Montauk Pioneer - August 22, 2008

Last Tuesday's slide lecture on Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) entitled "Tiffany and Art Nouveau 1890-1910" by Prof. Thomas Germano was very interesting. Prof. Germano managed to hold the audience's attention for more than an hour by showing us many colorful slides of Tiffany's early years that influenced his paintings, sculptures jewelry, furniture, lamps and stained glass windows. The professor noted that all Tiffany's works were considered works of art and the motto "The Best Example of Art is Nature" was a recurring theme throughout Tiffany's life.

The audience was shown subway entrances of Paris, France, whose cast iron designs resembled flowers and beetle like designs, full of round shapes instead of the hard, angular shapes of previous years. Playbills of the cancan dancer Jane Avil from the Jardin de Paris, by the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, showed many circular motions in the artist's strokes. Japanese, no shadows, simple lines with no traditional perspective, and cigarette smoke style were also big influences on Tiffany.

Mosaic designs from Italy by the Austrian Gustav Klimt's painting of Adele-Block-Bauer that fetched $12.3 million were discussed, as well as African and Islamic.

One can see in the lamps produced by Tiffany and his fellow artisans, that dragonflies and peacocks were two of Tiffany's favorite designs. Egyptian influence, shown by the hieroglyphics on furniture, was also obvious, as Celtic art of interlacing knots and swirls were apparent. It was interesting to note that Tiffany did not make everything himself. He would make the design first, then his workers, such as Clara Driscoll, would actually do the work under his supervision.

The audience also was told that in order to be sure that a lamp or vase was authentic, one should look at its base and the Tiffany insignia, plus a set of numbers that they could find etched on the bottom of each piece. Most of Tiffany's lamps were sold at the beginning of the twentieth century for $200 to $400. It was only in the '60s and '70s that his works became popular again. The Lotus Table Lamp was sold at auction for the sum of $2.8 million in the '90s. We were told that there are still a few out there still in existence and that we should check our attics and garages just in case we overlooked some.

I now understood why Tiffany was well known through his stained glass windows due to the intricate and delicate designs he drew. The commissioned "The View Of Oyster Bay" stained glass is one of the more famous ones. Since Tiffany lived in Oyster Bay, chances are the view was actually from his home. We discussed the Favrile technique, which is approached by adding dark colors on the glass while still hot and allowing regular light to come through. Tiffany patented this technique and his work is always marveled at.

Prof. Germano gave us some trivia of the Red Room at the White House when Tiffany commanded its decor, but was later dismantled when the incoming President changed it.

Another story was about a famous art historian who was sentenced to jail in 1999 for theft and conspiring to steal one of Tiffany's 12 foot stained glass windows out of the Salem cemetery in New York. The window was supposed to be delivered to an antique dealer and was later sold to a Japanese collector for $200,000, which was to be split between the robber and the dealer.

Louis Comfort Tiffany certainly left his mark in the art world as well as our every day life.

Before this lecture, I only knew about Tiffany lamps and Tiffany's Fifth Avenue Store and the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn.

Little did I know how much this genius had influenced the world. Prof. Germano should be commended for giving a great lecture. Let's get him back for the fifth time in Montauk.

Note: The Friends of the Montauk Library held their election for 2008 before the lecture and the audience voted. The newly elected officers are: President-Christine Langerfeld, Vice President-Pat Smyth, Secretary-Joyce Whitman, Treasury-Charlotte Schorr and Correspondence Secretary-Terry Coppola. Congratulations to all.