Erico Nagai as Modern Classic. Artist Retrospective at Schmuck München 2026

Artist list

Eriko Nagai

Erico Nagai, born in Tokyo, came to jewellery via painting. After studying briefly in Basel, she transferred to the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1968, where she initially studied painting and soon joined Franz Rickert’s and later Hermann Jünger’s jewellery classes. There, she developed an unmistakable design language that combines Japanese tradition and European modernity. Her works are characterised by reduced geometry, inspiration from nature and a masterful combination of materials such as gold, silver, copper, in techniques with urushi lacquer, enamel.

For Nagai, jewellery is never isolated – her stagings, such as the legendary installation at the Lenbachhaus in 1979, turned presentation itself into an artistic statement and opened up a dialogue between cultures.

She received the Bavarian State Prize and the Herbert Hoffmann Prize in 1976 and the Design Prize of the City of Munich in 2005. International exhibitions, works in museums, and her diverse teaching activities in Germany, Austria and Japan underline her importance.

Nagai experimented with classical and Japanese goldsmithing techniques, transferred painterly principles to metal and created objects of timeless elegance. Her work is thus a significant contribution to the jewellery design of the 20th and 21st centuries that wants to be seen, admired and worn.


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