Peter CarlFabergé, René Lalique and LouisComfort Tiffany are familiar namesto many, but few realize they werecontemporaries and rivals competingfor Gilded Age collectors. “Exhibitionshave tended to isolate thesedesigners and raise them up to a pinnacle,”says Stephen Harrison, curatorof decorative art and design atthe Cleveland Museum of Art,whose “Artistic Luxury:Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique”brings together some300 of their creationsdating from 1895 to thebeginning of World WarI. Lent by such collectorsas the comedian JoanRivers and Prince Albertof Monaco, the works revealhow the trio pioneered the presentationof luxury goods as art—a gambitas commonplace today as aTakashi Murakami?embellishedLouis Vuitton handbag. The show,which runs until January 18, 2009,and then travels to the Palace of theLegion of Honor in San Francisco,features many standout works,including a Tiffany Magnolia windowfrom the State Hermitage Museum,in St. Petersburg.

"Decorative Smarts" originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's November 2008 Table of Contents.