Cartier and Islamic Art

Louis Cartier (1875-1942), the grandson of Cartier founder Louis-Francois, was an impassioned collector and lover of the arts. He was particularly entranced by Islamic arts, especially Persian book arts, geometric shapes and colour combinations, and its motifs and exotic colour palette are apparent in Cartier jewelry to this day. However, it was his younger brother Jacques - an expert in precious stones - who travelled to India and the Persian Gulf in 1911 and 1912 to discover the culture and bring home the true treasures of the Middle East: natural pearls. This was the pivotal moment when the dialogue between these two worlds opened up, eventually blossoming into a beautiful relationship that has lasted for decades.
Published to accompany a major exhibition at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, this lavish book delves into the Cartier archives to trace the story of Louis Cartier's love of Islamic art and the ways in which he incorporated Islam's stylized yet abstract motifs into Cartier's jewelry. Dazzling photographs of Cartier jewelry are accompanied by in-depth texts from a raft of distinguished scholars of both Islam and the decorative arts.
With 250 illustrations

Heather Ecker is Marguerite S. Hoffman and Thomas W. Lentz Curator of Islamic and Medieval Art at Dallas Museum of Art. Judith Henon-Renaud is Deputy Director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre. Pascale Lepeu is curator of the Cartier Collection. Violette Petit is head of the Cartier Paris Archives. Évelyne Possémé is Chief Curator, Art Nouveau-Art Deco and Antique and Modern Jewelry at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Sarah Schleuning is Interim Chief Curator and The Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at Dallas Museum of Art.

Forewords by Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Cyrille Vigneron, Agustín Arteaga, Olivier Gabet and Pierre Rainero
CATALOGUE
Cartier - The Story
Pascale Lepeu
A Journey into the Cartier Archives
Violette Petit
The "Revelation" of Islamic Arts: a Path to Modernity?
Judith Henon-Raynaud and Évelyne Possémé
Exquisite Manuscripts and Inlaid Objects: Reconstructing Louis Cartier's Collection of Islamic Art
Judith Henon-Raynaud
Cartier and India: a Source of Formal and Technical Renewal
Évelyne Possémé
Cartier's lexicon of forms: Abstractions, the 'Arab' Style, and the 'Persian' Style
Heather Ecker
An Exploration of Islamic Aesthetic Influence on Cartier's Graphics, 1909-1940
Sarah Schleuning
APPENDIX
Check list of exhibited works
(with illustrations)
Comprehensive list of Louis Cartier's collection (with illustrations)