Louis Comfort Tiffany
American
1848 – 1933
I was privileged to have been able to work in the Stained Glass Industry for about 5 years. I will never look at Stained Glass the same again…
Stained Glass is an interesting medium to work in, in that it is a combination of art and construction, of both beauty and function. However, there are definite limitations within the art medium of stained glass, namely:
-There cannot be a piece of glass much bigger than 12” without it breaking eventually because of all the downward pressure on the window.
-the lead lines must connect (in other words, there cannot be a random line that stops in the middle of the glass).
-Generally speaking, there shouldn’t be a 90 degree angle in glass (it extremely difficult to cut and snap the shape, and it is very likely to crack if done so).
-When a window gets bigger than a certain size (lets say about 4 feet) you need to support it with horizontal “re-bars” to reinforce the window (because lead becomes soft in the sun).
These are some of the “rules” that pose a challenge to the artist trying to create in stained glass. If a glass artist can make it so that these “limitations” are not distracting, or are even desirable qualities, then you know that they are very gifted indeed.
Louis Comfort Tiffany is most remembered for his “Tiffany Lamps,” but really those were a byproduct of his more important “Windows” which were commissioned for churches and private residences all over the East Coast of the United States. The famous Tiffany Lamps came about as a way to utilize all of the small pieces of glass that were virtually unusable otherwise, and would collect in boxes unceasingly. Tiffany was a shrewd businessman.
Louis Comfort Tiffany’s studio was the leading Glass Studio during his lifetime, although John LaFarge was a noteworthy rival. Tiffany Studios employed dozens of the best craftsmen and designers available, and Tiffany himself was a creative genius.
Up until then, stained glass windows were created using tints (colored transparent glass), and any attempt to convey form was done using paint. For example to make a red robe one would use a red tinted glass, and the folds in the robe would be painted with black paint . Tiffany was dissatisfied with this, and experimented heavily to find a better solution to match his vision for how a window should look. His answer was to invent a glass that “looked like drapery” and therefore didn’t need to be painted. He felt that the glass should speak for itself. Not only was the glass more interesting, but it was a “purist” approach to working in glass. In fact, a typical Tiffany window with figures, is only painted in the hands and faces. Tiffany went on to create many different kinds of glass that suited almost every aspect of a scene, foliage, sky, trees, clouds, flowers, etc… He turned the stained glass world on its head, and by so doing set a new standard.
Tiffany wasn’t content there, he started playing with the idea of creating the illusion of “depth” in the two-dimensional windows. He started layering the pieces of glass (or “plating“, as its called) to create a feeling of softness. Because the lead-lines create a visually ‘hard line’ these stacked pieces, which physically are behind other pieces of glass are softened in appearance, and give an extra dimension.
Another one of Tiffany’s contributions to the art world was his idea of bringing a pure “landscape” into a church setting. Most churches at that time wanted a symbolic reminder of their beliefs in the accepted iconic fashions. Tiffany did create many “Religious Windows,” but also offered what is known today as a “Landscape Window”. Even without any overtly religious symbolism, these beautifully detailed landscapes referred to Creation in a way that many people identified with strongly; not to mention that the Landscapes were very decorative and kept the environment a little more informal. This had not been attempted hithertofore, but in my opinion it was to be his finest contribution.