Curtis Jere | Vintage Mid Century Modern Metal Sculptures
Vintage Curtis Jere iconic mid-century sculptures are becoming increasingly popular and much sought after by collectors. The Curtis Jere wall art is equally at home in modern or traditional interiors as it ranges from enameled natural scenes to edgy metal abstract sculpture.
It may come as a surprise by Curtis Jere is actually not a person but the work of artists and Jerry Fels and his brother in law Curtis “Kurt” Freiler. The two founders combined pieces of their own names to create the C. Jeré signature for their company Artisan House. The company has since been sold and resold.
Freiler was the production chief and Fels was head of design. Their goal was to produce “gallery-quality art for the masses”. Under Freiler’s meticulous direction, the workers – a number of whom were minorities or handicapped – sheared, crimped, torched, and welded brass, copper, and other metals before coating them with luminous patinas.”
Prior to Artisan House, the partners built a costume jewelry business selling work under the names Renoir and Matisse which employed around 300 people at one point.
For years Jonathan Adler has been obsessed with the ultra groovy wall sculptures of C. Jeré – gorgeous metal sunbursts, explosions of brass raindrops and mirrors suspended by exquisitely crafted brass petals. In an exclusive partnership with Jonathan Adler, the C. Jeré studio has reissued their most iconic mid-century designs.