Tiffany, LaFarge...Ethan, Edward... Beauty, Joy

New York

Well, dear readers, my blog has been neglected for the past week. Life has intervened as evidenced by the photos in this post. But the joys of this week for me were all about the beauty of art, the blessings of living in New York City, and my grandchildren!

Let me explain. Ethan, my eldest grandchild lost his very first baby tooth on Saturday. A cause for great celebration at his house. And on Sunday, I took him to the New York Philharmonic to begin another series that the orchestra presents just for 3 to 6 year olds. This is the third year that he and I have gone to the performances with 200+ other very young music lovers and their parents or grandparents. I have watched him evolve from a little preschooler who was afraid of the sound of the bass viol and would not even sit in his assigned seat ( front row balcony ) because it was too scarey--to skipping down the stairs of the balcony to our seats ( the same ones we have had for three years ) and asking me what I think will happen to Phillipe the Penguin in today's story. 

The orchestra has this program  just right. We arrive at 3pm and inside the door, some one greats us with a small crayon box and two flashcards that have the theme of the day. On Sunday it was allegro and adagio. Then, they have orchestral members with their instruments stationed around the music hall so that the children can gather andlisten to music that has both adagio and allegro qualities. Finally, the very same orchestral members go to the stage, and the concert begins. Phillipe is projected on a big screen behind the musicians, and a storyteller, Dorian, comes out and reads from an oversized book while Dvorak is beuatifully played by the string quartet. Phillipe's unfolding adventure is illustrated on the screen just as if she was reading from a big book to only a dozen children. This program is truly a gift to the children of New York.

After the program, Ethan and I took the bus home. While we were waiting for his parents on the front steps of his apartment, he looked up at me and said: "Grammie, will you stay for dinner?" Now, who could resist that? I stayed for a wonderful pasta meal that Jennifer made from scratch, and after the boys showered, I read them four pages of the Airplane book that Ethan and I had gotten from the library earlier in the week. I know more about F16s than I ever dreampt I would.

But what about the other photos in this posting?

Ah, that is where my love of beauty, and most especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art come in. About a year ago, I made a decision that I was going to visit the Met at least twice a month, and attend a curator-led lecture in the gallery. I wanted to learn more about photography, so I would select those programs, and any other area of interest that I wanted.

You may recall that last year I wrote extensively about the Jasper Johns exhibit. That posting was a direct outcome of having attended a gallery lecture.

Now think about it--to walk into one of the best museums in the world, and have some of the top people in their field tell you about the art you are looking at--with ( on a busy day ) 15 other people joining the group. How can you beat that? 

This past week, the lecture I chose was on Tiffany glass which is housed in the American Wing--probably my favorite section of the Met. In the large football field sized space that has floor to ceiling glass that overlooks Central Park, there is a real Frank Lloyd Wright room with all of its wonderful features--straight, clean lines, indirect light that creates a skylight effect, lots of clerestory windows that make the outside appear like it is inside, and no curtains; the exterior of a gothic style post office with massive columns, and the Tiffany window with iris seen in this posting with low hills and a river running through it.

Lest you think I lead a totally charmed life, it wasn't easy to get over to the Met last Thursday for the lecture. As is always the challenge for me, work, especially stressful work, gets in the way of plans for relaxation or edification for that matter. I literally had to drag myself away from my desk where I was trying to solve some problem that at the time seemed very important to catch the bus over to 5th Avenue.  It was 10:58 when I ran up the steps of the museum, and hurriedly made a B line for the "big clock" on the south side of the large foyer where all of the gallery lectures begin.

And was it worth it. The curator, a specialist in stained glass, began NOT by talking about Tiffany glass, but John LaFarge. LaFarge taught Louis Comfort Tiffany the medium, and it was LaFarge who perfected the use of opalescent glass ( like the magnolia in the iris stained glass pictured here )--and experimented with using small glass pieces in the same way that medieval artists had, but with a contemporary flair. Up until LaFarge, most stained glass was beautiful glass with visible leading, and images hand painted onto the glass.

Tiffany, of course, was the son of the founder of the great Tiffany's in New York. Louis' father wanted him to go into the family business but he wanted to be an artist. A young man from a prosperous family, he was able to travel extensively in Europe and study there. He did paint, and  began studying stained glass under LaFarge's tutelage. There is still controversy about the two men's relationship since LaFarge was actually doing plenty of stained glass at the same time as Louis Comfort Tiffany. However, LaFarge didn't have what I call the big three: lots of ambition, lots of marketing savvy from the family business to promote his stained glass products, and the knowledge of how to not only create the design ideas but execute them ( although he had a team of many cutters and craftsmen who made the actually windows, lamps and vases).

In fact, in New York City, there are plenty of LaFarge stained glass windows--as well as the better known Tiffany windows. And, although many of LaFarge's works seem darker than Tiffany's, his images are stunning. LaFarge's work( shown below from a commissioned church window ) is visible at Judson Baptist Church on Washington Square ( where everyone who was anyone lived at the time LaFarge and Tiffany were artists ), St. Paul's Catholic Church on W. 60th, several Episcopal churches in Manhattan. And, although some have been stolen, there are mausoleums in the five boroughs that have both men's stain glass as a memorial to those interred there.

There's much more to say about these two men. But LaFarge, also from a wealthy New York family, seemed to keep working but never at the fever pitch, or with the wild commercial success as Tiffany. I wonder if LaFarge resented the younger Tiffany taking his apprenticeship into big business. It is certain that there was conflict between the two. Early on, LaFarge patented the method he used to create and use opalescent glass. Soon after, Tiffany applied for a patent regarding the same creamy glass but with a variant technique. Both men got their patent, but Tiffany's ended up being more valuable to protect his work and bring him revenue.

I came away from the lecture better for the experience. I think one of the absolute essentials in this life is the ability-- no, the willingness--to see and surround oneself with beauty.  It is a celebration of the natural world, and the creativity of humankind to harness it in a new way. 

So, you see why I was not writing this post. I was living first.

M.C.