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Lot Essay
Tranquility in Nature
Louis Comfort Tiffany is the unparalleled master of Art Nouveau glass. His large-scale landscape windows were a highly specialized aspect of his oeuvre. Pulsing with vibrant color, these works of art offer an almost cinematic experience. Water, air and earth seem to breathe in a choreography of ever shifting light. In the present example Tiffany asserts his exploration of color and light, sharing a visual and conceptual affinity with the Impressionists. As described by Claude Monet in 1891, ‘A landscape’s appearance is constantly changing; it lives by virtue of its surroundings-the air and light- which vary continually’. At the same time, Tiffany recalls the emotional and spirituality of nature underpinning the Transcendentalist ideas of Emerson and Thoreau.
The subject depicts a river flowing through a verdant meadow bounded by distant purple mountains. The composition is buttressed by the graceful limbs of a blossoming tree, rising cathedral-like over the pooling currents. Three cobalt birds are silhouetted in distant flight against the blaze of late day sun. Divided into sections, the window’s upper part is dominated by a swath of cerulean blue sky above the light-dappled canopy of foliage. The mid-section with warm tones of reddish orange and pink, captures the brilliance of a sunset over the hilly backdrop. In the lower part, the shimmering currents of the stream, composed of rippled glass segments, seem to drift horizontally in counterpoint to the vertical orientation of the landscape, displaying a rhythmic complexity rarely matched in other examples of Tiffany’s work.
Tiffany worked his glass in opalescent colors and unusual surface textures to dramatic effect. His innovative annealing techniques were hallmarks of the Art Nouveau Aesthetic. He infused powdered metallic oxides and embedded bright colored shards into the thick, layered panes of molten glass which were folded, draped and pinched, producing rich color gradations and tactile surfaces. The results were a tour de force of glass making. The present work is a rare example of his use of confetti glass, a lost technique emulating painterly dimensional effects.
Louis Comfort Tiffany started out as a painter under the tutelage of George Inness, a leading exponent of Tonalism in American art from the 1880’s to the 1920’s. As described by David Adams Cleveland, Tonalism was based on twelve aesthetic stylistic components. Among the characteristics are softly rendered atmospheric light; a sense of movement; the decorative deployment of natural forms to evoke emotion in a poetic, dream-like landscape. Tiffany exploited these to stunning effect, immersing the viewer in an illusionary world suffused with changing color and light.
The present lot bears the ‘Louis C. Tiffany N.Y.’ signature, unlike other windows. The rarity of a signature-enameled here at the lower right- combined with its extraordinary design, distinguishes this work as an early 20th century masterpiece. It is estimated that a significant portion of Tiffany’s architectural windows have been lost in the wake of changing urban design. Fortunately, renewed scholarly interest and research into his work in the 21st century has brought Louis Comfort Tiffany back into the public’s eye, inducting him into the highest ranks of 20th century design.
Karen Hayward, New York University Adjunct Professor, Independent Art Advisor
Louis Comfort Tiffany is the unparalleled master of Art Nouveau glass. His large-scale landscape windows were a highly specialized aspect of his oeuvre. Pulsing with vibrant color, these works of art offer an almost cinematic experience. Water, air and earth seem to breathe in a choreography of ever shifting light. In the present example Tiffany asserts his exploration of color and light, sharing a visual and conceptual affinity with the Impressionists. As described by Claude Monet in 1891, ‘A landscape’s appearance is constantly changing; it lives by virtue of its surroundings-the air and light- which vary continually’. At the same time, Tiffany recalls the emotional and spirituality of nature underpinning the Transcendentalist ideas of Emerson and Thoreau.
The subject depicts a river flowing through a verdant meadow bounded by distant purple mountains. The composition is buttressed by the graceful limbs of a blossoming tree, rising cathedral-like over the pooling currents. Three cobalt birds are silhouetted in distant flight against the blaze of late day sun. Divided into sections, the window’s upper part is dominated by a swath of cerulean blue sky above the light-dappled canopy of foliage. The mid-section with warm tones of reddish orange and pink, captures the brilliance of a sunset over the hilly backdrop. In the lower part, the shimmering currents of the stream, composed of rippled glass segments, seem to drift horizontally in counterpoint to the vertical orientation of the landscape, displaying a rhythmic complexity rarely matched in other examples of Tiffany’s work.
Tiffany worked his glass in opalescent colors and unusual surface textures to dramatic effect. His innovative annealing techniques were hallmarks of the Art Nouveau Aesthetic. He infused powdered metallic oxides and embedded bright colored shards into the thick, layered panes of molten glass which were folded, draped and pinched, producing rich color gradations and tactile surfaces. The results were a tour de force of glass making. The present work is a rare example of his use of confetti glass, a lost technique emulating painterly dimensional effects.
Louis Comfort Tiffany started out as a painter under the tutelage of George Inness, a leading exponent of Tonalism in American art from the 1880’s to the 1920’s. As described by David Adams Cleveland, Tonalism was based on twelve aesthetic stylistic components. Among the characteristics are softly rendered atmospheric light; a sense of movement; the decorative deployment of natural forms to evoke emotion in a poetic, dream-like landscape. Tiffany exploited these to stunning effect, immersing the viewer in an illusionary world suffused with changing color and light.
The present lot bears the ‘Louis C. Tiffany N.Y.’ signature, unlike other windows. The rarity of a signature-enameled here at the lower right- combined with its extraordinary design, distinguishes this work as an early 20th century masterpiece. It is estimated that a significant portion of Tiffany’s architectural windows have been lost in the wake of changing urban design. Fortunately, renewed scholarly interest and research into his work in the 21st century has brought Louis Comfort Tiffany back into the public’s eye, inducting him into the highest ranks of 20th century design.
Karen Hayward, New York University Adjunct Professor, Independent Art Advisor