West Palm Beach, FL
–
On the heels of the wildly
successful Rare Bird of
Fashion: The
Irreverent Iris Apfel
exhibition last season, The
Norton Museum of Art once
again showcases iconic
style. Catch a rare glimpse
of the work of
Kenneth Jay Lane,
the major American maker and
designer of costume jewelry
who continues to lead the
industry. Lane, a stalwart
of the fashion world, is
widely credited with making
costume jewelry as glamorous
as million-dollar baubles.
Hundreds of his creations –
the likes of which have been
worn by Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis, Nancy Reagan, Diana
Vreeland, Britney Spears and
countless other women from
every walk of life – are
featured.
“The
Norton Museum continues to
embrace what is fun and
exciting in the world of
art, from master works to
iconic fashion, showcasing
artists and designers who
have transcended time and
created a statement with
their signature designs,”
said Hope Alswang, Director
and CEO for The Norton.
Mr. Lane
added, “I am particularly
pleased that my
retrospective exhibition
will be at the Norton Museum. Palm Beach is one of the last bastions of
glamour and where many of my
friends and clientele live.
When I began almost 50 years
ago I never imagined that my
work would become vintage
and collectible.”
A
compelling figure and master
of the bon mot, Lane is not
only a long-established
presence in society circles
but a charming and wildly
popular showman on QVC. He
has outfitted First Ladies
and Hollywood royalty in his fakes, and his early pieces now
fetch hundreds of thousands
at auction. Lane’s 1996
memoir, Faking It, is
considered an industry
bible.
After
earning a BA in Advertising
Design from the Rhode Island
School of Desgin in 1954,
Lane briefly worked in the
Vogue art department before
embarking on a career as a
shoe designer for Christian
Dior and Arnold Scaasi. In
the early 1960s, he created
several costume jewelry
pieces to match his
bejeweled shoes, and a
legend was born. The first
designer to make beautiful
and witty jewelry affordable
to the masses, Lane
considers himself a fine
jeweler who works in
plastic, rhinestones, and
other inexpensive materials.
“I believe every woman has
the right to be glamorous,”
he has said. “Style has
little to do with money.”
The
exhibition, Fabulous
Fakes: Jewelry by Kenneth
Jay Lane, was organized
by Henry Joyce, an
independent curator of
decorative arts and design,
in conjunction with
Kenneth Jay Lane
who loaned objects,
advertisements, photographs,
and research to the
exhibition. Joyce, formerly
was Curator at Shelburne
Museum of Art, Vermont and
organized several
exhibitions and historic
building reinstallations.
###
The Norton Museum of Art was
founded in 1941 by Ralph and
Elizabeth Norton whose
collection, bequeathed in
1947 and 1953, already
contained signature
masterpieces by European
artists such as Monet,
Gauguin, Matisse, Brancusi,
and Picasso, and by
contemporaneous American
painters such as Hassam, Marin, Bellows,
Hopper, and O'Keeffe,
alongside some of the
world's finest specimens of
ancient Chinese bronzes and
jades. To this great legacy
several thousand works have
been added, by artists
ranging from Cranach
and Rubens to Pollock and
Warhol, and the Museum has
emerged as a dynamic
collector of Contemporary
art and of Photography.
Norton-organized exhibitions
such as
Candida Höfer,
Georgia O'Keeffe: Circling
Around Abstraction,
Calder Jewelry,
William Kentridge: Five
Themes and
Objects of Wonder: Four
Centuries of Still Life from
the Norton Museum
have recently travelled to
New York,
Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Paris and
Vienna.
In addition to its
international presence the
Norton
Museum is one of the most
important art museums in the
Southeast.
The
Norton Museum is located at 1451 S. Olive Avenue
in
West Palm Beach
and is open
Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday,
1:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Closed on
major holidays). General
admission is $12 for adults,
$5 for visitors ages 13-21,
and free for Members and
children under 13. For
additional information,
please call 561. 832.5196 or
visit
www.norton.org
Norton
Museum
of Art | 561.832.5196 |
Norton.org