REASURES BY OUIS OMFORT IFFANY T at the RichardL H. DriehausC Museum T by Rolf Achilles

No designers and artists dazzle In 1933, when Louis Comfort cept of beauty more than any other more than Louis Comfort Tiffany Tiffany died, the world and its choice of medium of the time. and his team of artists-craftspeople did aesthetics was different than it had been 100 years ago. And currently you can some fifty years earlier, when Tiffany Founded in 2003 by businessman, see and experience philanthropist, and Tiffany’s full dazzle in a collector Richard suitably dazzling exhibi- H. Driehaus, the tion Louis Comfort museum that bears Tiffany: Treasures from his name cele- the Driehaus Collection brates both the on view at the Richard H. design philoso- Driehaus Museum in phies of the . The exhibition Aesthetic Move- showcases for the first ment through lav- time more than sixty ish interiors as works from the private well as the collection of the muse- Decorative Arts of um’s founder, Richard H. the late nineteenth Driehaus. Of the many and early twenti- Tiffany exhibitions that eth century. After have been staged since his an extensive five- re-discovery in the 1970s, year restoration, seeing Tiffany objects and the museum windows in the fully opened to the pub- restored Gilded Age man- lic in 2008 and sion which today houses Louis Comfort the museum is unique. Tiffany: Treasures The objects could easily from the Driehaus have originally graced the Collection, curat- mansion, built between ed by David H. 1879 and 1883 by Hanks, is the Mathilda and Samuel N. museum’s inaugu- Nickerson, as they seem ral exhibition in its very much at home. temporary exhibi- tion galleries situ- Windows, lamps, and Louis Comfort Tiffany ated in the historic glass objects designed and fabricated by Humidor, c. 1902-1910 bedrooms of the mansion’s second floor. Louis C. Tiffany and Company, The Photographed by John Faier; photo Company, Tiffany Glass courtesy of the Driehaus Museum & Decorating Company, Allied Arts Company, and Tiffany Studios are now famously sought and coveted by collec- Louis Comfort Tiffany Landscape win- tors and museums for a number of rea- and his craftsmen had designed and dow, 1893-1920 sons, not least of which is their appreci- made the first windows and glass to Photographed by John Faier; photo ating value. For a generation of collec- carry his name. These first windows and courtesy of the Driehaus Museum tors, it was not so. their unique glass helped drive the con-

28 The Quarterly

A collector of Tiffany’s work since has seen. The exhibition and its com- at the 1893 Fair that may have led to the 1970s, Richard H. Driehaus has panion book of the same title with several commissions in Chicago, not acquired more than 1500 objects, essays by David A. Hanks and Richard least of which are the secular panels including his first acquisition of a win- H. Driehaus is illustrated by all-new from 1894 to 1895 in the atrium of the dow attributed to Tiffany in 1980, sumptuous photographs of works in the Holabird & Roche-designed Marquette depicting a woman nestled in a waxing exhibition by John Faier. Building depicting scenes from the life crescent moon aptly titled, Woman on of the Jesuit missionary who traveled the Crescent Moon and a spectacular In his essay Tiffany in Chicago, the Illinois country and wintered in eighteen-foot tall window depicting St. Hanks moves beyond the artist’s inti- 1674/75 in a place he would name Michael, who, in a brilliant gesture, is mate association with to Chicago. The Swiss-born-and-trained composed of ruby-red garments, golden explore the firm’s contribution to the Jacob Adolphus Holzer (1858-1938) sword, lance, and jewel-like wings. World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 designed these superb mosaics. In 1897, in Chicago that helped place him and his Holzer then went on to designed the Because the Nickerson mansion studio of dedicated craftspeople into the great marble, glass, and shell-clad stair- counts among the finest artistic houses upper echelons of purveyors to a far- case that leads to a marble-and-glass to survive in the United States, the exhi- flung society at a key time when the encrusted great room under a vast bition in the Driehaus Museum is like no United States was redefining itself as an Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company other display of Tiffany glass anyone aesthetic nation. It was Tiffany’s chapel glass dome. In 1907, Tiffany Studios

30 The Stained Glass Quarterly Louis Comfort Tiffany, “Garden” landscape window, 1900-1910 Photographed by John Faier; photo courtesy of the Driehaus Museum

Louis Comfort Tiffany, “River of Life” window. Early twentieth century. Photographed by John Faier; photo courtesy of the Driehaus Museum

The Stained Glass Quarterly 31 Upon arriving in the museum’s main hall, one is greeted on the great stair landing to the second floor by the window Soldier of the Lord (c.1910), This window is a stunning study in the dynamics of what draws the viewer’s attention to anything by Tiffany and makes Tiffany so compelling – compo- sition enhanced by color, texture. The Soldier window draws you to the sec- ond floor, where you will see five ele- gant galleries of Tiffany’s delights.

