Olivia
The technology of stained glass allowed the harsh stone cathedrals of the Middle Ages to glow luminously with vividly colored light. Nearly a millennium later, the qualities of colored glass continued to capture the imagination of artists, among them Louis Comfort Tiffany. Fascinated by the unending hues and rich tones that enlivened the natural world around him, the artist sought to express that infinite variety into his craft.
Raised by the famed founder of Tiffany & Co, Charles Lewis Tiffany, Louis Comfort Tiffany long held an appreciation for elegance and luxury (Tiffany & Co). Yet the son of the wealthy businessman channeled this regard for style into artistic production, designing a career that experimented with paint, metalworking, lighting, and jewels (Frelinghuysen). By the late 1870s, Tiffany had begun to focus on decorative arts (Frelinghuysen). Although he had settled into one domain of the vast art kingdom, Tiffany’s curiosity did not diminish. Instead, the artist’s hunger for fresh techniques and new forms never ceased. He invested in revolutionizing the practice of stained glass and transformed a medieval process into a modern art form. Tiffany’s studios broke with convention, utilizing opalescent, marbled, flecked, and roughly-cut shards of glass (Frelinghuysen). Moreover, he found many new functions for the medium, particularly in domestic settings. The artist’s infusion of fresh approaches to an age-old practice inspired other artists of the Arts and Crafts movement.
In the monumental year of 1893, the artist’s work with leaded glass reached new levels when he constructed a chapel for the World’s Columbian Exposition (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). This ambitious fair and exhibition glorified America as a rising power contributing the greatest accomplishments of the world. The fair was a sea of grandiose Beaux Arts architecture, exotic belly dancers, and futuristic industrial machines. Tiffany commingled an appreciation for the past, for foreign cultures, and for the modern era into his chapel. He consciously referenced the accomplishments of earlier eras and faraway cultures as if to demonstrate that America had subsumed and then advanced beyond them.
Drawing upon the established Gothic forms, Tiffany constructs a chapel that captures the customary arrangement of a medieval church. As in any traditionally pious structure, the attention is immediately drawn to the altar. The marble altar, adorned with white glass, is a glistening source of enlightenment (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Eager to fill the market niche of ecclesiastical goods, Tiffany Glass & Decorating Co. introduced a range of sacred items, including vestments and furniture (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Inevitably included in the chapel design are Tiffany’s signature, stained glass windows. The leaded glass filtered in light in such a way, that men were rumored to have removed their caps when entering the chapel (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Also drawing upon tradition by embracing classical forms, Tiffany includes mighty arches and columns that lend power to the small space. The columns are capped with ornate cornices and the arches are inlaid with semi-precious stones, elaborately drawing attention to the dignity of the past (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). With his chapel, Tiffany demonstrates his respect for the glorified history of divine constructions.
The adoption of the art-nouveau love of the decorative and exotic led to a departure from the canon of Gothic architecture. Like the fair, a mosaic of novel colors and shapes, Tiffany’s chapel exhibited influences of Byzantine mosaics (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). During his travels through Europe, Tiffany developed a keen interest in Byzantine churches, especially in the presence of flat, monotone square tiles (Frelinghuysen). The elaborate mosaics, detailed patterns, and colorful compositions present in the chapel recall an exotic foreign culture, one of the major draws to the Columbian Exposition.
Although clearly drawing upon historical precedent, Tiffany demonstrated his design was in keeping with the trend toward modernity by experimenting with the incorporation of modern inventions. Among the most important inventions for Tiffany by his contemporaries was the introduction of electricity. By allowing for fresh sources of illumination, Tiffany’s glass was capable of shinning in new ways. Tiffany was known for his introduction of stained glass lamps (Frelinghuysen). His chandelier, or electrolier as it was known at the time, in the chapel won countless awards (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). The light fixture was ten feet high, constructed of emerald green glass (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Forming a cross shape, the chandelier illuminated the upper regions of the chapel and shed a soft, green light on the area below (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). The fixture became a beacon of light illuminating the past and providing hope and inspiration for the future.
Louis Comfort Tiffany epitomized the artistic trajectory at the turn of the 20th century. As artists fought to perpetuate ideals of the past, they were simultaneously drawn to foreign cultures and new innovations. The result was a product that was both comforting and inspirational at the same time. Louis Comfort Tiffany’s creations demonstrate the artist’s appreciation of light and color in a way that few artists of his time were capable of achieving.
Works Cited
Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney, and Monica Obniski. "Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933)." 2007. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 12 April 2013. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tiff/hd_tiff.htm>
“Louis Comfort Tiffany.” 2013. Tiffany & Co. 12 April 2013.
<http://www.tiffany.com/about/LouisComfort.aspx>.
“Tiffany Chapel.” 2011. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. 12 April 2013.
<http://www.morsemuseum.org/louis-comfort-tiffany/tiffany-chapel>.
Images Cited
“Tiffany's Rare 1893 Chapel Opens at the Morse Museum.” 2009. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. 12 April 2013.
<http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m506.htm>.
