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More than a century ago, Louis Comfort Tiffany hired women to create his company's revered Tiffany lamps, believing women possessed a better sense of color. The "Tiffany Girls," as they came to be known, created dazzling lamps with vivid colors echoing peonies, wisteria, tulips and more.
Now, these historic works of art and science are on display in a new exhibition called "Tiffany in Color" at Macklowe Gallery in Midtown East. It's free to view through October 13, an extended show date due to demand.
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The exhibition focuses on color, dividing the lamps into color-coded sections titled "Gold Ruby," "Inspiration in Jade" and more across two levels of the gallery. It's the first time Macklowe Gallery has displayed this rare gathering of museum-quality Tiffany lamps, all of which are available for purchase. The gallery houses the world's largest collection of authenticated Tiffany lamps.
The show begins as Tiffany & Co. reopens its posh Fifth Avenue location with not just jewelry but also museum and exhibition spaces. The Tiffany flagship is also home to several lamps acquired from Macklowe Gallery, including a Magnolia and a Senior Border Peony.
"Tiffany is really synonymous with New York," Ben Macklowe, President and second-generation owner of Macklowe Gallery tells Time Out New York.
In addition to the lamps titled Clematis, Pond Lily and Dragonfly at Macklowe Gallery, you'll also get a chance to see the exceedingly rare Bat lamp, a brown-and-blue piece made at the turn of the century.
While the show focuses on the artistry of the lamps themselves, it also spotlights Tiffany as an innovator in the decorative arts.
Drawing inspiration from his travels across the globe, Tiffany brought together a chemist, glassmakers and glass cutters to create countless tints and hues that would light up in a rainbow-like splendor with the help of electric bulbs. The gallery show explores the alchemic process while also paying homage to the long history of glassmaking dating back centuries.
As the Civil War ended, New York began establishing itself as a hub of commerce, political power and innovation—and Tiffany stepped right into that world with his penchant for innovation and global experience, Macklowe explains.
“Tiffany was here at this moment of extraordinary cultural ferment,” he says. ”He brought all of these influences together in a distinctly American point of view."
The exhibition spotlights Tiffany's role as an innovator in combination with his team's impressive scientific acumen. You'll even get to see the glassmaking recipes from Tiffany furnaces for colors like opal and purple ruby.
Some of these colors were almost impossible to achieve, Macklowe says, but the company created functional artworks with enduring beauty.
"This was radical contemporary design when this was made," Macklowe says about the lamps. "Tiffany called his creations his 'little missionaries of beauty.'"
"Tiffany in Color" is free and open to the public with no appointment necessary. See it at Macklowe Gallery, 445 Park Avenue (Park Avenue and East 57th Street), through October 13. The gallery's open Monday-Friday 10:30am-5:30pm.