Cartier and Islamic Art: In Search of Modernity

The catalogue for a major exhibition jointly organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Dallas Museum of Art, exploring the profound and sustained influence of Islamic art and architecture on Cartier's design vocabulary. The first dedicated study of a subject previously touched on in Nadelhoffer and Rudoe but never made the focus of its own publication.

The influence of Islamic art on Cartier is documented and direct. Louis Cartier collected Islamic art and manuscripts; Jacques Cartier travelled extensively in Persia, India, and the Gulf, buying gems and absorbing visual material from mosques, miniatures, and the decorative arts of the Islamic world. The exhibition traces how this material fed back into Cartier's design output, particularly in the Art Deco period, and argues for a more specific and documented influence than the general "Orientalism" label usually applied.

Contenido

The Islamic sources — architecture, manuscripts, textiles, metalwork — that Cartier's designers drew on directly; the mechanism by which that influence reached the Paris ateliers; and the specific pieces in the Cartier Collection that demonstrate it most clearly. The catalogue treats the Persian and Islamic influence in Cartier's work with archival rigour, using design drawings and source material alongside the finished pieces. Also covers the Indian overlap: how Mughal carved gemstones and Mughal architecture fed into the same visual current.

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The primary scholarly reference for the Persian & Islamic Influence glossary entry and related entries on Mughal Carved Gemstones and Egyptian Revival.