Louis Comfort Tiffany or Louis C. Tiffany (February 18, 1848 -January 17, 1933), an American painter and ‘Glass Designer,’ was born in New York. Since very young age, Louis was interested in art and painting and formally learned painting in Paris. Tiffany’s most works had the influence of ‘Art Nouveau’ and ‘Aestheticism.’ Starting as a painter, he got attracted towards glassmaking in 1875 and worked with many glass houses in Brooklyn, until 1878. In 1879, he associated with Samuel Coleman, Candace Wheeler, and Lockwood de Forest to establish the organization Louis Comfort Tiffany & Associated American Artists. His aspiration to focus on glass painting led to the splitting up of the company. He incorporated his first sole ownership, Tiffany Glass Company, on December 01, 1885 that came to be known as Tiffany Studios, in 1902. In the meantime, Tiffany created his most famous glass painting “Garden Landscape & Fountain” (1905-15).
This all time masterpiece, inspired by Byzantine Art, was probably a commission by the Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia. Louis’ finest imagination took the painting beyond its conventional creation of a flat decorative work. In this glass painting, measuring 8′ 7 ½” x 9′ 6″ (262.9 cm x 289.6 cm), Louis Comfort stunningly captures the beauty of the nature. “Garden Landscape & Fountain” a Favrile Glass Mosaic artwork carries the natural effect through the Favrile Glass Mosaic that has been cut to diverse shapes to accommodate the view. The painting is a classic example of the usage of colors, which were highly inspired by the nature, i.e. plants, sky, and insects. In the Louis Comfort’s landscape, “Garden Landscape & Fountain,” there are tall slender cypress trees with a multicolored sky above. Two swans carve a rippled pond of shining blue. The presence of a cluster of pink water lilies is also supporting the extraordinary view of the scene.
During 1896-1900, Tiffany created large number of beautiful Favrile Glass, with various pieces attaining mysterious and ‘Impressionistic’ effects. His vital contribution made him the head of the ‘Art Nouveau’ movement. Tiffany’s company was renamed as Tiffany Studios in 1900, after which Louis Comfort Tiffany ventured into lamps, pottery, jewelry, and bibelots. In 1911, he produced another of his best achievements, a gargantuan glass curtain for the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Tiffany founded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation for Art Students at his luxurious and renowned Long Island estate, which in 1946, was sold to provide scholarship funds. Some of Tiffany’s other famous paintings are Stained Glass Window, Favrile Pottery, Laurelton Hall Loggia, View of Oyster Bay, and Autumn Landscape Window. “Garden Landscape & Fountain” is currently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Source by Annette Labedzki