Tiffany Studios

Making Waves: The Influence of Hokusai

Louis Tiffany’s devotion to nature for artistic inspiration has been well-documented. He did, however, find inspiration elsewhere and perhaps no source was more significant than his collection of Asian art. Tiffany had an extensive holding of Japanese ukiyo-e, or woodblock, prints and was very familiar with the works of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), whose works were prominently displayed in Laurelton Hall’s “Japanese Room.” Hokusai repeatedly depicted landscapes that were based on actual locations, but a sense of naturalism was always imbued with varying degrees of abstraction. 

Hokusai’s design philosophy is particularly evident in his interpretations of water, whether in the form of majestic waterfalls, powerful whirlpools or crashing waves. The phenomenal monumental vase offered here perhaps directly reflects his influence on Tiffany’s overall aesthetics. Large light-yellow lily-pad shapes, all with a delicate multi-hued iridescence, are apparently trapped in a maelstrom of yellow, brick-red and iridescent silver-blue waves, all on an incredible opaque powder blue ground. It is a superb example, one of many that led Tiffany to declare towards the end of his life: “I believe the most beautiful thing in the universe is glass.”

- PD