We'll contact you to schedule delivery Assembly is always included Our delivery team will place furniture in the rooms of your choice Delivery fees may apply Free Small Parcel Shipping Excludes Alaska & Hawaii Packages ship via UPS Delivered to your door Assembly may be required Replica Eames Armchair (interchangeable seats and legs) Replica Eames Chair (interchangeable seats and legs) Replica Phillipe Starck - Ghost Carver The mere mention of the name ‘Tiffany’ evokes instant recognition for bespoke quality and style — especially when it comes to fine jewelry and stained-glass artistry. Yet many art historians still ponder — what motivated Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of the famous jeweler Charles Tiffany, not to follow in his father’s footsteps and choose, instead, to establish his own legacy as one of the most prolific painters, sculptors and stained-glass artisans of the late 19th century? The answers to these questions are practically in our own backyard — in Winter Park — at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, which houses the largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany art in the world.

South Florida Opulence sat down with Jennifer Perry Thalheimer, the Museum’s Curator and Collection Manager, to find out what made this very talented man tick. Louis didn’t leave a journal and his correspondence was limited. Yet, what has been uncovered about his life and art has revealed a deep and fascinating character whose legacy was a “quest for beauty.” Curator Jennifer Perry Thalheimer: Interestingly, when I was in graduate school, I was advised not to pursue Louis Comfort Tiffany because he had already been “done.” queen anne arm chair priceBut after being at the Morse Museum for nearly 15 years now, I can say for sure that he is still not fully understood. best bean bag chair for collegeHugh McKean, our first director and a former fellow at Tiffany’s Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, set a standard for approaching Tiffany as a man first, and then defining his artwork and the production of Tiffany Studios.rocking chair on youtube

SFO: How would you compare and contrast Louis and his father Charles? Thalheimer: Louis had an independent streak that perhaps was not so different from his father’s. Despite the fact that Louis Comfort Tiffany’s grandfather — Comfort Tiffany — had been a successful textile manufacturer in Connecticut, Louis’ father Charles chose not to follow in the family business and decided instead to move to New York City to follow his own dream — one that led to the enormously successful Tiffany & Co. Louis Tiffany similarly chose to follow HIS dreams rather than be known as “young Tiffany” at Tiffany & Co.table and chair rentals austin tx SFO: What motivated Louis?where to buy meditation chair Thalheimer: Given that his father was one of America’s “men of achievement,” it’s easy to see that Louis grew up with rare comforts and was exposed to beautiful objects early on. ikea dining chair cushion pads

Louis had a natural curiosity about materials that probably originated in his upbringing at Tiffany & Co. His uncle, George McClure, was the head gemologist at Tiffany & Co. from 1852 through 1879 and exposed Louis to the wonders of the natural world. He called himself a “humble believer in color.” His idea of beauty centered on color and light, which was apparent in sketches he made during his first trip to Europe in 1865. We are lucky to have his sketchbook in the Museum. fisher price pink table and chairsLouis lived at a time when beauty was necessary to the healing of a nation after the Civil War. chaise lounge chair for outdoorsIn a letter, Charles Tiffany described the chaos throughout New York City during the draft riots of 1863 as he sat watch in his shop on Union Square. swivel chair for small space

Charles stayed intimately involved as a business leader. This was also Louis’ model. Growing up and attending military school during probably the most dark and trying time in American history — centered on Union blue and Confederate grey — no doubt encouraged Louis’ love of color and light. SFO: How did Louis ultimately move from canvas to glass? Thalheimer: Louis used all the materials placed in his hands. He was a painter, a decorator, an architect, a photographer and a designer of ceramics, furniture, enamels, and jewelry in addition to glass lamps, windows, mosaics, and vases. His career as a painter quickly became successful and he was named to the National Academy of Design. Louis traveled throughout Europe and North Africa, honing a great sensitivity to color and light. These predilections made an easy transition from canvas to glass—a material that intrinsically captured both color and light. Tiffany experimented with glass at independent glasshouses since the mid-1870s when he was in his 20s, and with his new undertaking, “took up chemistry.”

Tiffany sought the help of preeminent glassworkers and chemists and opened a glasshouse to satisfy his desire to produce flat glass with “richer, finer” color. He refined techniques in the material. His complex system of plating, or layering the glass, allowed for a lifelike, almost holographic depth perception. He also integrated natural properties inside glass to communicate textural effects like hair. SFO: It’s been said that Louis was ahead of his time. Thalheimer: Louis was progressive for his time. His initial endeavors included a named partnership with a woman, Candace Wheeler (Tiffany & Wheeler) in 1879 — an obvious recognition of her ability at a time when women were still denied the right to vote in America. Wheeler recalled of her time at Tiffany’s Fourth Avenue studios in New York City that, “at the top were the glass rooms where Mr. Tiffany’s experiments in color went on and where he was working out his problems from bits of old iridescent Roman vases which had lain centuries underground;