Historic Tiffany glass inspires plant displays in Selby Gardens show

Nov 29, 2023

Since it launched its Jean and Alfred Goldstein Exhibition series in 2015, Selby Botanical Gardens has focused on plant life and nature depicted in the work of such painters as Paul Gauguin, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, as well as photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

For its ninth program in the series, Selby is shining a different kind of light on art and nature with a showcase on the glasswork of Louis Comfort Tiffany in “Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature.”

The garden will feature more than 40 lamps, windows and other objects by Tiffany and his studio in its Museum of Botany and the Arts – more items than any of its past shows – all provided by a private collector who wants to remain anonymous. The glasswork includes plants, flowers and other images of nature, all of which are inspiring the horticulture department to create plant displays reflecting the ideas behind Tiffany’s work.

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David Berry, vice president for visitor engagement and chief curator, said Selby had been thinking of a Tiffany show for a while.

In the museum in the former Christy Payne home, visitors will see a collection of table lamps, floor lamps, a lamp screen in the shape of a dragonfly, and a large 7-foot leaded-glass window.

While many objects will be instantly recognizable, others may show a different aspect of Tiffany’s work.

“The window design beautifully illustrates what makes Tiffany glass unique and special,” said David Berry, vice president for visitor engagement and chief curator.

The north gallery will feature two rare pieces, a mini-leaded glass window created to hang in front of a regular plate glass window, and a fish and irises mosaic embedded into ceramic and bronze.

“Just about everything has a connection to nature, either the color or the pattern or the form explicitly represents it.” Because these are three-dimensional objects, the exhibit should represent a different kind of experience for visitors, Berry said.

While there was a staff of craftspeople and designers in the Tiffany studio, “nothing moved forward without his direct approval,” Berry said. The exhibition will have a partial focus on the women who worked for Tiffany, led by designer Clara Driscoll.

“He employed a large number of women, and Clara Driscoll is one who rose to the fore,” Berry said. She led the creation of daffodils and butterflies, “objects that were synonymous with the firm.”

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Nathan Burnaman, associate director of horticultural exhibits at Selby, said the new show will be a drastic contrast coming off last year’s Robert Mapplethorpe and Patty Smith exhibit, which featured a lot of black and white images.

Because Tiffany’s work is primarily in glass, the plant displays will play with light in the show.

“We’re doing it in different ways, using different materials, using a lot of colored transparent acrylic, which casts a very vibrant light on the ground and additionally allows you to see through it to any landscape or plant behind it,” Burnaman said. The department is also using more translucent material which has an illusion of texture and dimension to it.

Visitors will experience the displays in different ways depending on the time of day.

“Some areas will look quite different in the afternoon than they do in the morning, but as long as its sunny, most of them will be quite vibrant,” Burnaman said.

One feature is an 8-foot-tall wall of colored plexiglass in rainbow colors. “If you come in right after we open the garden and stand directly adjacent to the piece, you will be lit up,¨ he said. “But in the afternoon, the sidewalk will be lit up.”

For nearly a year, the horticulture department has been working with Berry and others about possible ways to use the conservatory greenhouse and the grounds to reflect Tiffany’s designs in plants. “As soon as we finish the previous year’s show, we start talking about the next one,” Buranman said.

Berry said plans already are being made for the exhibition that will open in 2024, which will be announced later this year.

“We meet on a regular basis throughout the process to get to the essence of the artist and his work and get ideas that can be drawn from that and be interpreted and explored in horticultural terms. Our ultimate goal is a fully integrated experience,” Berry said. “The most enjoyable part of the job is working with our colleagues that bring wildly different specializations and everybody plays a vital role and makes doing this kind of thing fun and a learning experience.”

Tiffany’s great-great granddaughter, Nadia Watts, a Denver-based interior designer, will give a keynote talk at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14 about her family’s history and legacy and how her own designs are inspired by stained glass. Various arts organizations, including The Sarasota Ballet and Sarasota Opera, will perform during Exhibition Evenings, 5-8 p.m. Feb. 15, March 7, April 5 and May 17.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Feb. 12-June 25. 1534 Mound St., Sarasota. Included with admission. 941-366-5731; selby.org

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