The technology of stained glass allowed the harsh stone cathedrals of the Middle Ages to glow luminously with vividly colored light. Nearly a millennium later, the qualities of colored glass continued to capture the imagination of artists, among them Louis Comfort Tiffany. Fascinated by the unending hues and rich tones that enlivened the natural world around him, the artist sought to express that infinite variety into his craft.
Raised by the famed founder of Tiffany & Co, Charles Lewis Tiffany, Louis Comfort Tiffany long held an appreciation for elegance and luxury (Tiffany & Co). Yet the son of the wealthy businessman channeled this regard for style into artistic production, designing a career that experimented with paint, metalworking, lighting, and jewels (Frelinghuysen). By the late 1870s, Tiffany had begun to focus on decorative arts (Frelinghuysen). Although he had settled into one domain of the vast art kingdom, Tiffany’s curiosity did not diminish. Instead, the artist’s hunger for fresh techniques and new forms never ceased. He invested in revolutionizing the practice of stained glass and transformed a medieval process into a modern art form. Tiffany’s studios broke with convention, utilizing opalescent, marbled, flecked, and roughly-cut shards of glass (Frelinghuysen). Moreover, he found many new functions for the medium, particularly in domestic settings. The artist’s infusion of fresh approaches to an age-old practice inspired other artists of the Arts and Crafts movement.
In the monumental year of 1893, the artist’s work with leaded glass reached new levels when he constructed a chapel for the World’s Columbian Exposition (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). This ambitious fair and exhibition glorified America as a rising power contributing the greatest accomplishments of the world. The fair was a sea of grandiose Beaux Arts architecture, exotic belly dancers, and futuristic industrial machines. Tiffany commingled an appreciation for the past, for foreign cultures, and for the modern era into his chapel. He consciously referenced the accomplishments of earlier eras and faraway cultures as if to demonstrate that America had subsumed and then advanced beyond them.
Drawing upon the established Gothic forms, Tiffany constructs a chapel that captures the customary arrangement of a medieval church. As in any traditionally pious structure, the attention is immediately drawn to the altar. The marble altar, adorned with white glass, is a glistening source of enlightenment (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Eager to fill the market niche of ecclesiastical goods, Tiffany Glass & Decorating Co. introduced a range of sacred items, including vestments and furniture (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Inevitably included in the chapel design are Tiffany’s signature, stained glass windows. The leaded glass filtered in light in such a way, that men were rumored to have removed their caps when entering the chapel (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Also drawing upon tradition by embracing classical forms, Tiffany includes mighty arches and columns that lend power to the small space. The columns are capped with ornate cornices and the arches are inlaid with semi-precious stones, elaborately drawing attention to the dignity of the past (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). With his chapel, Tiffany demonstrates his respect for the glorified history of divine constructions.
The adoption of the art-nouveau love of the decorative and exotic led to a departure from the canon of Gothic architecture. Like the fair, a mosaic of novel colors and shapes, Tiffany’s chapel exhibited influences of Byzantine mosaics (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). During his travels through Europe, Tiffany developed a keen interest in Byzantine churches, especially in the presence of flat, monotone square tiles (Frelinghuysen). The elaborate mosaics, detailed patterns, and colorful compositions present in the chapel recall an exotic foreign culture, one of the major draws to the Columbian Exposition.
Although clearly drawing upon historical precedent, Tiffany demonstrated his design was in keeping with the trend toward modernity by experimenting with the incorporation of modern inventions. Among the most important inventions for Tiffany by his contemporaries was the introduction of electricity. By allowing for fresh sources of illumination, Tiffany’s glass was capable of shinning in new ways. Tiffany was known for his introduction of stained glass lamps (Frelinghuysen). His chandelier, or electrolier as it was known at the time, in the chapel won countless awards (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). The light fixture was ten feet high, constructed of emerald green glass (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). Forming a cross shape, the chandelier illuminated the upper regions of the chapel and shed a soft, green light on the area below (The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art). The fixture became a beacon of light illuminating the past and providing hope and inspiration for the future.
Louis Comfort Tiffany epitomized the artistic trajectory at the turn of the 20th century. As artists fought to perpetuate ideals of the past, they were simultaneously drawn to foreign cultures and new innovations. The result was a product that was both comforting and inspirational at the same time. Louis Comfort Tiffany’s creations demonstrate the artist’s appreciation of light and color in a way that few artists of his time were capable of achieving.
Works Cited
Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney, and Monica Obniski. "Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933)." 2007. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 12 April 2013. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tiff/hd_tiff.htm>
“Louis Comfort Tiffany.” 2013. Tiffany & Co. 12 April 2013.
<http://www.tiffany.com/about/LouisComfort.aspx>.
“Tiffany Chapel.” 2011. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. 12 April 2013.
<http://www.morsemuseum.org/louis-comfort-tiffany/tiffany-chapel>.
Images Cited
“Tiffany's Rare 1893 Chapel Opens at the Morse Museum.” 2009. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. 12 April 2013.
<http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m506.htm>.