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The three-panel stained glass window designed by Tiffany Studios was revealed Friday night at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum after weeks of keeping it secret behind a black curtain.
“It’s been hard to keep quiet,” MMAM executive director Larry Gorrell said.
The window was commissioned in 1896 for a wealthy family in Tiburon, Calif. It has been in private collections since and is now on public display for the first time as part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Entitled “View of the Bay through Wooded Landscape with Stream,” the piece depicts the San Francisco Bay. It was created at Tiffany Studios, founded by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the son of world renowned jeweler Charles Louis Tiffany.
Jon Swanson, museum curator of collections and exhibits, only saw a small photo of the piece before its arrival in Winona. It didn’t do the artwork justice.
“To have a Tiffany here is amazing,” Swanson said.
Swanson gave invitees to Friday’s event a small hint — he used a Tiffany stamp.
The piece measures approximately 7.5 feet by 8 feet and weighs 500 pounds. The Tiffany was shipped by a company that specializes in transporting art. Its installation was a careful seven-week process. A white oak frame helps keep attention focused on the art. There are hidden doors behind the window so the 28 light bulbs can be changed.
Tiffany started as a painter, later becoming known as a pioneer of the Art Nouveau style. He used his wealth to learn about the arts, traveling the world to study with the best artists. He was known for his use of intense colors.
Swanson sees Winona as an especially fitting home for the piece with the city’s reputation as the stained glass capital of the world.
“It’s like this space was made for it,” Swanson said.
If you go
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $6 or $3 for students. Every Tuesday, university students and those 18 and younger are admitted free. For more information, visit www.minnesotamarineart.org or call (507) 474-6626.
Contact Käri Knutson at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or (507) 453-3523.
