Joaquín Sorolla’s Portrait of Louis Comfort Tiffany Is Now on View at The Landmark
The temporary exhibition at the Fifth Avenue flagship is made possible by a collaboration between the maison and the Hispanic Society Museum & Library
From now through November 29, art and design enthusiasts are in for a treat at Tiffany & Co.’s flagship store, known as The Landmark, on Fifth Avenue. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida’s celebrated Portrait of Louis Comfort Tiffany is on view at the Manhattan location, thanks to a collaboration between the Hispanic Society Museum & Library and Tiffany & Co.
“Sorolla’s portrait of Louis Comfort Tiffany captures a remarkable meeting of two artists who shared a profound fascination with light, color, nature, and craftsmanship,” said Guillaume Kientz, director and CEO of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library. “We are delighted to work with The Tiffany Archives to bring this important work from the Hispanic Society’s collection into a new context and to invite audiences to encounter Tiffany not simply as the subject of Sorolla’s portrait, but as an artist and designer in his own right.”
Naturally, the portrait is flanked by a variety of jewelry and decorative arts from the Tiffany Archives, including enameled copper objects, all created during Louis Comfort Tiffany’s time as Art Director of Tiffany & Co. One particularly stunning piece is a circa-1896 mosaic mirror by Tiffany Studios, made of Favrile mosaic glass tesserae, abalone, and mirrored glass. Additionally, these works are surrounded by the jewelry house’s Gold & Diamond Icons.
The famed oil-on-canvas painting, circa 1911, showcases Tiffany surrounded by scenic flowers at his Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall, overlooking Cold Spring Harbor. He is depicted as an artist at work, with a paint palette and brush in his hands, sitting before an easel.
This temporary exhibition is timed to coincide with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new show, “Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany,” opening October 22. The Met also has a mosaic columnar entrance screen from Laurelton Hall permanently on display in its American Wing.
During their own lifetimes, Sorolla and Tiffany were supporters of each other’s creations; Sorolla purchased works from Tiffany Studios to furnish his home in Madrid, while Tiffany acquired at least four paintings by Sorolla, not including this portrait. Tiffany even visited Sorolla’s 1909 exhibition at the Hispanic Society, which is where he acquired those paintings. Following Sorolla’s return to the United States in 1911, Tiffany commissioned Sorolla to create this portrait.
“We are delighted to welcome Joaquín Sorolla’s celebrated portrait of Louis C. Tiffany, son of our founder and a pioneering figure in American Art Nouveau, to The Landmark this fall,” said Christopher Young, vice president and creative director of Tiffany Patrimony and Global Visual Merchandising.“The portrait captures Tiffany’s deep connection to nature—a source of inspiration that continues to inform our creativity today. Displaying this remarkable work at The Landmark celebrates the enduring dialogue between art and jewelry at the heart of Tiffany & Co.”