Customer Reviews

Louis Comfort Tiffany: At the Metropolitan Museum of Art

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book expecting to find many pictures of Tiffany's wonderful stained glass windows. In that, I was disappointed, hence the two stars. There is, however, a great sampling of Tiffany's work including jewelry, lamps, and an absolutely stunning green desk collection that I had never seen before. In all it is a great collection of the artist's work and gives an excellent overview of his amazing depth.

However, since I was looking for the stained glass windows, this book wasn't quite what I was searching for. I hope to save someone else from the same mistake.

I've a few books on Tiffany's stained glass work, including the definitive collection of his lamps and a cut-out paperback with photos of various windows and lamps. In terms of price and coverage, this is a Goldilocksian "just right" middle choice for someone who doesn't want a major investment but is interested in the breadth of Tiffany's work.

Primarily, this book covers the works that are owned by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in fact I bought my copy in its shop to help me remember my visit. (Aside: it is indeed among the best museum shops in the world, and I felt compelled to buy *something*.)

The museum does have an impressive Tiffany collection, including some of the works you've seen photographed in all the "usual places," such as his wysteria window, Autumn Landscape, and the dogwood window. It also has several lamps, vases, and -- possibly surprising to some people -- furniture, mosaics, boxes, and other items that don't get quite as much "airplay" but are still quite beautiful.

The book is separated into chapters on Tiffany's background, interiors, stained-glass windows, mosaics, favrile glass, lamps, enamels and ceramics, and jewelry, metalwork, and woodwork. The text is academic and a little dry, but suitable for the context. You learn about the provenance of the item rather than how it was constructed.

The photos are lovely, with plenty of closeups -- though not *quite* close enough, I found, for my stained-glass hobbyiest's eye. That is, the closeup of the Magnolias and Irises window shows enough detail for you to appreciate the glass and maybe the soldering, but you never see how amazingly the windows are plated. (Fortunately, the museum lets you take non-flash photos, so I have a few examples of my own.) You also see sketches and other in-progress designs, as well as other documents -- such as a drawing of a theater that Tiffany designed which was demolished in 1902.

But if an item isn't in the museum's collection, it isn't mentioned here; if you're looking for an exhaustive All About Tiffany book, this isn't it. It isn't *meant* to be an All About Tiffany book, and as other reviewers have noted, this doesn't focus on windows or lamps. And, at 100 pages, they can't include everything.

Personally, I was blown away by his mosaics (which I'd never seen before), and I realized why the favrile lamps earned him such a reputation (the photos here, like all the others, simply do not do them justice). So I'm very glad that I have this book in my growing collection; certainly, at the reasonable price it gives you a very good overview.

Paperback, 100 pps, over 130 illustrations
A wonderful look at the full range of works by Tiffany. Photos on every page of designs, lamps, vases, mosaics and paintings, and even a peek at his studio and some of the glass workshops. Highly recommended.

I saw this exhibition at the Met in NYC and was enthralled by it. I showed the book to a fellow Tiffany lover and he said though he has many books on Tiffany there were items in this one he had never seen before. I say buy the book and then a ticket to NYC and go to the Met and see the originals. Both are worth the price.