Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
251 S Park Ave, Winter Park, FL
Winter Park, FL
Louis Comfort Tiffany's dazzling stained glass and his rescued private chapel, gathered in a small Central Florida town from the ashes of the artist's own burned estate.
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art holds the world's most comprehensive collection of the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the American artist and designer whose glowing leaded-glass windows, lamps, and mosaics defined an era. Tucked into the small, elegant town of Winter Park, it is one of the great surprises of Central Florida, a jewel box a short drive from the theme parks that most visitors never learn about.
The heart of the collection is a story of rescue. Much of it, including Tiffany's spectacular stained-glass chapel and pieces of his own grand estate, was saved from ruin after fire and neglect destroyed the artist's Long Island home. What could have been lost forever was gathered, preserved, and eventually brought here, so that a small Florida town became the keeper of one of America's most dazzling artistic legacies.
What Guests Love
- The Tiffany Chapel interior, rescued and reassembled in full
- Rooms of glowing Tiffany leaded-glass windows and lamps
- Salvaged architectural elements from Tiffany's own Long Island mansion
- A jewel-box museum in the heart of walkable, tree-lined Winter Park
Worth Knowing
- The collection is world-class but the museum is compact, so a focused visit rewards close looking
- It is closed on some days, so check the schedule before you go
- Photography rules vary by gallery, so ask at the entrance
- Park Avenue outside is worth lingering on for its shops, cafes, and shaded strolls
Details
Winter Park, FL
Learn about Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
Louis Comfort Tiffany and his glass
Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of the famous New York jeweler, became the leading American artist of the decorative movement around the turn of the twentieth century. He was obsessed with color and light in glass, and he pioneered techniques for making iridescent, richly hued leaded glass that seemed to glow from within, used in windows, lamps, mosaics, and blown-glass vessels. His workshops turned out some of the most celebrated decorative art America ever produced.
The centerpiece of the collection is the Tiffany Chapel, a shimmering interior of stained glass, mosaic, and a great glass mosaic altar and columns that Tiffany designed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After the fair it passed through several homes and years of storage before being reassembled, and today it stands complete in the museum, one of the most breathtaking single rooms of American decorative art anywhere.
A collection saved from the fire
Tiffany built a sprawling estate called Laurelton Hall on Long Island, a personal masterpiece filled with his own glass, tile, and design. After his death the house fell into decline, and in 1957 a fire gutted it, leaving the estate a ruin. Much of what had been inside seemed lost.
It was saved by two Winter Park collectors, Hugh and Jeannette McKean, who had a deep personal connection to Tiffany, Hugh having been an artist-in-residence at Laurelton Hall as a young man. In the wake of the fire they gathered surviving windows, columns, architectural fragments, and interiors from the wreckage, and over the years assembled the extraordinary Tiffany holdings that anchor the museum today. The museum itself is named for Jeannette McKean's grandfather, the industrialist and collector Charles Hosmer Morse.
Beyond Tiffany
While Tiffany is the star, the museum's holdings range more widely across American art and design from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are American paintings, art pottery, and decorative arts, along with jewelry, ceramics, and glass by other makers of the period, giving context to Tiffany's brilliance and showing the broader creative ferment of his age.
The galleries are arranged so that natural and controlled light plays across the glass, which is essential, since Tiffany's work is meant to be seen with light passing through it. Standing before a leaded-glass landscape window, watching the colors shift, is a very different experience from looking at a painting, and the museum's design lets that quality shine.
Season by season in Winter Park
Winter and spring are delightful in Central Florida, with mild dry days perfect for pairing the museum with a stroll down Park Avenue, a boat tour of the Winter Park lakes, or a wander through the town's gardens and campus. The cooler months bring the town's noted outdoor art festival and its busiest, liveliest stretch.
Summer is hot and humid with daily afternoon thunderstorms, which makes an air-conditioned art museum an ideal midday retreat. Autumn is warm and quieter, an easygoing time to visit before the winter season fills the town again, and the museum's indoor calm is a welcome year-round constant against Florida's weather.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Winter Park
Park Avenue
At the museum's door
Winter Park's brick-paved main street of boutiques, cafes, and shaded benches, one of the most pleasant strolls in Central Florida.
Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour
About 1 mile east
A leisurely pontoon cruise through the town's chain of lakes and lily-lined canals, past grand lakeside homes and old cypress.
Rollins College
About 1 mile south
A picturesque lakeside liberal arts campus of Spanish Mediterranean architecture, with a small art museum and public gardens.
Orlando Museum of Art
About 4 miles southwest
A well-regarded art museum in Orlando's Loch Haven Park, with American and contemporary collections.