Heckscher Museum Enters The 'Age Of Tiffany'

Decorative arts from the museum’s collection, including work by Louis Comfort Tiffany, through July 22 at the Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Ave., Huntington.

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

The Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington has a new exhibition that features works of art by a world-renowned glassmaker from the turn of the 20th century with several Long Island connections.

Works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, who revolutionized the art of stained glass, are the centerpiece of the “The Age of Tiffany: Between Nouveau and Deco” exhibition at the Heckscher Museum.

The exhibition, which opened in April, includes art from the museum’s own collection of Tiffany and other artist, as well as a stained glass window that was loaned to the museum by The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in Queens.

Tiffany Studio, “Glass Vase” c. 1900-1912, Heckscher Museum of Art

Tiffany Studio, “Spring Peony Table Lamp,” c. 1900-1920, Heckscher Museum of Art

Tiffany Studio, “Vine-Covered Cross,” The Neustadt Collections, Queens Museum

Lindsay Parrot, executive director and curator of The Neustadt, said the loan is particularly meaningful because August Heckscher, founder of the Heckscher Museum, was a notable client of Tiffany’s.

Lisa Chalif, curator of The Heckscher Museum of Art, said many of the objects came through a donation from the Baker/Pisano Collection, while many of the Tiffany material was acquired from a donation by Theresa A. Cwierzyk and Sidney Gordon.

“The Tiffany works are the earliest decorative arts in our collection, and we started there because of Tiffany’s association with Long Island,” Chalif said.

Tiffany, who was born in 1848 and died in 1933, lived and worked during a period of intense interest with interior decoration and decorative arts, and he produced a broad range of stained glass windows, lamps and vases using innovative new techniques that Chalif said were inspired by an exposure of American artists to international influences.

The artist founded Tiffany Studios in 1902 and manufactured many of his works in glass furnaces in Corona, Queens.

“The exhibit is a really stunning presentation,” Chalif said. “The gallery looks very rich and full, and the Tiffany objects are really beautiful.”

In 1905, Tiffany designed and decorated his own home, Laurelton Hall, in the village of Laurel Hollow.

“The fact that Tiffany lived on Long Island so close to The Heckscher Museum is definitely a reason that we want to show Tiffany work,” Chalif said.

The “Age of Tiffany” exhibition will be on display at The Heckscher Museum of Art until July 22, and for more information visit Heckscher.org.