Master’s Scholarships 2022 - Interview Laureate Léa Moner

After a year of college preparatory school in Toulouse, I continued my studies in art history and archeology at the Université de Toulouse. In my third year, I specialized in art market studies and began a law degree in order to qualify for the national auctioneer examination. Wishing to continue my studies in art history, a Master’s in Contemporary Art was the next logical step.

The starting point was my growing interest in jewelry. Passionate about Art Deco, I wanted to focus on the jewelry production of this period. After numerous discussions with Nicolas Meynen, my research director, and Léonard Pouy, professor at L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts in Paris, I decided to look at exotic colonial influences in Art Deco jewelry. Gradually, the scope and complexity of the subject led me to refocus my research on the influence of Egyptian antiquity on the field of jewelry creation in the 1920s.

There are currently very few academic works devoted to the sources of inspiration in jewelry creation. Studying Ancient Egypt as a source of inspiration for jewelry in the 1920s is original in this regard. My primary objective was to highlight the way in which the permanent phenomenon of Egyptomania reinvented Ancient Egypt in the 1920s, in particular with the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

I developed an interest in jewelry rather late; during my university studies in art history. In the third year of my art market studies, within the framework of a course on the decorative arts, I was able to familiarize myself with this little-studied area in academic circles. My love of jewelry was especially sparked by Suzanne Belperron’s creations.

I am very grateful to L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts for awarding me this scholarship. As a student in and resident of Toulouse, it will allow me to finance the many trips to Paris necessary for the development of my research. Indeed, during the first year of my Master’s, I traveled to Paris several times to consult the precious documentary collections at the INHA library, as well as the library of L’ÉCOLE. In fact, I would like to thank the staff at the latter institution for their hospitality.

I initially became aware of L’ÉCOLE last year during a first call for scholarship applications. My research director, Mr Meynen, put me in contact with L’ÉCOLE and with Guillaume Glorieux, in particular. During the first year of my Master’s, I had the opportunity to visit L’ÉCOLE numerous times as I conducted research at the library.