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In Louis
C. Tiffany: Garden Museum Collection, Alastair
Duncan, the world-renowned authority on Louis
C. Tiffany, has produced the definitive work
on America's premier artist-designer, examining
every facet of Tiffany's unrivalled achievements
in a lifetime consecrated, in his own words,
to "The Quest of Beauty." As Tiffany's wares
have continued to rise in popularity since their
resurgence in the market-place in the 1950s,
many collectors have focused solely on lamps,
others on glassware, while others again have
assembled collections encompassing several Tiffany
disciplines, for example, a handful of lamps,
vases, fancy goods, and a window or painting
or two. Only Takeo Horiuchi, however, has set
out to build a comprehensive collection that
incorporates masterworks in each and every artistic
discipline to which Tiffany applied himself:
paintings, furniture, windows, mosaics, art
glass, lamps, fancy goods, metalware, enamelware,
silver, pottery and jewelery. This book, based
on the superlative Louis C. Tiffany Garden Museum
Collection formed by Mr. Horiuchi, presents
a unique overview of every aspect of Tiffany's
talent. For the first time it is possible to
see, gathered together "under one roof," the
range of Louis C. Tiffany's creativity - from
his famous lamps and windows to his lesser-known
paintings and furniture. Every piece in the
collection is reproduced in color, often complemented
by extracts from contemporary art revues and
the Tiffany firm's sales catalogs, advertisements
and price lists, while photographs show them
in their original domestic settings, or in the
firm's showrooms or international expositions
at which they made their debuts. Tiffany's workshops
are also illustrated, as well as the logbook
entries of its artisans and annotated sketches
of its designers. This wealth of illustrative
material is accompanied by Alastair Duncan's
detailed and evocative descriptions of the workshops,
materials, manufacturing processes, the rich
and famous who patronized Tiffany, their commissions,
and the colorful personalities of the team of
artist-craftsmen with whom Tiffany surrounded
himself. This book provides a beautiful and
comprehensive picture of every artistic discipline
to which Tiffany applied himself, a true testament
to his extraordinary talent.
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