[Beads] In the early 1960s, William Harper abandoned painting and turned to enameling to create more intense and fluid colors. He studied medieval and Renaissance cloisonne (partitioned) enamels and revived the technique for modern artists.

Harper also studied ritual objects from West Africa and pre-Columbian America and sought to reproduce their symbolic and magical qualities. Amuletic Beads #3 shows Harper's extraordinary range of colors, technical virtuosity, and interest in mysterious objects.

Courtesy of the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Matthew M. Cohen.

Amuletic Beads #3, by William Harper (b.1944), 1976, United States, enamel, fine silver, fine gold

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