Dining room, Seventy-Second Street house, 1882–1939; third-floor balcony, reception hall, and art gallery, Laurelton Hall, Long Island, New York, 1902–57
Oil on canvas Louis Comfort Tiffany, American, 1848–1933 Gift of the Estate of Alfreda Tiffany Mitchell Bingham Gregor, 1874–1967Signed, lower left: Louis C. Tiffany
66 1/2 x 101 in. (70-001)In this large canvas by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), the artist combines light, color, nature, family, and pageantry with dazzling effect. The painting has been referred to by many different names. Tiffany entitled it Blossoms of Spring when he exhibited it at the Society of American Artists in 1888. It was called Spring in the authorized 1914 biography by Charles de Kay, The Art Work of Louis C. Tiffany. It has also been known as Allegory of Spring, Springtime, and Flora. Relatives recall posing for Tiffany’s paintings regularly, often being photographed by him during their visits. The donor was Tiffany’s niece, then-named Alfreda Mitchell, who at age twelve sat for the May Queen. Other figures in this painting include Alfreda’s sister Charly Tiffany Mitchell, Tiffany’s two daughters Mary and Hilda, and close friends and neighbors of the family. Tiffany hung the painting in his Seventy-Second Street home in New York City and later at his Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall.