This year noted collector Donna Schneier gave a substantial part of her contemporary jewelry collection to the Metropolitan Museum. Jane Adlin, Met Associate Curator, is collaborating with Donna on an upcoming exhibition and a publication devoted to Donna’s gift. They kindly shared some jewelry thoughts with Susan Cummins in our August interview.

Susan: Donna, why did you decide to give this part of your collection to the Met? I understand that you gave work from the 80’s to MAD, which made up the “Zero Carat” show and some other work to the Racine Museum of Art? How did you decide what should go where?

Donna: The initial collection was hung in my office building when I was importing gold jewelry in the late 70’s until the early 90’s and selling to large volume users. The object at that time was to demonstrate to the buyers that there were other forms of body adornment. (They didn’t get it.) That collection turned out to have documented the jewelry revolution of the 60’s, 70,s and 80’s. When the business was sold I felt that these works never to be seen again in the marketplace should be donated to a museum. I was an active participant at MAD, they were interested in the collection so it seemed the logical place to exhibit the work. It was only non-precious work, hence the name Zero Carat.

Always the hunter gatherer I decided to concentrate on precious metal jewelry. However, I missed some of the works I had donated so I filled in some of Kunzli’s work, the work of Gijs Bakker and a few others in non-precious.

When, after 50 years I left my beloved N.Y.C. for Florida I wanted to leave a legacy to the city. In conversation with Jane Adlin at the Met she expressed an interest in the collection. It was a difficult decision because of my affiliation with MAD but when I realized that the Met is the ultimate imprimatur there seemed to be no choice but to donate it to the Met.

The donation to Racine was work that would compliment work already in their collection. I have a history of donating works to many museums and will continue to do so.

Susan: Jane, how does the Donna’scollection fit into the holdings of the Met?

Jane: Donna’s collection of post World War II jewelry continues to tell the story of modern design that begins in this department around the turn of the last century and includes work by important jewelers such as Rene Lalique,Dagobert Peche,Lluis Masriera, unique works by Alexander Calder in the 1940s, and early studio craft jewelers, just to name a few. Her collection will compliment the collection and hopefully will continue to grow through the coming years.

Two works from Donna’s collection - a Mary Lee Hu necklace and a brooch by William Harper are currently on view in the exhibition of “Masterpieces of Modern Design, Selections from the Collection”.

Susan: What are your plans for the Schneier collection in the near future?

Jane: There will be an exhibition and publication devoted to Donna’s gift. The date is not yet confirmed.

Susan: Tell us something about your background. Where did you study and what are your special interests?

Donna: I have been a dealer in 20thc painting and sculpture since 1966. In the mid-eighties I realized that there was affordability and growth, both artistic and financial in the five disciplines loosely described as craft, that is, ceramics, glass, fiber, metal (jewelry) and wood. I choose to investigate and sell on the secondary market ceramics, glass, fiber, and wood but to collect jewelry. I occasionally sold jewelry but was more interested in building a collection for myself.

Jane: I grew up in Chicago where I came to love the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright - especially Robie House. Also, the Art Institute (of Chicago)gave me many blissful days of pleasure. I went to Brandeis University and did graduate work at Hunter College (NY) and the Graduate Center (both part of the New York City college system). I started at the Metropolitan in late 1986 as a part-time researcher and have been here ever since. My art history background was in the fine arts but the research job I applied for was with the (former) curator of modern design and architecture. Currently, I’m Associate Curator, Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern & Contemporary Art at the Met.

Susan: How would you describe your own personal taste in jewelry?

Donna: I do not have personal taste in jewelry. My goal was to document as best I could the significant artists and movements in the field of contemporary jewelry irrespective of my likes and dislikes. When considering a work I asked myself what contribution the artist had made to the movement and whether that work was of importance to the artist’s contribution.

Jane: Personally, I am eclectic. I like old, new, serious, humorous, precious and non-precious. It just has to “speak to me”.

Susan: What impact do you hope to have on the contemporary jewelry field with this gift to the Met?

Donna: The impact on the contemporary jewelry movement is untold. No museum is more important. After the exhibition and the book they plan for 2011 the impact should be huge. It will put this movement on the 20c art history map as nothing else could.

Susan: Who are some of the artists that you feel are outstanding in your collection overall?

The jury is still out. The outstanding works in my collection are the masters in the field, that is, Junger, Kunzli, Gentile, Hu, Harper, Metcalf, and 125 others to numerous to mention here.

Susan: Are you still collecting similar work?

Donna: As there are many “holes” in the collection I donated to the Met it looks like I will be purchasing works for them to fill in the blanks.

Susan: Our members certainly are looking forward to seeing the collection at the Met and appreciate your all you have done as a patrons of contemporary art jewelry. Thank you both.