LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY <i> By Alistair Duncan (Abrams: $39.95; 157 pp.) </i>

Louis Comfort Tiffany was a passionate man. All the good taste and privilege of his youth, growing up the son of the founder of Tiffany & Co., succeeded in raising the expectations of a young artist determined to bring beauty within the reach of the public. Interpreting the color and textures of nature in things utilitarian, Tiffany gave meaning to more than a lamp-shade.

Tiffany’s early painting, interior design and window manufacture resonate with the themes later found in his most acclaimed work, his inimitable Favrile glass. Inspired by the fluid forms and iridescent surfaces of ancient Middle Eastern and Roman glass, his vases and stemware are unequalled achievements of design in the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

Alastair Duncan gives definition to a life not easily defined. Tiffany fiercely guarded his privacy, but promoted his products with showmanship. In the end, it is the work that endures. Tiffany’s legacy is identifiable as the work of a single hand performed on an industrial scale.