Works by Louis Comfort Tiffany on View at Lyndhurst Mansion

When one hears the last name “Tiffany,” they often think of the jewelry company Tiffany & Co., or its founder’s son, designer and artist Louis Comfort Tiffany. It is the latter Tiffany whose stained glass lamps and windows are recognized in museums around the world. Through September 24, more than fifty early and rarely-exhibited works by Louis Comfort Tiffany will be on display at Lyndhurst Mansion and its art gallery. While his work with stained glass is represented in the exhibition, Becoming Tiffany instead focuses on the artist’s early career and his transition from painter to designer. Early paintings reveal Tiffany’s documentation of industrialization along the Hudson River as well as his consideration of racial inequality in the North. However, in the 1880s, paintings proved too challenging for the market, thereby setting his course as an interior decorator. After this, Near Eastern influences appear in Tiffany’s decorative patterns after his travels to Egypt and Morocco and his work designing synagogues helped him to establish motifs in his decorative pieces.

Also emphasized in Becoming Tiffany is the relationship between Lyndhurst Mansion’s owners and the artist. Railroad tycoon Jay Gould and his daughter Helen, neighbors to Tiffany’s summer home in Irvington, were early purchasers of the artist’s work. Helen continued collecting Tiffany pieces even after her father’s death, commissioning memorial windows for her parents and outfitted the Mansion’s rooms with lamps and shades as the estate became electrified. The lamps on display in the exhibition reflect the placement of items during that time. For more info, visit lyndhurst.org.

A version of this article first appeared in the July-August issue of ArtsNews, ArtsWestchester’s monthly publication. ArtsNews is distributed throughout Westchester County. A digital copy is also available at artsw.org/artsnews.