How America’s First Jewelry Curator Changed the Industry with Yvonne Markowitz, Curator and Author

Episode 102

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • How Yvonne went from Egyptology intern to America’s first jewelry curator 
  • Why jewelry needs to be placed in its historical context alongside other decorative arts
  • Why it can be more difficult to get museum trustees to see the value of jewelry, and how Yvonne overcame that challenge
  • How jewelry is an essential key to understanding history
  • Yvonne’s upcoming publications and projects

About Yvonne Markowitz

Yvonne J. Markowitz is the Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator Emerita of Jewelry, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA. Serving in the first curatorship of its kind in America, Markowitz oversaw the museum’s exceptional collection of jewelry. She is also the past editor of the Journal of the American Society of Jewelry Historians, an editor of Adornment, the Magazine of Jewelry and Related Arts, co-director of the annual Association for the Study of Jewelry & Related Arts Conference. (ASJRA), and the author of numerous jewelry-related books and articles. Her books include Artful Adornments: Jewelry from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Jewels of Trabert & Hoeffer-Mauboussin: A History of American Style and Innovation; and Jewels of Ancient Nubia (with Denise Doxey).

Transcript

Additional Resources:

Photos:

Book: “Looking at Jewelry: A Guide to Terms, Styles and Techniques” By Susanne Gänsicke & Yvonne Markowitz

Yvonne J. Markowitz

A British Arts & Crafts brooch by John Paul Cooper -a leading figure in the Art& Crafts movement. Gold, ruby, moonstone, pearl, amethyst and chrysoprase, 1908

Sharon Berman