The slow erosion of art in America
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L.C. Tiffany: View of Oyster Bay
One of the astonishing things I learned about Tiffany's stained glass art works is that his masterpieces were destroyed ("massacred" to use the words of historian Paul Johnson) after his death during the Great Depression of the mid-1930s.
Although this may be attributed to the rejection of luxe and affluence that Tiffany's works induced, I think it was more of a rejection of beauty and aesthetics in art in general.
In fact, his popularity was waning even before the 1930s mainly due to newer developments in art.
His art nouveau style, which emphasizes nature, was being taken over by the more mechanical and industrial art deco, and Tiffany never took to the modern movements - fauvists and cubists to name the two that he disliked most.
He reacted to the introduction of modern art at the New York Armory in 1913 by making even more elaborate objects to decorate his homes.
Finally, though, his pieces, collected from various locations and by astute admirers, now fetch huge (and deserving) prices.
But, not until the damage was done.
