DESIGN DRAWINGS FROM THE STUDIOS OF LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY: AN INTRODUCTION

• Published in: Metropolitan Museum journal 2016-01, Vol.51 (1), p.146-147
• Main Author: FRELINGHUYSEN, ALICE COONEY
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0077-8958; 2169-3072
• DOI: 10.1086/691111

The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds the most comprehensive and historically significant collection of work by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), including architectural elements, stained-glass windows, mosaics, paintings, lamps, blown-glass vases, enamel work, pottery, furniture, textiles, and jewelry. The museum's holdings were considerably enhanced in 1967 with the acquisition of more than 350 design drawings, as well as photographs and ephemera from the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the largest and most extensive compilation of this material known. The wide range of works on paper from Tiffany's studios includes highly finished presentation and working drawings, cartoons, and studio photographs. Encompassing virtually all of Tiffany's career, from the 1880s through the early 1930s, and nearly the full array of his production, the assortment contains designs for stained-glass windows for religious, public, and domestic buildings; designs for the interiors of churches, hotels, residences, and a museum gallery; ecclesiastical furnishings, such as lecterns, baptismal fonts, and textiles; numerous lighting designs, including some of the acclaimed Tiffany Studios floral shades; and many other decorative works. The commissions span a geographic distribution from Boston to Atlanta, New York to Los Angeles. [Publication Abstract]