Art and Oppression: A Review of Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel by Susan Vreeland

Clara and Mr. Tiffany tells the tale of Clara Driscoll, who works for Louis Comfort Tiffany designing windows, lamps, and mosaics. The novel gives a comprehensive view of Tiffany’s production from the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago to 1908. It also allows the reader to become immersed in New York City of the same period. It demonstrates the oppression suffered by immigrants, women, and minorities. It also gives a view of the opulent lifestyles of the wealthy during this period.


Clara designs many of Tiffany’s most famous works, and she revels in each triumph of art and beauty. Her personal life, however, is a series of tragedies beginning with the death of her first husband, who was less than her perfect mate, to the disappearance of her second love, and the deaths of close friends.

The endless descriptions of glass, windows, and works of art become a bit tedious in this book, but the events of the outside world generally compensate. Vreeland mentions a number of famous people, but Clara never has the opportunity to actually meet any of them. She does do a nice job of describing the New York City of the time and of creating a complete picture of the lives available for women in the period.