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Tiffany

Florida exhibition brings Tiffany’s botanical designs to garden setting

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
‘Succulents in Silhouette.’ Location: Succulent Garden. Courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
‘Succulents in Silhouette.’ Location: Succulent Garden. Courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

SARASOTA, Fla. — Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is presenting Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature as the 2023 installment of its Jean & Alfred Goldstein exhibition series. The show — an elaborate living art display integrating horticulture and art installed throughout the gardens — showcases the creativity and innovation of the American artist and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). It will continue through June 25.

Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature marks the seventh edition of Selby Gardens’ annual Goldstein exhibition, which examines the work of major artists through the lens of their connections to the natural world.

Tiffany lamps on display. Private collection. Location: Museum of Botany & the Arts. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Photo Credit: Cliff Roles Photography
Tiffany lamps on display. Private collection. Location: Museum of Botany & the Arts. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Photo Credit: Cliff Roles Photography

Led by Selby Gardens Chief Museum Curator Dr. David Berry in collaboration with the gardens’ horticulture team, the presentation features an array of Tiffany’s acclaimed stained‐glass windows and lamps and immersive horticultural displays. Original horticulture installations are located in the gardens’ world‐famous Tropical Conservatory and throughout the grounds of its 15‐acre downtown Sarasota campus.

‘Living Lampshade.’ Location: Bayfront. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Photo Credit: Cliff Roles Photography
‘Living Lampshade.’ Location: Bayfront. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Photo Credit: Cliff Roles Photography

More than 1,000 colorful bromeliads form floral mosaics that call to mind stained glass in the landscape, and blooming butterfly plants enhance the outdoor vignettes.

Spirit specimens as stained glass. Location: Museum of Botany & the Arts. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Photo Credit: Cliff Roles Photography
Spirit specimens as stained glass. Location: Museum of Botany & the Arts. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Photo Credit: Cliff Roles Photography

Inside the Tropical Conservatory, vibrant orchids, gesneriads, bromeliads, and begonias enliven stunning displays inspired by Tiffany’s aesthetic. The kaleidoscopic horticultural installations spotlight Tiffany Studios’ output influenced by nature — from daffodils and wisteria to dragonflies and lilyponds.

‘Tillandsia Cyanea Vignette.’ Location: Tropical Conservatory. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
‘Tillandsia Cyanea Vignette.’ Location: Tropical Conservatory. Courtesy Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Outstanding examples of Tiffany’s work in various media will be on view in Selby Gardens’ Museum of Botany & the Arts. Generously lent from a private collection, this remarkable group of more than 40 lamps, vases and other objects tell the story of Tiffany and his studio, which revolutionized glassmaking and elevated the status of American decorative arts at home and abroad.

Tiffany Dragonfly lamp, Tiffany Studios, New York, early 1900s. Private collection. Location: Museum of Botany & the Arts. Image courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Tiffany Dragonfly lamp, Tiffany Studios, New York, early 1900s. Private collection. Location: Museum of Botany & the Arts. Courtesy Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Visit the website of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and see its dedicated page for Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature.