Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection
February 17 through May 27, 2018
Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati
From the museum:
Internationally acclaimed and collected, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) is renowned for his lush designs of exceptional beauty and unrivaled quality, as well as for his commitment to natural forms, brilliant color and inventive techniques.
Louis Comfort Tiffany was the son of Charles Tiffany, the founder of the famous jewelry and luxury goods retailer Tiffany & Co. Instead of joining the family business, Tiffany trained as a painter in New York and Paris. His first firm was dedicated to full-scale lavish interior design, with such high-profile projects as the State Rooms of the White House.
In 1885 he decided to focus on glass, his signature medium, and soon expanded into metalwork, jewelry, enamels and pottery. Throughout his prolific career, Tiffany experimented with and combined different media and techniques, drawing on a wide range of traditions, cultures, and fashions, which are reflected in this exhibition. He is perhaps best known for his stained-glass windows, which he created by infusing color directly into the glass (as opposed to the European method of painting on glass).
This national tour of “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection” incorporates more than 60 stunning examples of Tiffany’s decorative arts legacy over 30 years. Through masterworks never before brought together in a comprehensive traveling exhibition — including vases, lamps, windows and other functional and ornamental works — it offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience a superb variety of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s works, representing the expansive nature of his creative ingenuity and timeless design vision.
The exhibition presents 16 brilliant stained-glass plant-and animal-form lamps, 24 iridescent blown-glass vases, seven large iconic leaded-glass windows and numerous decorative objects, including andirons, candlesticks, humidors and inkwells.
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