New York—A new exhibition focused on the creative process behind Louis Comfort Tiffany’s late 19th-century stained-glass creations is slated to open this fall at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The artist, son of Tiffany & Co. founder Charles Lewis Tiffany, was known for his stained-glass windows, lamps, mosaics, interiors and other decor for mansions and grand spaces during America’s Gilded Age, the post–Civil War era that saw an unprecedented, and concentrated, accumulation of wealth.
The objects produced in Tiffany’s workshops were the result of a collaborative process that began in the studio, where artists—often émigrés and women—realized his vision through initial artwork, according to The Met.
“Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany” showcases nearly 120 rare watercolor drawings created for commissions dating from the mid-1880s through the 1920s in the United States and internationally.
The “Four Seasons” window by Agnes F. Northrop (1857–1953). At left, the drawing, and at right, the leaded favrile glass window, made for “Burrwood,” Standard Oil executive Walter B. Jennings’ estate in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, constructed around 1897. (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
“Suggestion for Window in the Residence of Mr. L.D. Towle, Boston, Massachusetts” circa 1923 by Agnes F. Northrop (1857–1953) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Many of the drawings on display document works that have since been lost, damaged, or destroyed, while others showcase ideas for designs that were never realized, the museum said.
These original designs are paired with actual stained-glass windows, mosaics, enamelwork, and examples of the studio’s iconic lamps in side-by-side displays.
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The drawings all come from The Met collection and have never been studied in depth.
The exhibition “celebrates the decades-long conservation initiative that restored them to their full beauty,” the museum said.
“Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany” will be on display from Oct. 22 through Feb. 7, 2027, at The Met Fifth Avenue in Galleries 691–693.
It is free with museum admission.