Louis C. Tiffany’s intricate and brilliantly colored masterpieces have captivated collectors for decades and continue to inspire with their timeless beauty. This new book showcases 80 of the firm’s most iconic lamps, including rare and one-of-a-kind creations. These examples have all been newly photographed in detail to reveal features in the glass and metalwork that have never before been seen in print. Wisteria twists and curls with grace, peonies explode with color, and dragonflies dance with the light in these intricate masterpieces.
Uniting a reverence for nature and a fascination with the artistic potential of glass, Louis C. Tiffany and his designers created a revolutionary design aesthetic that brought the beauty of the natural world into the home. “The Lamps Of Tiffany Studios: Nature Illuminated” underscores the critical role of Tiffany’s lead lamp designer Clara Driscoll and illustrates many of her now-famous shades, including Dragonfly, Wisteria, and Cobweb. The text also illuminates the critical role of the “Tiffany Girls,” the young women who selected and cut glass for each shade under Driscoll’s direction.
The book is published in conjunction with the opening of the New-York Historical Society’s Tiffany Lamps Gallery, featuring 100 lamps and emphasizes the important contributions of Clara Driscoll and her female workforce. The dazzling display is one component of the newly launched Center for the Study of Women’s History, a vibrant hub of exhibitions, scholarly research, public programming, and educational initiatives.
The book and exhibit explores the innovative adaptation of electric light - sheathing the incandescent light bulb in a shimmering veil of leaded glass. Beautifully designed and produced in an intimate format, the book is a jewel-box package that makes the perfect gift for any art lover.
About the contributors
Margaret K. Hofer is vice president and museum director at the New-York Historical Society. She curated the groundbreaking 2007 exhibition and publication “A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls,” which revealed previously unrecognized achievements of Tiffany Studios’ women designers. The New-York Historical Society holds one of the largest collections of Tiffany lamps in the world. Rebecca Klassen is an assistant curator at the New-York Historical Society.
The publication date is set for Oct. 2016. The hardcover book is 144 pages with 120 color photographs.
To learn more, visit either www.rizzoliusa.com or www.nyhistory.org.