Louis Comfort Tiffany
(1848 –1933)

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Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer of the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements. Tiffany worked alongside the Associated Artists, which included Lockwood de Forest, Candace Wheeler and Samuel Colman. While Tiffany is best known for his stained glass windows, furnishings and jewelry, he also completed a large number of paintings.

Tiffany was born to Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded the Tiffany & Co. jewelry store. Rather than taking over the family business, Tiffany chose to study painting, architecture and the decorative arts. Tiffany ultimately worked with a broad range of media, including paint, metals, glass, fabric and fabric. While Tiffany pursued the arts, his mind never strayed from business-minded goals his father had instilled in him. Tiffany knew there was business and therefore money to be found in art and design.

Tiffany received his education at the Pennsylvania Military Academy in Chester, Pennsylvania and later at the Eagleswood Military Academy in New Jersey. Tiffany studied art under various artists including New York artists, George Inness and Samuel Colman and Parisian artist, Léon Bailly.

Strong networking led to Tiffany’s acceptance into major international exhibitions. Tiffany’s work was represented in major cities in Europe and the United States, before he began taking trips to North Africa and the Far East. Tiffany acted as an anthropologist, studying archeology, antiques and architecture of foreign lands. Tiffany was fascinated by the patterns and colors of Arab and Asian cities and often appropriated them in his work.

Tiffany’s style is considered to be modern and representative of the Aesthetic Movement, Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau. Tiffany is also viewed as a naturalist, constantly referring back to nature as a source of imagery.

At the time of Tiffany’s death in the 1930s, his work was not incredibly popular. It was not until the 1960s, that his work was revived and its popularity soared. Epic celebrities such as the Beatles and Paul Simon have acquired Tiffany pieces. Tiffany’s work is not only famous, but his aesthetic has become iconic. Countless artists have created cheap duplicates and copies of Tiffany pieces. Tiffany was able to cross the boundaries of art and design, creating timeless masterpieces. Tiffany’s work is now in major collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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