowned curator, historian, and longtime fan of Bulgari, whose fascinating lecture on ‘’Bulgari in the Movies’ I attended at the de Young, says, ‘’Bulgari jewels have a ‘voice’ that is so unique and distinctive. Their opulence, design brilliance, and unique combination of innovation and tradition have few peers anywhere in the world of fine jewelry.’’

Among the stunning gemstones of this exhibit are many pieces from Elizabeth Taylor’s personal collection, now a part of the Bulgari Heritage Collection. According to Brad Rosenstein, ‘’Taylor’s jewelry collection was extensive, and included a number of Bulagari historic pieces. The famed jewelry house acquired about eight of her signature Bulgari pieces for the Bulgari Heritage Collection at last year’s Christie’s Auction House in New York and fetched $116 millions.’’

Although diamonds are a girl’s best friend, Bulgari is synonymous with exquisite craftsmanship and is enriched by the addition of colorful cabochon-cut gems, sapphires, emeralds, rubies and ancient coins imbedded in gold, a favorite among stars of the silver screen who were models of elegance, beauty, and style, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Gina Lollobrigida, Monica Vitti, Anita Ekberg, Anna Magnani, Claudia Cardinale, Romy Schneider, and Carla Bruni, just to name a few.

The timeless glamour of Bulgari has adorned the beautiful film stars not only in real life but also when they appeared in lavish, big screen productions in which they sported luxury jewels by Bulgari. In his book for the introduction to the exhibition, Bulgari for Americans, Martin Chapman writes, ‘’Bulgari has been an attraction for Americans visiting Rome since the 1930s. But the store on Via Dei Condotti began to draw more visitors from the States during the 1960s, when many film stars were in Rome making films at Cinecittà – the principal Italian movie studio.’’

Taylor was famous as much for her Oscar-winning acting as for amassing the most amazing jewelry collection, highlighted by spectacular diamonds, emeralds, and other precious gemstones. Elizabeth Taylor was a great fan of the jewelry house, frequenting it on breaks from filming Cleopatra in 1961–1962 and continuing her patronage long after the production was finished. She was known to have quipped that Bulgari was one of the great perks of filming Cleopatra in Rome.

In her autobiography, My Love Affair with Jewelry, Elizabeth Taylor writes, ‘’On a break from shooting Cleopatra, I took a stroll to Bulgari with Richard Burton. Richard was so romantic that he’d use any excuse to give me a piece of jewelry.’’ Such was her fervor for the jeweler that Richard Burton said, ‘’The only word that Elizabeth knows in Italian is Bulgari.’’

In later years, remembering their trip to Rome, Burton mentioned, ‘’I introduced Elizabeth to beer and she introduced me to Bulgari.’’ They fought there, they loved there, but they were regulars at the Bulgari store. And that was the legacy of their love story in Rome and beyond. Live, Love, Laugh – that was the motto inscribed on her gold charm bracelet of twenty medallions. She certainly did it her way.

Last May, Sotheby’s Auction House in Geneva, Switzerland, auctioned off Gina Lollobrigida’s personal collection of twenty-three Bulgari jewelry pieces for $4.9 million with proceeds benefiting stem cell research. Bulgari also acquired a few of her pieces for the Bulgari Heritage Collection, adding the finest designs created by Bulgari to the ‘’Dolce vita’’ years of the 1950s and 1960s.

‘’As some of the luminaries who had signature Bulgari pieces began to divest their collections or pass away, Bulgari did not want some of their finest work to disappear into private hands. They wanted to preserve their history and share it with the public, and so they began acquiring back some of their key pieces at auctions,’’ explains Brad Rosenstein.

The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita & Beyond, 1950–1990 continues the Fine Arts Museums’ strong track record of exhibitions highlighting the work of decisive figures and movements in the world of fashion and design including Cartier in America, Balenciaga and Spain, Yves Saint Laurent, and The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, among others.

For additional information on this exhibit and tickets purchases, visit www.deyoungmuseum.org. Photos courtesy of the de Young Museum and Bulgari.

Lina Broydo immigrated from Russia, then the Soviet Union, to Israel where she was educated and got married. After working at the University in Birmingham, England she and her husband immigrated to the United States. She lives in Los Altos Hills, CA and writes about travel, art, style, entertainment, and sports. She hardly cooks or bakes, not the best of ‘’balabostas’ her beloved beautiful Mom, Dina, was hoping for. Therefore, she makes reservations and enjoys dining out.

Lina Broydo