Firescreen

Art Historical Context

Step into the glow of John La Farge's *Firescreen* (1884), a stunning example of American decorative arts from the Gilded Age. Crafted as a protective panel for fireplaces, this 42 x 29-inch work features intricate leaded opalescent framed in brass, blending functionality with exquisite beauty. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, it exemplifies the era's fascination with luxurious home furnishings. La Farge, a American artist, revolutionized stained glass by developing opalescent glass—a shimmering material that captures light's iridescence through layered colors and textures, unlike traditional translucent glass. His leaded technique assembles slabs of this glass with malleable lead strips, creating luminous landscapes or motifs (though specifics here evoke nature's subtle drama). This innovation rivaled European masters and influenced contemporaries like Louis Comfort Tiffany. Acquired through the Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore Foundation Gift in 2000, the firescreen highlights America's cultural ascent in the 1880s Aesthetic Movement, where art permeated everyday life. Visitors are drawn to its warm, jewel-like radiance, a testament to La Farge's legacy in bridging fine art and craft.

About the Artist

John La Farge · 1835–1910

John La Farge (1835–1910) was born into a wealthy French émigré family in New York City, the son of John Frederick La Farge and Louisa Binsse de Saint-Victor. Educated at Jesuit institutions including Mount St. Mary's College in Maryland and St. John's College (now Fordham University), he initially pursued law but turned to art after receiving early drawing lessons from his maternal grandfather, a...