BERENICE GEOFFROY-SCHNEITER FOR ASSOULINE

Gold—pure, indestructible, dazzling: Since the dawn of time, this precious metal has generated countless fantasies and beliefs. Whether it leads powerful rulers to the afterlife, casts a delicate glow on the Buddhist pagodas of Southeast Asia, illuminates the halos of saints, adds brilliance to the crowns of kings and popes, gleams on haute couture runways or glitters on a rapper’s grill, gold is an eternal symbol of wealth and glory, the prized element’s highly malleable nature lending itself to infinite metamorphoses.

What accounts for such a lasting and universal fascination? Thanks to its irresistible luminosity and remarkable resilience, gold is the ideal medium to symbolize both visible and invisible forces. Artists from Gustav Klimt to Andy Warhol and Yves Klein have exalted its metaphysical and fantastic nature. Ancient Egyptians regarded gold as “the flesh of the gods,” and Louis XIV, the Sun King, adopting Apollo as his symbol, transformed Versailles into a palace bathed in gold and light, setting a standard for all the other royal courts of old Europe. 

214 pages

125 illustrations

W15.4" x H18.5" x D3"

black rubber clamshell box with metal plate

22 lbs.