The Brilliance of Tiffany Studios Gilded Age Interiors Will Go on View at The Met This Autumn
Louis C. Tiffany was a design genius with facets beyond jewelry, and a forthcoming New York exhibit promises to drive the point home
The name Tiffany has never faltered in reputation, but Tiffany Studios’ Gilded Age achievements in interior design are a splendor of a lost time. The Metropolitan Museum of Art promises a breathtaking journey back to that time beginning on October 22 of this year. “Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany” will bring together over 120 beautiful watercolors and works of art from the Met’s own extensive Tiffany collections as well as loans from other institutions.
“This exhibition builds on decades of conservation and sustained study of The Met’s extraordinary holdings—the largest collection of Tiffany design drawings anywhere,” said Curator Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, later adding, “The reunion of two major windows side by side with their original design drawings offers a particularly powerful moment, allowing visitors to see the transformation of an idea into a luminous work of art.”
In addition to stained glass windows, mosaic, and other items produced for some of America’s grandest households, “Designing the Gilded Age” will offer a rare opportunity to see iconic Tiffany lamps alongside their original drawings. Creation was a collaborative effort at Tiffany: while the aesthetic specifics were understood, the volume of designs needed exceeded any one leader, so workshops realized them. Modern creative directors are familiar with the delegation. The lamp studios in particular employed highly skilled women designers who have been the subject of their own past exhibitions.
The Gilded Age itself has been a subject of intense interest since it began, and this design retrospective comes just as a renewed wave of fascination has emerged in television and other creative mediums, and the Met is uniquely suited to bring it to life for aficionados and newcomers alike.
“The Met’s unparalleled collection of design drawings from the studios of Louis C. Tiffany reveals how some of the most iconic works of American decorative art came to life,” said Met Director and CEO Max Hollein, continuing, “The exhibition illuminates the artistry, innovation, and collaboration at the heart of Tiffany studios, while offering new insights into the cultural and aesthetic ambitions of the Gilded Age.”
“Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany” will run from October 22, 2026 through February 7, 2027. The exhibition is sponsored by Tiffany & Co.