Internationally recognized as the most comprehensive collection of the work of Louis C. Tiffany, the Museum’s archives are a significant part of this importance. In this exhibition combinations of artifacts, objects, and written material provide insight into the inner workings of Tiffany Studios and its visionary leader, Louis Comfort Tiffany.
When examined in context with the beauty of Tiffany windows, pottery, and paintings, the archives tell stories that can only be found in the progression to production. The first two of three stories focus on the artisans work at Tiffany Studios and their participation behind the scenes at a world’s fair respectively. In the last story, a recently donated oil-on-panel study of the Entombment window—currently on exhibit outside the Tiffany Chapel—illustrates Tiffany’s process of preliminary steps as well as his skills as a painter. The assembled materials connect the vision of Tiffany and Tiffany Studios with final objects of beauty that entranced patrons and exhibition-goers of the time, and that continue to fascinate today.