As a boy, Georg Jensen (1866-1935) was apprenticed to the local
knife factory near his hometown of Copenhagen. In the normal
course of events, he would have finished out his training there
and then spent the next four or five decades similarly employed.
Instead, breaking with tradition and leaving factory life behind
him, Jensen went on to become the most important silversmith of
the past century. The story of Jensen's belated - and, at times,
reluctant - acceptance of his vocation is told in the exhibition
organized by the Bard Graduate Center that will run until October
16.
As the exhibition "Georg Jensen Jewelry" demonstrates, there
remains much to learn about the Dan-ish silversmith and the
company he founded. More than 300 pieces are on display, dating
from the late Nineteenth Century up to the 1970s.
