COVERSTORY FOR ITS 35TH ANNIVERSARY, de BOULLE COMMISSIONS A ONE-OF-A-KIND PAINTING BY AN ARTIST FASCINATED BY FACETS AND CULTURE
icasso had his Dora Maar. Rodin, his Camille Claudel. And for Andy Warhol, he found inspiration in the vibrant young socialite Edie Sedgwick. But for painter Angie Crabtree, her muses aren’t people: They are fiery heirloom gems, shim- mering auction stones and gleaming engagement-ring dia- monds. The San Francisco artist is a contemporary painter whose current body of work uses precious gemstones as a means to unpack the psychology and allure of luxury culture. Di- amonds and gemstones come from nature and are then re- cut by human hands. It is this melding between nature and man that yields what society collectively agrees on as some of our most valuable objects. Inspired by the great masters, particularly the dynamic opulence and light from the Ba- roque period, Crabtree makes works that offer a rigorous study of light and optics and how these formal characteris- tics of painting are intertwined with our perception of ex-
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