Two NYC Exhibits Offer Rare Look at Louis Comfort Tiffany the Artist and Friend

By Karen Dybis | October 19, 2026

Two New York City–based exhibits highlighting Louis Comfort Tiffany and his studio give admirers insights into the man’s creative genius, as well as a rare look into the collaborative friendships he held during his lifetime.

The Hispanic Society Museum & Library (HSM&L) and Tiffany & Co. currently are presenting Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida’s 1911 portrait of Tiffany at the retailer’s Fifth Avenue flagship, The Landmark, through Nov. 29.

On Oct. 22, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will debut Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany, a display of rare drawings that show the inspirations behind some of the studio’s masterworks.

Painted in the spring of 1911, Sorolla’s Louis Comfort Tiffany depicts Tiffany at his Long Island estate known as Laurelton Hall. Sorolla shows his friend at work with his palette and brushes in hand. Surrounded by flowers in his beloved garden, Tiffany appears relaxed and thoughtful, says Guillaume Kientz, director and CEO of HSM&L.

Tiffany Sorolla portrait — *The Sorolla portrait highlights the man behind the Tiffany name, Kientz says.*

“What makes this painting so extraordinary is that Sorolla captures Louis Comfort Tiffany not simply as one of the great figures of American decorative arts, but as a fellow artist and a human being,” Kientz tells JCK.

“We see Tiffany in his garden at Laurelton Hall, surrounded by the natural world that inspired him, with his palette and brushes in hand and even his beloved dog at his side. There is an intimacy and spontaneity to the portrait that speaks to the genuine friendship and mutual admiration between these two remarkable artists,” Kientz says.

Their relationship also reveals something important about the artistic exchange between Spain and the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, he says. Tiffany admired and collected Sorolla’s paintings, while Sorolla acquired works by Tiffany Studios for his own home in Madrid.

“For the Hispanic Society, this painting is a wonderful reminder that art history is not simply a story of individual geniuses, but also of friendships, conversations, and ideas crossing borders,” Kientz says. “To see the portrait today, surrounded by Tiffany’s own creations, allows us to rediscover that relationship and appreciate how two artists working on opposite sides of the Atlantic helped shape one another’s creative worlds.”

Tiffany emerald brooch — *The Landmark exhibit includes this Tiffany & Co. brooch by Meta Overbeck under the direction of Louis Comfort Tiffany with emeralds, and sapphires, circa 1914–1933.*

Meanwhile, the Met show will highlight rare design drawings from Tiffany’s studios for commissions between the mid-1880s through the 1920s, the museum said on its website. The nearly 120 watercolor drawings were the artist’s first step in the artistic process, and they document the studio’s finished and unfinished creations.

The Met exhibition also includes stained-glass windows, mosaics, enamel-work, and additional examples of the studio’s work and Tiffany’s designs. For example, you can see the studio’s lamps side-by-side with their original designs—allowing new insights into how an idea goes from start to finish.

“The featured drawings, all from The Met collection, have never before been studied in depth, and the exhibition celebrates the decades-long conservation initiative that restored them to their full beauty,” the Met said. “Along with new insights into the artists’ process and design inspiration, the drawings offer a unique opportunity to peel back the layers of some of the most heralded creations produced by Tiffany’s legendary studios.”

Designing the Gilded Age will continue through Feb. 7 and will be available to the public for free with museum admission.

Top: Tiffany & Co. and the Hispanic Society Museum & Library are presenting Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida’s 1911 portrait of Louis Comfort Tiffany at The Landmark. (Photos courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)