In the first gallery, the window A Garden Landscape (1900-1910) pres- ents a sumptuous, maybe imaginary, landscape with a distant sunset/sunrise seen over lushly purple mottled hills across a columned terrace and loggia abundantly alive with spots of flowers and dribbling tendrils; the window looks fresh and newly satisfying in this context. Tiffany’s sublime layering of glass combined with his innovative mottled and confetti glass add brilliant color to the luscious garden and seem- ingly endless impressionistic depth to glowing hills that paint alone or a sin- gle sheet of glass just cannot achieve.

Another room displays a window that will run chills along your spine. To me the simply titled Geometric Window is arguably the most stunning window on display. Its centralized rococo-geo- Louis Comfort Tiffany, Table Lamp with Peony Shade (shade detail), c. 1903-05 metric-fantasy of reds and greens and Photographed by John Faier; photo courtesy of the Driehaus Museum large chipped chunks of glass made in a technique resembling cabochons, dates to about 1890. Windows such as this also contributed a mosaic ceiling and, in Jesus Blessing the Children (1892), justify Tiffany’s fame and popularity. It 1917, The Men’s Grille to Marshall which is reputed to be Tiffany’s earliest just doesn’t get any better, anywhere. Field & Co. (now Macy’s) in Chicago, known representation of this subject. And just as your chill warms a bit, there to name but a few of the many commis- is a window depicting a sailboat in tur- sions undertaken by Tiffany after partic- The essay, whether read before or bulent seas. This rare window, possibly ipating in the 1893 Fair. after viewing the exhibition, presents a a sample, was in Tiffany’s showroom at broader lens through which to view the 333 South Avenue, New York. The win- Several Tiffany windows can be Driehaus Collection of vases, metalwork, dow was created sometime between seen in Chicago churches, most notably furnishings, and windows. Most of the 1895 and 1902, and retains its original Second Presbyterian Church, with nine exhibited works have not been seen by the paper label for Tiffany Glass & sadly deteriorating windows, including recently Tiffany-curious public. Decorating Company.

32 The Stained Glass Quarterly Another window, probably origi- nally for a mausoleum, depicts a River of Life, a theme made popular by Tiffany designer Agnes Northrop, and is signed in enameled cameo lower right: Louis C. Tiffany, New York. The window was probably fabricated 1900- 1910. Down the hall is another extraor- dinary display of inventive artistic techniques that can be seen both in reflected and transmitted light. The window’s trees, including very fine confetti glass, define a landscape seen through an inspired iridescent glass frame composed of river stones that become translucent when light passes through them. The window is signed Tiffany Studios (stamped in lead), a designation that was already in use by the 1890s but that only from 1902 on defines the official incorporation of the business.

Complementing the windows in the exhibition are stunning examples of Tiffany lamps, including a unique Nautilus Shell Centerpiece Lamp from c. 1910, and an Eighteen-Light Lily Table Lamp created prior to 1902. Additionally, a one-of-a-kind benedic- tion candelabrum from the 1893 Fair, a remarkably intricate fire screen, a mosaic from the Men’s Grille at Marshall Field’s, and numerous deli- cate blown glass vases further rein- force the genius of the designer and the Louis Comfort Tiffany, Nautilus Shell Centerpiece Lamp, c. 1910 vision of the collector. But alas, all Photographed by John Faier; photo courtesy of the Driehaus Museum glow outside the scope of this review and must, like the windows, be seen in person to fully appreciate. monumental glass fire screen, all of which can be viewed at Chicago’s Special thanks to Lise Dube-Sherr, While there is much to savor in the most-popular tourist destination. The Director, The Driehaus Museum, for her exhibition at the Driehaus Museum, Driehaus Gallery also marks the east- help with this article. for those not quite satiated, just over a ern extension of the Smith Museum of mile away from the Museum is the Stained Glass Windows that also has Driehaus Gallery of Stained Glass at some 16 Tiffany windows on continu- Navy Pier with eleven Tiffany ecclesi- ous public display, helping make Navy astical windows permanently on dis- Pier the top tourist and leisure attrac- play, ranging in dates from 1882 to 83 tion in the Midwest. They, too, must be e to the early 1920s and a magnificent seen in person to be fully appreciated.

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