Art -- But No Breakfast -- at Tiffany's

"Girl with No Eyes" by Julian Schnabel (2021)

My jaw dropped when we stepped off the elevator on the 6th floor at The Landmark, Tiffany & Co.'s Flagship Store in New York. Two huge Julian Schnabel paintings greeted us -- one on the wall of the elevator bank and the other behind one of the most cool dining room sets I've ever seen. I would have run to get closer to this painting, but I showed some restraint given our location. But let me back up a bit. 

It probably won't surprise you when I say that Tiffany's is not one of my regular stops when I go to New York. But my friend Stephenie had been to the City recently and visited the store after reading about the collection. It sounded too exciting to miss despite my apprehension about being so obviously a gawker rather than a buyer. At least I -- like the staff -- was wearing black. 

"Fragile Heart" by Gene Moore (1987)

To their credit, the people who work at Tiffanys are incredibly friendly and didn't look at us askance. Suzanne and I spent a good amount of time talking with Brandon, a sales associate and fellow art lover. He shared that Tiffany's began as a home goods store in 1837; hence the inclusion of beautiful china and silver among the store's offerings. It wasn't long, though, before Charles Lewis Tiffany expanded the store's enticements to include diamonds and other gemstones. 

The collection began when King Louis-Phillipe of France abdicated the throne in 1848 after being unable to woo the support of the industrialist class. As aristocrats began fleeing the country, Tiffany saw an opportunity to relieve them of their jewels in exchange for much needed cash. Over time, a generous share of both the French and the Spanish crown jewels became part of Tiffany's inventory. Today Tiffany's has more than 300 locations around the globe where customers can purchase high class bling. 

 Daniel Arsham's "Bronze Eroded Venus of Arles"
while looking up the circular staircase  

In keeping with the tone of the Flagship Store, numerous works from Tiffany's world class art collection are on display, including Julian Schnabel's "Girl with No Eyes" with which I was so immediately taken. The work is from his series entitled "Big Girl Paintings." The eyes of the young women are hidden in all in these works. It's a bit disconcerting, but Schnabel apparently didn't have any deep meaning behind this choice. Instead, he believes that eliminating his subject's eyes forces viewers to consider the rest of the painting instead. Hmm. In its setting at Tiffany's, the covered eyes made me think of someone (1) surprising the young woman with a present or (2) telling her to avert her eyes because no gifts are forthcoming. Whatever the intention, I loved them. 

Gene Moore has multiple works on display, each of which was engaging. If you're not familiar with his name, you're not alone. Moore was not an artist, at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, he was the VP of window display with Tiffany's for almost four decades. During that time, he created 5,000+ captivating windows for the store. His "Fragile Heart," packed up and ready to go on a journey, seems perfect for a store where romance is in the air. One of his windows featured a series of ice cream sugar cones stacked one on top of the other. At the very front of the display were three stand alone cones with sizeable ruby rings atop them. Moore's motto was "Make people stop," and I did. 

Ad for Arsham Bronze Eroded Tiffany Blue Box 

It's always fun to see a Daniel Arsham work since we have one of his "Hollow Figure" sculptures on display in Sarasota. Arsham has a tight relationship with Tiffany's. His monumental "Bronze Eroded Venus of Arles" sculpture is in a premiere location at the foot of the store's beautiful circular staircase. Art lovers who take a liking to Arsham's work can purchase their own Bronze Eroded Tiffany Padlock (retailing for a mere $59,000) or Bronze Eroded Tiffany Blue Box (Circa 3021). Arsham said about the boxes: "I always gravitate towards items that are immediately culturally recogniable. The Tiffany Blue Box has that power. I wanted to address it in a way different than how it was originally intended by giving it a distressed, aged quality which represents its history, how much of a fixture it is in our world today, and how it will continue to be relevant in decades, even centuries, from now." The words "for people who are incredibly wealthy" are of course implicit in that statement.

"Cynosure" by Molly Hatch (2023)

I'll leave you with a work by another artist who has a connection with Sarasota -- Molly Hatch. And this is where we get to the breakfast at Tiffany's part. Hatch has created three works for Tiffany's Flagship Store, including "Cynosure" and "Roseate" which can be found in the Blue Box Cafe. (You can also have breakfast while you're admiring the art for $65 pp.) "Cynosure" is based on renderings for a Tiffany's brooch that Hatch found in the store's archives. The work features her trademark hand-thrown and hand-painted plates in various sizes with white gold accents. It truly evokes the jewels for which Tiffany's is best known. Locally, you can see Hatch's "Amalgam" at Sarasota Art Museum.

These works are just a sampling of the art that can found at Tiffany's Flagship Store. There were also works by the likes of Basquait and James Turrell and Anish Kapoor. The list goes on. I recommend a visit the next time you're in the City. And I suggest that you wear black.