Reviews

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of the famous house Tiffany & Co. in New York, is undeniably one of the most talented creators. His look as a painter in terms of color and composition, his passion for exoticism and his innovations in the glass field make him, from1900, becoming a leader of the American design whose reputation goes until the great European capitals: he will compete with the great European glass makers of the end of the 19th century.

The splendid ornamentation, the careful work, the spectacular effects and original in their lights and colors which are the main characteristics of his glass production (blown glass vases, stained glass windows, lamps and items) put him in the heart of numerous artistic movements of his time, from the Arts & Crafts and the American Aesthetic Movement to New Art and Symbolism. The exhibition will gather about 160 works (stained-glass windows, vases, lamps, items, jewels and mosaics, drawings, watercolors and photos of the time) which reveal the noteworthy contribution of this creator to the glass industry such as the whole of the decorative arts. 

Louis C. Tiffany Vitrail "Magnolias", c.1900 Verre, plomb Saint Petersbourg, Musée de l’Ermitage ©Photo : Yuri Molodkovets

Visitors will admire an exceptional whole of stained-glass windows of Tiffany which has been dismantled, studied, restored and carried on the occasion of this exhibition. The presentation of these stained-glass windows in Paris is a true technical and logistical feat.
Divided into six themes, the exhibition will broach the beginnings of Tiffany’s career: his stays in Europe (especially in Paris where he studied paintings in the studio of Léon-Charles Bailly) then his increasing interest in the art of glass; his work as an interior designer for influential American clients; his relations with the Parisian Art dealer Siegfried Bing who will contribute to the spreading and the success of his creations en Europe; the stained-glass windows, a major but however unrecognized part of his production; the Favrile glasses vases with organic shapes , and striking color contrasts; finally, the development of the business, based, among others, on the selling of lamps and decorative items which contribute to strengthen his huge popularity.

Louis C. Tiffany Fenêtre du "Bella Apartment", c.1880 Verre, plomb New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Don de Robert Koch, 2002 ©Photo : The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Luxembourg Museum chose to organize in Paris this exhibition conceived by the Montreal Fine Arts Museum. After Paris, the exhibition will be welcomed in Montreal at the Fine Arts Museum from February 11th to May 2nd 2010 and in Richmond (USA) at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from du May 29th to August 15th 2010.
The general exhibition committee is led by Rosalind Pepall, general curator of the decorative arts (ancients and moderns) of the Montreal Fine Art Museum with the collaboration of two guest organizers : Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, curator (Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang) of the American decorative arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Martin Eidelberg, specialist of Tiffany’s work and art history emeritus professor, Rutgers University, New Jersey, under the direction of Nathalie Bondil, director and general curator of the Montreal Fine Arts Museum.
The stage design has been entrusted to the creator Hubert Le Gall who was already in charge of the one of “René Lalique, bijoux d’exception”, 1890-1912 for the Luxembourg Museum(2007).

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Further Information

Luois C. Tiffany