If you haven’t yet had the chance to ogle Colombian emeralds bigger than gumballs, well, your time is running out. The de Young Museum’s latest installment of fashion designer exhibits, The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita and Beyond, 1950 – 1990, is set to close President’s Day Weekend, February 17th.
The exhibit opened with much fanfare in late September, and has maintained a steady—and impressive—stream of visitors in its six-month run. The original goal for ticket sales was set at 126,000 attendees and the museum was just a few hundred short of 150,000 at the last week of January.
Although the sight of so much sparkle is reason enough to draw in the masses, the de Young, true to form, includes key insights into the company history and Bulgari family. However, beyond its Italian roots on the Via Condotti (by silversmiths of Greek descent), what is truly remarkable about the collection on display is its representation of the brand’s etymology.
As Bulgari diversified its portfolio in the 1990s after having established a successful international foothold for its more ‘accessible’ pieces (see the Stars-and-Stripes and Colección Parentesi on display) and sold majority share to LVMH in 2011, the exhibit is as much an homage to a golden era of Italian craftsmanship as it is pretty to look at. Which isn’t to say the brand has lost any quality or allure among starlets—the jewelry at least is still exclusively manufactured in Italy, and other products are logically outsourced, for instance watches in Switzerland.
If you’re a regular museum-goer, you’ll also notice that the Art of Bulgari is conspicuously devoid of hushed tones and respectful distance between attendees. Call it the magpie effect if you will, but the darkened rooms with jewels mounted on star-trekish backgrounds of glinting universe are filled with audible oohs and aahs, and plenty of people claiming to have a personal story about Elizabeth Taylor. In short, this is one exhibit you won’t want to miss.
For more information and tickets, www.deyoung.famsf.org/art-bulgari-la-dolce-vita-beyond-1950-1990
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