Sam Kramer (Hardcover)

Toni Greenbaum

ISBN 10: 3897905647 / ISBN 13: 9783897905641

Published by Arnoldsche, Stuttgart, 2020

About this Item

Hardcover. Toni Greenbaum wittingly traces the life and work of Sam Kramer, one of the most eccentric American jewellery artists of the modern age. Presented in English. Kramer's strongly expressive, organic work and surreal workshops in New York's Greenwich Village paved the way for key mid-twentieth-century metalsmiths - and for many more working today. From the unique handling of his favoured material, silver, to curiosities such as the attempt to make jewellery from his wife's gallstones, or the purchase of 16,000 glass eyes from a taxidermist. The expressive genius of the artist can be found both in his brooches and necklaces and in his avant-garde publicity stunts. A figure of contemporary history, Sam Kramer reflects the existential angst and the quirky humour of the Beat Generation and continues to embody the iconoclastic spirit of his time. Toni Greenbaum wittingly traces the life and work of Sam Kramer, one of the most eccentric American jewelleryartists of the modern age. Presented in English. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9783897905641

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sam Kramer (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Arnoldsche, Stuttgart
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3897905647
• ISBN 13: 9783897905641
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Despite being one of the most influential - and indeed most eccentric - of the American modernist jewelers, Sam Kramer (1913-1964) has received little recognition. His expressive, organic work and surreal workshop, located on West 8th Street in New York's Greenwich Village, paved the way for other mid-twentieth century metalsmiths, and for many more working today. Sam Kramer: Jeweler on the Edge investigates Kramer as both a seminal artist and a cult personality. Through lavish color photographs of rarely seen works as well as newly discovered archival material, the story of this unique individual is told against a backdrop of post-Second World War America, from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Mirroring both the existential angst and quirky humor of the Beat Generation, Sam Kramer embodied the iconoclastic spirit of his era.

About the Author

Toni Greenbaum is a widely respected authority of international stature on modern and contemporary jewelry. She wrote the standard text on modernist jewelry, Messengers of Modernism: American Studio Jewelry 1940-1960, as well as countless book chapters, exhibition catalogues and essays. Greenbaum lectures internationally and is a professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.