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The Art Work of Louis C. Tiffany
- October 2008
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| "It is all a matter of education, and we shall never
have good art in our homes until the people learn to distinguish the beautiful
from the ugly." |
| - Louis Comfort Tiffany |
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Window (Howell Hinds House), Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1966.432 |
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Louis Comfort Tiffany was the most important
master of the decorative arts in America's "gilded age." He was
a true visionary and one of the most original, creative, and influential
designers of the period. Tiffany was the United States' leading proponent
of Art Nouveau, the elegant, decorative, and graceful style of ornamentation
that flourished in Europe at the turn of the 20th century. He is also regarded
as one of the first industrial designers to combine fine art and functional
utility in his various creations. Tiffany was an industrious experimenter,
obsessed with perfection and excellence, ideals he pursued to the fullest
in his quest for a luxurious new aesthetic to suit American high style. |
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Click on an image for a larger view
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The Studio, Painted in 1896 (page 10A)
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Tiffany's widely varied career stretched over
more than half a century, from 1870 to the middle of the 1920's. Early in
his career Tiffany proved to be a gifted painter, an aspect of his work
that often escapes public attention.
Algerian Shops, Painted in 1895 (page 6)
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He was also an architect,
designed both landscapes and interiors, and created new styles for furniture,
draperies, wallpaper, and rugs. His pursuit of a unique vision led him
to employ varied materials including enamels, ornamental bronze, ceramics,
silver and wood to produce such diverse items as crucifixes, candelabra,
desk sets, clocks and picture frames.
The Terrace, Laurelton Hall (page 66)
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Wall Hanging, With Water Lillies (page 42B) |
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A Mantel and Fireplace, Seventy-second Street House (page 58A) |
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Mr. Tiffany's Original Sketch, For the Seventy-second Street
House (page 56C)
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Iridescent Lustre Vase, Seventy-second Street Collection (page
24)
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Venetian Lamp (page 40A) |
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But as exquisite as these objects are, Tiffany
is best known as America's premier glass artist. Glass was the medium in
which he excelled, for the intrinsic beauty of the material opened limitless
creative possibilities and permitted him the optimal realization of his
aesthetic ideas. Tiffany and the artisans in his studios produced thousands
of stained glass windows and lamps, tableware, mosaics and exquisitely beautiful
glass jewelry. |
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The Four Seasons, Exhibited at London and Paris in 1892 (page 20C)
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Three-Handled Cup, Decorated with Grape Clusters (page 34B) |
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Necklace, From the Walters Collection (page 32A) |
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Jewel, From the Walters Collection (page 30) |
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Mr. Tiffany Among the Flowers, Painted by Sorolla, 1911 (frontispiece)
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According to the people who knew him well, Tiffany
was an eccentric, an autocrat, and a purist. He was very demanding of his
craftsmen and accepted nothing but perfection from their work. He was known
to walk through the studios with his cane and strike any piece that he found
unacceptable. Though considered tyrannical by some, he was also known to
be kind and generous to his employees and demonstrated concern for their
private lives. |
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In the Fields at Irvington, painted in 1879 (page 8C)
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His personal life was much the same. At times
authoritarian, he accepted only perfection from his seven children. But
he was also seen as a kind and caring father, preferring to spend his time
away from work with his family. |
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The Art Work of Louis C Tiffany (cover)
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In 1913, when Tiffany was sixty-five years old,
he began to plan his retirement and the legacy by which he wished the world
to remember him. His children also wanted him to set out in print a record
of his accomplishments. To this end, Tiffany asked Charles De Kay, an art
historian and former New York Times art critic, to write his memoirs. The
fruit of their collaboration is the first biography of Louis Comfort Tiffany,
The Art work of Louis C. Tiffany. The privately printed book was
published in 1914 by Doubleday Page & Company. The highly decorative
cover, gold over a red ground papier-mache binding, was designed by Tiffany.
The book contains 21 tipped-in color plates and 42 photogravures. Tiffany
underwrote the high production costs of the volume and used it as his calling
card trade catalogue to be given to the wealthy and influential. |
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Dedication to the Cleveland Museum of Art Library |
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The volume is a limited edition of 502 copies
(10 on parchment for family and 492 on japan paper.) The Ingalls Library
copy is number 245 and is signed and dedicated to The Cleveland Museum of
Art by Tiffany. |
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