Overview
Rosalind Gersten Jacobs, an American fashion buyer and retail executive, was first introduced to Surrealism in 1954 by gallerist, patron and artist, William Copley, and his wife, Noma. Through the couple, Rosalind met Man Ray. This fateful meeting would mark not only the beginning of Rosalind’s lifelong journey of collecting, but would chart her on a new path of artistic discovery and launch several close-knit friendships with artists.
This May, Christie’s presents The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs & Melvin Jacobs. Please join scholar Bella Neyman and Gina Barnett for an intimate look at the wearable sculpture in this personal collection.
For more Christie’s Education programming around this exciting auction season, check out...
Jewelry Jaunts
Discovering Artists
Art in the City – May
Image: Noma Copley, Necktie, circa 1969.
Speakers
Bella Neyman
Bella Neyman is the co-founder of New York City Jewelry Week, a city-wide celebration of jewelry held annually in November. She is also an independent curator and writer specializing in contemporary art jewelry. She has organized multiple exhibitions in the United States and Europe including most recently, 45 Stories in Jewelry at the Museum of Arts and Design. Bella’s articles on decorative arts, fashion and jewelry have appeared in the New York Times, Metalsmith, American Craft and The Magazine Antiques amongst others. From 2014-2018, she was the director of the Gallery at Reinstein|Ross, a New York-based gallery specializing in contemporary jewelry. Bella has been on the Board of the Art Jewelry Forum since 2013. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, NY.
Gina Barnett
After a career in the professional theater as an actress, acting coach, produced and published playwright, Gina decided to bring the skills that enable audience connection and stage presence to business professionals. Since 2007 she’s coached executives from over 30 countries, ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to non-profit arts organizations. From 2010 to 2019 she was main stage speaker coach for the TED Conference. In 2015 her book Play the Part was published by McGraw Hill. In 2017 she had the great honor to coach the speakers at the inaugural Obama Foundation conference. Currently she is supporting President Biden’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions by coaching the leadership in his Department of Energy. Gina’s mother, Flory Barnett met Noma in 1985. A few years later they sold their respective apartments and moved in together where they lived as life partners for the final twenty years of Noma’s life. As Noma’s “unofficial” step-daughter Gina is delighted to introduce the wider world to Noma’s witty, gorgeous, wonderfully crafted artist jewels.
