Color Light Air by Thomas Gentille

Artist list

Thomas Gentille

Thomas Gentille: Color Light Air features eggshell inlay pieces, which have three dimensional elements that extend beyond direct contact with clothing, as well as a recently completed rare eggshell necklace begun thirty-three years ago. Also included in the exhibition are works that delve into the qualities of translucency and opacity and the way they alter color and light—the ethereal subspace where air is incorporated into these works to enhance the light and allow the work to “breath.” 

Gentille states: First always light, then geometry, color—subtle or intense—and an endless source of materials, among other considerations, are the components of my work. He often jokes about colleagues trying to get him to stop talking about jewelry when giving a lecture or in seminar. Yet he is reluctant to speak about individual pieces, except in a minimal way, preferring to let the work speak for itself.

Thomas Gentille’s work is in numerous important private and public collections, notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which possesses nine works of his, more than any other contemporary jeweler. He is also included in the collections of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and Museum of Arts and Design in New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Newark Museum; Cleveland Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Dallas Museum of Art; Yale University Art Gallery; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; and Schmuckmuseum, Pforzheim. Winner of both the Herbert Hofmann Prize (2001) and Bavarian State Prize (2004), he was designated a Modern Classic at Schmuck, in Munich, in 2006. In October 2018, Gentille was inducted into the prestigious American Craft Council College of Fellows.


Join us for a conversation with Thomas Gentille during the upcoming New York City Jewelry Week.

Friday, Nov. 16th, 2 pm.
The Great Room @ The Jewelry Library, Penthouse.
1239 Broadway, New York, NY 10001