Son of the luxury merchant, Charles Tiffany of Tiffany and Company, Louis Comfort Tiffany is one of the greatest names in American decorative design.  Born in 1848, Tiffany was surrounded by the arts his entire life.  Tiffany was well-travelled and studied under the painter, Geroge Inness, but eventually turned to the deorative art of glassmaking and interior design.  He was greatly influenced by and made a significant contribution to the Art Nouveau style druing the late 19th to early 20th century.
     After focusing on interior design in the late 1870s, Tiffany combined this interest with glassmaking to become Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company.  The stained glass windows of the European glassmaker, Emile Galle, influenced his new line of blown glass. Tiffany was also fascinated with the iridescent, pitted surface of ancient glass that sparkled with rich colors.  These influences formed Tiffany’s unique style of favrile glass;  gradation of color, iridescent finish, graceful lines, and organic forms.
     Tiffany’s success corresponded with the popularity of Art Nouveau and therefore his glassworks did not long survive the end of the movement in the 1920s.  He died in 1933 but left behind a legacy of radical changes in the decorative arts.

(New York City, 1848 – 1933, New York City)