Paul Voltaire

(1917-1979) Gave up a flourishing career as a metallurgical engineer to become a full-time artist. He moved to NYC in 1940, and after World War II he turned his attention to the arts. He was one of the founding members of the Craftsmen's Equity in New York City, now known as the American Craft Council. On December 10, 1949, he opened a shop in Greenwich Village where he designed and made jewelry. Working directly with a variety of metals including silver, brass, gold, copper and even steel (often without sketches), he created jewelry that was beautiful, comfortably wearable, and always contemporary in feeling - most pieces were one of a kind. Voltaire was an "odd bird" (in his own words) who brought scientific principles into play in his mostly abstract jewelry, photographed by Look, Vogue, Glamour and other fashion magazines. After moving his shop out of Greenwich Village in the late 1950s, he and his wife had very successful shops in New Hope, Bucks County, PA and Woodstock, NY, as well as New Milford, CT. - Courtesy of "Form & Function - American Modernist Jewelry, 1940-1970" by Marbeth Schon.