One of America’s most celebrated artists, Louis Comfort Tiffany transformed the decorative arts during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Combining refined craftsmanship with an admiration for color, he was renowned for his ability to “paint” with glass. He revolutionized the production of stained glass, incorporating it into innovative designs and bolstering an industry that had barely changed since the Middle Ages.

Although Tiffany is best known for this stained-glass work, he embraced many artistic media, including leaded-glass windows, mosaics, lighting, pottery, metalwork, enamels, and jewelry.

The son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of the jewelry and silver company Tiffany & Co., he was exposed to the fine and decorative arts through his father’s company, yet he chose to pursue his own artistic interests instead of joining the family business.

Tiffany’s prolific body of watercolor and oil paintings is also noteworthy, as he trained and began his career as a painter. Through his family’s financial fortune, Tiffany journeyed widely throughout North America, Europe, and North Africa in his early career, painting such foreign locales as Egypt, Italy, and France. As evidenced through these paintings, Tiffany’s accomplishments in glass and decorative objects reflect an evolving aesthetic refined through a lifelong painting practice.

This exhibition highlights the Nassau County Museum of Art’s newly acquired artworks by Tiffany and his workshop, which enhance the substantial assortment of his paintings and glassworks in the Museum’s collection, one of the largest such holdings in the world.

From the Orientalist aesthetic of the mosques and town squares of Egypt to the charming allure of the country landscapes of western Europe, Tiffany demonstrated innovative talent for producing diverse subjects in his Luminist-inspired paintings. Even in the United States did Tiffany produce remarkably picturesque compositions, including seascapes that demonstrate influence from his American contemporary Winslow Homer.

Quintessential examples of Tiffany’s glassware, including a dazzling and vibrant Tiffany Studios nasturtium presentation lamp, complement this display. Also on view is a charming photographic family portrait, which illustrates the legacy of three generations of the Tiffany family, from Charles Lewis Tiffany to his son Louis C. Tiffany and twin grandchildren Julia and Louise “Strawberry and Vanilla” Tiffany.

Ultimately, through highlighting this rich collection of Tiffany artworks, this exhibition shows the Nassau County Museum of Art’s dedication to its continuing practice of acquiring and collecting art.