‘Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design’ opens at Louvre Abu Dhabi

A new exhibit titled ‘Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design’, exploring the influence of Islamic art on the French jewellery brand, opened at the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The exhibit features over 400 works including jewellery and precious objects, Islamic art, drawings, textiles and photographs that will be complemented by digital projections.

Years ago, Cartier’s archives revealed that Louis Cartier, the grandson of the luxury brand’s founder, had a sizable library dedicated to books about Islamic art, according to The National. Accompanying those were sketches with references to chests, pen holders and vessels from the Islamic world.

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“At the beginning of the 20th century, there was the massive arrival of Islamic pieces, mostly paintings and manuscripts,” Judith Henon-Raynaud, chief curator and deputy director at Paris’s Louvre, was quoted as saying by The National.

“These new shapes created a phenomenon in society,” she added.

The exhibit traces the influence of Islamic arts on Cartier’s designs, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day.

“Cartier was a man of his time. He was looking for something new,” Henon-Raynaud, co-curator of the Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibition was quoted as saying by The National.

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“Islamic art was not the only inspiration. They were also looking at Japanese and Chinese pieces. What is interesting about the Islamic inspiration is that I think it is the most structured for the Cartier style,” he added.

The immersive digital space was designed by New York-based design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

This exhibition is based on a project that was initially conceived and co-organised by the Dallas Museum of Art and the musée des Arts décoratifs titled ‘Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity’.

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The museum will host the exhibit until March 24, 2024, on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi.