MARY KRETSINGER (1915-2001)
MARY KRETSINGER, born and raised in Emporia, Kansas IN 1915, was a celebrated enamelist. She was the daughter of trailblazing Emporia quilter Rose Good Kretsinger (1886-1963), whose work can be found in the collection of the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. Immersed in art from a young age, she became an accomplished artist who worked in painting, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics.
Kretsinger received her BA in History at the University of Kansas, and her Masters in Art History and Design at the State University of Iowa. She also studied in New York at Columbia University and the Craft Students League under the Danish silversmith Adda Husted-Andersen. Additional studies included The Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York and the University of Indiana in Bloomington.
Her career began in the 1940s and 1950s, as an art teacher to both children and young adults, teaching widely in the public school system. However, it was not until the 1960s, when she retired from academia (although she occasionally taught silversmithing at various art centers), that her artistic career flourished.
Kretsinger STOOD OUT for her approach to enameling, most notably combining cloisonné enamel with gold and semi-precious stones. She said that she liked to use enamels in small areas so that their “preciousness” was not lost. Kretsinger’s work is recognized for its highly textured surfaces, bold colors, and unusual design. Brooches and rings often have inventive hinges and metal beading so that the surfaces appear three-dimensional. Kretsinger is often quoted as stating, “I work in precious metals, enamels, and precious stones to create unique pieces of jewelry. I do not mass produce. I am interested in the sculptural approach to jewelry and hope eventually to produce sculpture using, silver, gold, and enamel.”
She was included in the seminal print exhibitions published by the Walker Art Center’s Design Quarterly (issue #33, 1955 and issue #45-46, 1959). She was also featured in 1961 Goldsmiths’ Hall's International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery, as well as Objects: USA, curated by gallery owner Lee Nordness, which opened at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC in 1969, and later traveled extensively throughout the United States.
Although she received much acclaim for her jewelry work and was regarded as an important American modernist jeweler, she shifted her focus to ecclesiastical works. In about 1963 she stated, “I wish to go into commissioned work and work with architects, but this is very hard to begin. I expect to bend every effort in this direction in the next year because liturgical work interests me more than jewelry. It seems to have more universal and less personal appeal and also has social value lacking in the production of jewelry.” THIS RESULTED IN A DOZEN COMMISSIONS WITHIN DEVOTIONAL SPACES AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.
Kretsinger’s jewelry can be found in NUMEROUS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN THE US AND ABROAD. The Mary Kretsinger papers (1959-1976) are now part of the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
