Louis Comfort Tiffany 路易斯·康富特·蒂芙尼 (1848-1933) Aestheticism Art Nouveau Americans

tonykwk39@gmail.com Louis Comfort Tiffany .The chief innovation of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), American painter and designer, was his glass technology. He was also a pioneer of the Art Nouveau style. Louis C. Tiffany was born in New York City on Feb. 18, 1848, the son of the founder and director of the jewelry retailers Tiffany and Company. Louis was interested in painting as a young man; he studied with George Inness and traveled in Europe and Africa, recording his impressions. Because of his pictures' decorative qualities, they were successful in New York. By the 1870s Tiffany was becoming interested in the decorative arts. He and the painter John La Farge studied glassmaking at the Heidt glassworks in Brooklyn. Their original individual experiments probably concerned stained glass. However, the process whereby an iridescent finish could be produced on glass fascinated Tiffany; he was trying to duplicate the finish seen on ancient Greek, Roman, and other glass which had been buried for many hundreds of years. By 1880 he had applied for patents on this type of finish. In 1879 he founded the Louis C. Tiffany Company, "Associated Artists." The firm decorated private and public buildings. Two of the best examples of this work in New York City were the 7th Regiment Armory (1880) and the H.O. Havemeyer house (1890; destroyed). In 1892 he founded the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, which specialized in producing stained-glass windows and glass mosaics. By this time he was also producing blown glass for both decorative and table-service use, and in 1893 he established his own furnaces for this purpose. The company was reorganized into Tiffany Studios in 1900. In the following years, Tiffany produced jewelry, enamels, pottery, lamps, glass, mosaics, and monumental stained-glass windows. He built a palatial home, Laurelton Hall, at Oyster Bay, Long Island, which overshadowed in luxury and visual impact his several residences in New York City. In 1918 Tiffany gave Laurelton Hall (destroyed) to the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, which administered a fellowship program for young artists. The Tiffany firm was not disbanded until 3 years after its founder's death on Jan. 17, 1933. Tiffany's genius is seen in his decorative productions in glass and metal. For the glass he originated the trademark Favrile, and the name became synonymous with these handmade products of high quality. It is doubtful that Tiffany did much of the glassblowing himself, but he personally supervised the craftsmen and encouraged them to be as inventive as possible. As a result, there are highly individual vases, bottles, and dishes in a multitude of colors and techniques. Some of the pieces were utilitarian, but others were executed often as a pure tour de force. Some were treated with acids which gave the iridescent effect of ancient excavated glass. Another type, called lava glass, resembled volcanic lava. One of the most complicated types was cameo-style glass. After 1900 more or less standardized sets of tableware began to be produced; they do not have the individuality and attention to detail of the purely decorative pieces. Tiffany glass is marked in a number of ways. Often it is found with scratched marks—the initials L.C.T. or the name spelled out; but the word FAVRILE and various numbers are the marks most often encountered. Sometimes small paper labels, often marked T. G. & D. Co., are pasted to pieces. Not all pieces have a distinguishing mark, however. Metal alloys were used to fashion bowls, boxes, vases, candlesticks, desk sets, and lamps. A number of finishes could be applied to these pieces, so that they varied from a shiny gold to a dark-green bronze patination, which in some instances became almost black. Brightly colored enamels were used on some pieces. The lamps had shades of stained glass which was leaded in flower forms, geometric shapes, or tiles. These pieces are often stamped TIFFANY STUDIOS. In style, they sometimes show the influence of 19th-century historical revivalism. Some of the shapes are derived from classical art, and others are inspired by Egyptian, Byzantine, Romanesque, and even Japanese forms. However, Tiffany exhibited his most progressive tendencies in pieces in the Art Nouveau style. Indeed, he was one of the few Americans involved in this predominantly European movement, and his works survive as one of its most elegant statements. These pieces are often inspired by nature and conceived as a single unit free from the fussiness of revivalism. Louis Comfort Tiffany，1848-1933年，美國藝術家，以製造裝飾性玻璃而聞名。 他製造的燈和玻璃器皿外形流暢，顏色變幻無常，使蒂芙尼成為美國新藝術主義風格的主要倡導者。他是蒂芙尼珠寶公司的創辦者查爾斯·L·蒂芙尼之子。 他雖不具備父親獨有的銷售魄力，但同樣富有創造精神。蒂芙尼的首飾設計工藝在他的手裡得到了發揚光大。他到巴黎學習後，成為一名玻璃製品專家，創建蒂芙尼工作室並發明了獨一無二的 螺旋形紋理和多面形鑽石切割工藝，使鑽石閃爍出更加奪目的光彩，他設計的燈飾也大獲成功。蒂芙尼成為美國新工藝的傑出代表，並使美國工藝品成為風行一時的商品。他是個藝術家，他的玻璃製品銷路好，因為他關注產品的藝術質感，這時的路易斯·康福特·蒂芙尼已被公認為全球頂尖的玻璃製造商，他的工廠每個月要生產上千件商品。他是個完美主義者，如果制作品不符合自己的要求，就會毫不留情地用手杖予以擊碎。