PITTSBURGH.- The Carnegie Museum of Art presents two exhibits featuring works of art made by Tiffany. The first, Distinctive Desk Sets: Useful Ornament from Tiffany Studios through April 29, 2007 features Tiffany Studios, directed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, produced bronze desk sets in a variety of designs and finishes. This exhibition presents nine desk sets that demonstrate the surprising number of objects that appeared on the well-appointed desks of the socially prominent in the early 20th century.
The second exhibit is Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages presents 120 exquisite art objects by one of the most important decorative artists of the early 20th century, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). Son of Charles Tiffany, founder of the renowned Fifth Avenue jewelry store, the younger Tiffany is best known for his artistry in the glass medium as well as for the lavish interiors he designed for the houses of some of the wealthiest American industrialists of the period. The exhibition reveals the extraordinary range of Tiffany's accomplishments and includes his signature art glass windows, lamps, mosaics, metalwork, pottery, furniture, screens, paintings, jewelry, and objects d'art.
Tiffany's art and his life were filled with drama, color, and complexity. Born into a family of great wealth, given all the advantages of the privileged in education and travel, Tiffany was a perfectionist with a highly developed aesthetic sensibility and a willingness to push materials to his expressive ends. He directed a studio of highly accomplished artists who found seemingly endless and inventive ways to express Tiffany's aesthetic goals. From the 1880s to the 1920s, Tiffany's various companies earned him a revered status in the United States and in Europe. His signature style bridged and transcended the European avant-garde movements of the late 19th century. Taking the Aesthetic Movement's pursuit of pure beauty, the Arts and Crafts reverence for the handmade object, and Art Nouveau's celebration of forms derived from nature, Tiffany created something uniquely American and wholly his own.
Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages was organized and is circulated by Exhibitions International, NY. The exhibition is made possible with generous support from the Tiffany & Co. Foundation. The Pittsburgh presentation is supported by The Fellows of Carnegie Museum of Art and the Henry L. Hillman Fund. Additional support has been provided by PNC Wealth Management, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Mary Hillman Jennings Foundation, the Laurel Foundation, and the Alexander C. and Tillie S. Speyer Foundation. General support for the museum's exhibition program is provided by The Heinz Endowments, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Allegheny Regional Asset District.
