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Landscape with Waterfall

Posted by
Steven (Chicagoland, United States) on 27 March 2014 in Art & Design and Portfolio.

Design attributed to Agnes F. Northrop and fabricated by the Tiffany Studios, New York (signed). Possibly from an unidentified residence or church in the Pullman Neighborhood of Chicago.
64" H x 28 1/2" W

Beginning in the late 1870s, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s fascination with gardens and nature inspired him to create some of the most naturalistic depictions of flowers and plants in the history of stained glass. His success with these subjects was enhanced by a heightened awareness of landscape during the second half of the nineteenth century.

By the early 1880s, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) had perfected a marbled opalescent glass that he called Favril. Immediately praised as innovative and typically American, marbled opalescent glass was widely applied to "Tiffany" inspired compositions.

The subject of this window, a landscape with stream and waterfall and mountains in the distance and a foreground dominated by bright foliage, was probably designed by Agnes F. Northrop of Tiffany Studios and has become Tiffany’s most enduring and popular contribution to American stained glass. Research by art historian Elizabeth De Rosa has shown Agnes Northrop largely responsible for the landscape windows produced by Tiffany Studios. Emblematic of the River of Life, the subject is a familiar one in memorial windows from churches and mausoleums, especially in the Midwest.

By the time Agnes Northrop designed this window for Tiffany Studios, Tiffany’s craftsmen had become a master of manipulating several kinds of glass to give Tiffany windows extraordinary naturalness. Mottled glass recreates intense sunlight as filtered through the leaves of the trees. Striated glass evokes movement of the water in the foreground, and, by plating several layers of colored glass on the reverse, Tiffany’s craftsmen created the impression of distant, misty mountain peaks.

Another superb Tiffany landscape with river window can be seen at Second Presbyterian Church, 1936 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

The Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows is a permanent display of 150 stained glass windows housed in an 800-ft.-long series of galleries along the lower level terraces of Festival Hall at Navy Pier in Chicago. Open since February 2000, it is the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to stained glass windows. It showcases both secular and religious windows and is divided by artistic theme into four categories: Victorian, Prairie, Modern and Contemporary. All of the windows were designed by prominent local, national and European studios and most were originally installed in Chicago area residential, commercial and religious buildings.
The windows provide unique insight into Chicago's cultural, ethnic and artistic history. The time period they represent, 1870 to the present, was an era of intense urban revision that featured the development, decline and revitalization of neighborhoods, the development of commercial and cultural institutions, the evolution of artistic styles and the response of various ethnic groups to these changes. The religious windows reveal the national and ethnic styles of Chicago's European immigrants, while the residential windows display the history of architecture and decorative art styles.

Photo captured March 10, 2012.

NIKON D7000 1/30 second F/4.5 ISO 1400 35 mm

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Spotlight Images

Ronnie 2¢ from Atlantic Shores, United Kingdom

This is a very fine piece of imagery - the results of this kinda thing often disappoint - but not so here !

27 Mar 2014 9:58am

Shaahin Bahremand from Tehran, Iran

well captured

27 Mar 2014 12:26pm

tataray from Deux-Sèvres. (Charentes-Poitou), France

Jolie peinture.)

27 Mar 2014 2:28pm

Don from Spokane, United States

A beautiful example of his move into garden-themes glass work. I like your explanation too.

27 Mar 2014 3:08pm

CreatednotFound from Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Beautiful window!

27 Mar 2014 5:55pm

Francisco Romero from Carbajal de la Legua, Spain

A pure feast for the eyes. Gorgeous colors presented in your image.

27 Mar 2014 7:08pm

LauraS from Chico, United States

I think I have been there! Is it along the waterway? In like a long hallway? I love stained glass art. And this is very nice.

27 Mar 2014 7:43pm

@LauraS: Yes and Yes. Sounds like you have been there. :-)

Ruthiebear from Titusville, NJ, United States

Gorgeous, vibrant color and detail

27 Mar 2014 7:44pm

Ptck from France

Beautiful saturated colors

27 Mar 2014 8:35pm

Alun from cheshire, United Kingdom

Wow, that's a lovely bit of artwork

27 Mar 2014 10:47pm

Yonatan from New York, United States

Beautifully photographed. No distortion or funny angles. It is obvious that you put a good amount of thought and effort into the execution of this image.

27 Mar 2014 11:28pm

Elaine Hancock from Rockville, United States

Gorgeous image! It looks like it could be spring! All those lovely flowers! Wonderful narrative. Such an interesting history.

28 Mar 2014 12:37am

Michael Rawluk from Williams Lake, BC, Canada

Very nice shot of that gorgeous glass.

28 Mar 2014 12:49am

john4jack from Corvallis, Oregon, United States

gorgeous colors. great find

28 Mar 2014 1:19am

Harry from Apex, NC, United States

Beautiful glass.

28 Mar 2014 1:49am

Judy aka L@dybug from Brooksville, FL, United States

So beautiful, Steven ... I'd love to be able to look at this on a daily basis! ;D

28 Mar 2014 1:58am

Diana from San Francisco, United States

Wonderful image with such vivid color.

28 Mar 2014 5:04am

L'angevine from Angers, France

de belles couleurs et quelle bonne netteté

28 Mar 2014 4:08pm

omid from mashhad, Iran

very nice!
such beautifu colors & lighting!
L O V E L Y !

28 Mar 2014 8:20pm

Steve Rice from Olympia, United States

Gorgeous! I love the colors.

28 Mar 2014 10:57pm

American Ferret from Eastern, United States

You captured this stained glass splendidly ...

30 Mar 2014 8:35pm