C. Jeré

Article summary

C. Jeré (or Curtis Jeré, often seen without the accent) is a metalwork company known for wall sculptures and household accessories. C. Jeré works range from representational to highly abstract, and are made and marketed by the corporation Artisan House. Curtis Jeré is a compound nom de plume of founding artists Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, who combined parts of their own names to create the C. Jeré signature. According to Modernism magazine, which interviewed Jerry Fels shortly before his death in October 2008, the company was founded in 1963 by Fels and his brother-in-law Curtis (Kurt) Freiler. Freiler was the production chief and Fels was head of design. Their goal was to produce "gallery-quality art for the masses." Prior to the establishment of Artisan House, the partners built a costume jewelry business, selling work under the names Renoir and Matisse, which employed around 300 people at one point. Kurt and Jerry sold Artisan House in 1972. Kurt Freiler died July 22, 2013, at the age of 103. In a two-page article on the history of C. Jeré for the November 2010 issue of Elle Decor, Mitchell Owens wrote that, after launching in 1964, C.…

Key claims

1. date of death: 2013-07-22 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of foundation: 1963 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of death is "2013-07-22". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of foundation is "1963". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1166743990