The Last Royal DUBU

2018

The Last Royal DUBU, 2018. William Harper (American, b. 1944). Gold cloisonné enamel on fine gold and fine silver, gold, tourmaline, moonstone, opal, citrine, glass; 13.3 x 14 cm (5 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Partial gift of William Benjamin-Harper, and partial purchase from the Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2022.255 Cleveland-trained and New York-based William Harper ranks among the leading contemporary jewelers. His work is heralded for its bold originality that weds meticulous technique with a philosophy of contradiction—in the praise of one critic, “beautiful and grotesque.” Such an approach is manifest in The Last Royal DUBU with its exquisitely rendered clashes of disparate materials, vibrant colors, and lush textures. The title references French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985), whose work Harper admires for rebelling against mainstream standards of taste.