Autumn Panel of the “Four Seasons”
Today, we have a gorgeous window piece by Louis Comfort Tiffany. With bright colors, swirly lines, and a focus on nature, it is a visual dream to gaze upon…
“Autumn Panel” is a Favrile leaded glass window created by the American artist, Louis Comfort Tiffany, between 1899 and 1900. It is one of the four seasons that were depicted on his “Four Seasons” window, created in the art nouveau style.
In this piece, Tiffany beautifully depicts the autumn season through the fruits of harvest. Shown are trees and vines, heavily laden with ripe fruit, silhouetted by a rich blue and purple sky. Apples and grapes are shown with bursts of color, hanging above a golden ground with ears of corn. Individual grapes and leaves decorated the perimeter. “Autumn” is written out in floral script at the bottom of the panel. The edges are marked by golden rectangles, contrasting the curvy lines of the image within.
The “Four Seasons” was first exhibited in 1900 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France to critical acclaim. He was awarded the gold medal and made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour, an honor also previously bestowed upon his father.
The window was cut into ten separate panels which were used to decorate Tiffany’s own country estate, Laurelton Hall, near Oyster Bay on Long Island, New York, in the United States. The four-season panels were installed into the living room while the six border panels were used to flank the entrance to the garden from the main hall. Tiffany started construction on his estate in 1902, completing it in 1905. He decorated his home with favorite works of art, created by himself and those which he had bought from his travels.
Patented in 1894, and first made in 1896, Tiffany developed Favrile leaded glass. This is an iridescent art glass that has color embedded throughout the glass. Tiffany used this type of glass in his famous stained-glass windows. This type of glass yielded windows that were extremely luminous and richly colored.
“Autumn Panel” is currently on display, with its three counterpart season panels, at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park, Florida, in the United States.
For more on Louis Comfort Tiffany, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
