THE LAMPS OF TIFFANY

 July 7, 1996 | Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)

 | Page: K5 | Section: K5
1580 Words

More than 400 people attended the opening reception for this summer's major exhibition at the Hunter Museum of American Art. Everyone was in awe of "The Lamps of Tiffany" exhibit, and many recognized the dragonfly and peacock lamps. The brilliant glow from these exquisite stained-glass lamps will fill the main gallery through Sept. 15. There are 34 table lamps, three floor lamps, seven chandeliers/

anging globes and two large windows. This collection belonged to the late Dr. Egon Neustadt and his wife, Hildegard. Hildegard urged her husband to help her find the lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Many of these Tiffany lamps, some of which are worth over $1 million today, were found in attics or at flea markets. Mr. Tiffany, the son of a New York City goldsmith and jeweler, was the leading American art nouveau designer and interior decorator in the late 1880s. He founded Tiffany Furnaces in 1892, and his first artistic love was his windows, which swept the country, particularly in churches with biblical subjects. The lamps evolved in the 1890s, and were mainly sold to the middle class. Art noveau, the style with its emphasis on nature which Tiffany embraced, did not survive the harsh realities of World War I. Tiffany lived to see his studios fade away. His last years were filled with disappointment and neglect. He would have been proud of the opening last Friday. Seen at the reception were Marilyn and Morton Center, Greyson Brown, Ann Swafford, Virginia Andrews, Linda Woodall, Bill and Julie Wilson, Victoria Love, Claire Collins, Karen Claypod, Dr. Krys Alimurlea, Elizabeth Hare, Ron Earl, Meredith Durham, Marcia Kling, Steve Hunsicker, Ken Dryden, Dr. John McCormack, Molly Sasse, Fran Rittenberry and Denise Boehm. 

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