On Sunday morning 26 July, 49 members and guests gathered at the NGV to visit the 2026 Winter Masterpieces Exhibition, CARTIER. First, we were introduced to this major event by Véronique Duché, A R Chisolm Professor of French at Melbourne University in which she not only presented a 41 page PowerPoint presentation discussing, revealing and describing some of the items on display in each of the 8 rooms dedicated to the skills of la maison Cartier, but also interspersing her lecture with some Activités Pédagogiques which teachers could use if taking students on a school excursion.
Véronique has most generously offered to share her presentation and worksheets with those who subscribed. Full of enthusiasm to explore the exhibits we entered the first colour-coded room, Room 1, The Garland Style displaying early creations from La Belle Époque where diamonds were used almost exclusively, such as the Manchester Tiara, and we learned how our own Dame Nelly Melba was a regular customer in 1902-4-8 for brooches, stomachers as well as a couple of agate kangaroos!
Room 2, A World of Inspiration, took us to Egypt, India, Japan, China, Iran/Islam as sources of inspiration for Cartier. We saw necklaces, brooches, Turban ornaments- even ashtrays, playing card and vanity cases and more plus Beatrice Mills' 1930 diamond necklace with a 143.23 carat emerald!
On to Room 3 , The Cartier Style, representing Art Deco where the Cartier passion for precious stones in the late 19th century was shown in mixing diamonds with onyx, with rubies and the famed 'Tutti Frutti' mix of gems in a necklace, bracelet and brooch- viewed by many as the best object in the exhibition!
Room 4, An Obsession with Stones, says it all!- emeralds, opals (Australian and recently Ethiopian), pearls, jade, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, such as Wallace Simpson's panthers, Jeanne Toussant's, birds in and out of cages representing war and victory as well as Princess Margaret's collection.
Room 5 , Cartier's Panther - Technical Ingenuity was demonstrated in a short film on how the panthers were created using clay and wax moulds – a complicated and time-consuming process ending with shots of panther brooches, bracelets and necklaces. Marvels of Horology displayed a collection of watches and clocks including The Mystery Clock.
Room 6, Cartier and Film, where a series of film clips showed us how so many of Cartier's creations were used to show emotion or characteristics of stars in many movies starting with the early Mexican film with a snake containing 2,473 diamonds, Rudolph Valentino's incongruous watch in 1935, and many other films – La Belle et la Bête, Sunset Boulevard 1950, High Society 1957 -Grace Kelly's own engagement ring with a 10.48 carat diamond, The Great Gatsby 1974, Oceans 8 2018, Maria (Callas) 2021 and Elisabeth Taylor's set of matching jewels (Parure) and of course the crocodiles necklace/brooch, one of yellow diamonds and the other of emeralds where a live crocodile was used as a model for accuracy!
Room 7, Constant Reinvention - A Philosophy of Design, focused on the 60s and 70s and the growth of the Maison Cartier in New York. Affordable pieces such as love bracelets were introduced so that a Cartier item was not only for the rich and famous but could be worn by the ordinary man/woman in the street!
Room 8, Tiaras, Pinnacles of the Jewellers, and back to the rich and famous! A stunning room of 24 tiaras (altogether 33 in the entire exhibition) all in their separate display cases to be admired close up or from the central seating area to simply gaze in wonderment.
My thanks to Véronique for her informative and inspiring introduction, to my colleague Claire Cowen for introducing and thanking our speaker, to David Menzies (NGV Learn) once again for his continuing involvement in the organisation of this AFTV event from the first contacts in March to the event itself, to Jannelli Campana(NGV) for her assistance on the day, to Dinah for her assistance with bookings, reminders and registration on the day and to the AFTV Committee which voted unanimously to offer such a generous subsidy to encourage participation.
Une Expo à ne pas manquer!
As the June 6 The Age article remarked, 'a showcase of design, craftmanship, and celebrity adornment…'
Gretchen Bennett, Convener Cultural PL
French Trivia is back again in 2026! A night of learning and fun for your Years 9 & 10 French students.
Date Friday 7 August 2026
Time 6.00pm - 8.00pm (approx)
Venue Sacré Cœur – 172 Burke Road, Glen Iris 3146
Introducing Version 2.0 of the F–10 Victorian Curriculum: French, and new support resources to plan and implement the curriculum in your
primary and secondary classroom.
Date Monday 17 August
Time 4.30pm - 5.45pm
Location Via Zoom
We are pleased to invite your students from years 5 - 8 to a screening of this delightful animated French film in which 10-year-old
Nina and her best friend Mehdi plot to find stolen money she believes is hidden in an abandoned factory.
Venue Cinéma
Palace Como South Yarra
Date Wednesday 19 August
Time 10.00am for a 10.30am start
The AFTV is pleased to invite you to a practical 90-minute webinar, presented by Joe Dale, to explore how artificial intelligence
can support the teaching of French through effective and classroom-ready workflows.
Date Thursday 3
September 2026
Time 5.00pm to 6.30pm
Location Via Zoom