Spanning 30 years of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s design career and showcasing a wide range of his objects and ingenuity, Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection presents a superb opportunity to experience the work of one of the most innovative and esteemed American artists of all time. The exhibition features more than 60 masterworks of exceptional beauty and unrivaled quality from the Richard H. Driehaus Museum - one of the foremost private collections of Louis Comfort Tiffany material in the U.S. - which have never been seen in a museum outside of Chicago before now. 

A highly original craftsman and artist, Tiffany took natural forms as the primary inspiration for his lush and inventive decorative creations. His aesthetic, reinforced and extended by his team of designers, decisively shaped American tastes from the 1880s through the 1920s.

The exhibition includes 16 of Tiffany’s bold plant-and animal-form stained glass lamps, 24 iridescent blown-glass vases, seven large leaded-glass windows and numerous decorative objects, including andirons, candlesticks, humidors and inkwells. Among the highlights in the exhibition will be the gorgeous illusionistic leaded glass window of a sunset entitled River of Life, a magnificent suite of evocative flower-form vases, a masterpiece table lamp with dogwood shade and fern base and a shimmering gilt-bronze jewelry box.

Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection debuts Feb. 17-May 27, 2018, at Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio.

The exhibition will travel to the following venues following its appearance at the Taft: Paine Art Center and Gardens, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, June 23-Sep. 23, 2018; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Alabama, Oct. 20, 2018-Jan. 13, 2019; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, Feb. 16-May 19, 2019; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York, June 15-Sept. 8, 2019; Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida, Oct. 16, 2019-Jan. 5, 2020; Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia, Feb. 1-May 10, 2020; Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, California, June 7-Sept. 20, 2020; and Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware, Oct. 17, 2020-Jan. 10, 2021.

Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection was organized by the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C. The curator is David A. Hanks, Curator of the Stewart Program for Modern Design, Montreal.

A publication of the same title accompanies the exhibition and includes texts by the curator exploring six types of Tiffany objects, a personal “Collector’s Vision” contribution by Richard H. Driehaus and richly evocative and detailed photography by John Faier that encourages close looking.

About the Taft:  Once home to Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft – President William Howard Taft’s half-brother and his wife – the Taft Museum of Art is one of the finest small art museums in the U.S. The museum houses Charles and Anna Taft’s renowned collections of European and American fine and decorative arts and Chinese porcelain in a downtown 1820 National Historic Landmark and graceful 2004 addition. The Taft Museum of Art is dedicated to providing captivating, exceptional and accessible visual encounters with truly great art through its collections, exhibitions and programs. Its special exhibitions bring the collection to life in dynamic new ways for diverse audiences.

The Taft Museum of Art is located at 316 Pike St., in downtown Cincinnati. For current hours and admission prices, please visit www.taftmuseum.org.