Louis Comfort Tiffany
1848-1933 | American

Autumn Landscape

Signed and dated “Louis C. Tiffany -16” (lower left)
Oil on canvas

Louis Comfort Tiffany, best known for his phenomenal and revolutionary creations in glass, was one of the great Renaissance men in the history of art and design. Perhaps the most influential arbiter of style in the Art Nouveau era, Tiffany exhibited a multitude of talents as an architect and as a designer of interiors, landscapes, and all of the decorative arts. His first love, however, was painting, and he proved to be as talented and dedicated in this endeavor as in all his other pursuits.

In this work, Tiffany displays a fascination with color, light and the natural world which would inform and distinguish his entire life's work. This work also reveals the teachings of his friend and mentor, the Hudson River School painter Samuel Colman who was the first president of the American Watercolor Society. His influence is keenly felt in this painting’s rich palette of oranges, yellows and earth tones, as well as in Tiffany's exploration of the nuances of light. This stunning oil on canvas depicts a distinctly American landscape — a forest alive with the colors of autumn. Though a great many of his Orientalist works have survived and are frequently at auction, Tiffany's American landscapes are extremely rare. 1901 Paris SalonA similar composition by Tiffany resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

By the late 1870s, Tiffany had turned his attention to the decorative arts, beginning his experiments in glass that would make him a legend of his generation. Yet, he never completely gave up his pursuit of painting, revisiting his oils and watercolors throughout his lifetime, and particularly in his later years during his retirement. To find one of his paintings is a rarity; they are highly coveted by both collectors of American art and Tiffany enthusiasts.

Dated 1916