The designer Louis Comfort Tiffany died in relative obscurity in 1933, a year after his famed Tiffany Studios declared bankruptcy. By then, the sensual Art Nouveau style he’d epitomized was out of favor, supplanted by a leaner, modernist aesthetic.
Ben Macklowe shows New Yorkers Tiffany gems. (Tamara Beckwith)
Up until then, though, he’d had a remarkable run. Best known for his work in stained glass and lighting, Tiffany was the most famous decorative artist in the country at the turn of the 20th century — and he put a strong stamp on his hometown.
“For 50 years, from 1878 to 1928, Tiffany was the tastemaker of New York City,” says Ben Macklowe, the director of the Macklowe Gallery on Madison Avenue.
A leading expert on Tiffany’s work, Macklowe, 42, literally grew up with the designer. Lovers of Tiffany who “were too poor to afford it,” his parents started buying and selling Tiffany objects, and built their art trading into the world’s foremost dealership in Tiffany lamps and glasswork.
On display now at the gallery is “The Art of the Interior: Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Favrile Lighting,” a collection of dozens of the designer’s celebrated lamps. And in connection with the exhibit, on Wednesday, Macklowe led a tour of several public city spaces that prominently feature Tiffany’s work, including the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side, St. Michael’s Church on West 99th Street and the Belasco Theatre off Times Square.
Macklowe says he’s long wanted to do such a tour, citing the wealth of Tiffany’s work that’s “hiding in plain sight” throughout the city.
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“His stuff is just everywhere, hiding and waiting to be uncovered,” he says.
The Macklowe Gallery will offer another Tiffany tour this summer, on a date to be announced. For details, write to email@macklowegallery.com.