The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 1, 2023

Necklace

1953

John Paul Miller

(American, 1918–2013)

America, Ohio, Cleveland

Gold

Overall: 43.2 cm (17 in.); Pendant: 7 x 4.6 cm (2 3/4 x 1 13/16 in.)

Silver Jubilee Treasure Fund 1953.181

Location

228B Cleveland Artists

Description

John Paul Miller's fascination with jewelry technique emerged in his groundbreaking rediscovery in the early 1950s of granulation, an ancient, forgotten technique of fusing gold beads to a gold surface without using solder. The fleeting creatures of earth, sea, and sky, such as the insect on this necklace, became his muses, inspiring a body of work full of curiously textured forms.

Citations
John Paul Miller Entry Card to 1953 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
Hoffman, Jay, Dee Driscole, and Mary Clare Zahler. A Study in Regional Taste: The May Show, 1919-1975. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1977. Reproduced: P. 63, no. 70; Mentioned: P. 80, no. 70
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 150
John Paul Miller collection. 1850-2010, bulk 1940-2000. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
Channing, Laurence, "Before Neo: The May Show", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 45 no. 07, September 2005 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8 archive.org
Exhibition history

Fine Arts Center, Indiana University, IN (2/2/1959 - 2/25/1959), Newcomb College, Tulane University, LA (3/10/1959 - 2/31/1959); "The Medieval Craftsman and his Modern Counterpart" cat. no. 11g

CMA 2010: "The Jewerly of John Paul Miller" (6/15/2010- 1/2/2011), no catalogue

Museum of Arts and Design (10/11/2011 - 1/15/2012) and Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, NY (2/25/2012 - 5/20/2012): "Crafting Modernism: Mid-Century American Art & Design"), ex. cat. no. 165, p. 218.

The May Show: 35th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-June 14, 1953).

Exhibition of Crafts. The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA (organizer) (April 4-May 1, 1965).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

The Jewelry of John Paul Miller. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 13, 2010-January 2, 2011).

Crafting Modernism: Mid-Century American Art & Design. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (organizer) (October 11, 2011-January 15, 2012); Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (February 25-May 20, 2012).

Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.181