“Women in Scenic Art,” final excerpt from 1927 article as posted yesterday: “Oh yes, there are plenty more, the Misses Hancock, Farrington, Vickers, Bernstein, (Vyvyan) Donner…”
Vyvyan Donner (1895-1965) was a native of New York and will be my subject for the next few posts. Breaking into the business at an early age,
Donner became much more than a well-known scenic and costume designer. She excelled at everything she tried her hand at, including poster art, directing, writing, fashion design, jewelry designer, film commentator, and a producer at Twentieth Century.
By the age of 21 yrs. old she was already noted as an extremely costume designer in Green Book 1916 (shown below).
She worked at a variety of venues, including for Ziegfeld and the Schuberts, becoming a sensation by 1922 and primarily working from her studio was located on 44th Street at the beginning of her career. When she started or left this studio is unknown.
As many other theatre artists she travelled extensively– especially to Chicago. During 1927, Donner was one of a handful of artists to create decorative banners for the 1927 Scenic Artists Ball in Chicago. Artists from all over the nation gathered at this event to enjoy and evening of performance, network, and socialize. She was the only female displaying her art for this event – to me, this said a lot. At this same time, she remained extremely active as a costume designer.
In 1926, Donner was credited with designing the “modern costumes” for the production of “The Desert Song.” This was a musical operetta that appeared at the Casino Theatre. Mark Mooring also designed costumes for the production, a show inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs (a group of Moroccon fighters) against French Colonial Rule.
Donner also entered the world of clothing design and fashion journalism. In 1929, at the age of 34 yrs. old she became the fashion editor for Fox Movietone News. In 1938, she began writing her “Fashion Forecast” series that was filmed in Technicolor with each item running for about eleven minutes and narrated by Ilka Chase. Later, Donner designed the sets and costumes for each of her own fashion shows, carefully selecting models from theatre, night clubs, schools and colleges, not agencies alone. She also was a commentator on the Movietone Newsreels during the 1930s.
For videos of Vivian Donner Fashion Shows and clips, go to:
http://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A1990 for April 17, 1929 on women’s summer styles
http://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A40693 from August 6, 1942.
It is delightful to see the costumes and the setting from the 1920s and the 1940s. They are both in the University of South Carolina Libraries digital collections. Finally, here is one of the Movietone News reels from 1940 with Donner’s narration: https://archive.org/details/NewsreelClip1940 (her fashion section is immediately after the military update)
In 1946, the Scarsdale Inquirer (No 42, 18 October) noted Donner in “News of the Women’s Club.” They noted Donner as a woman “who is in constant touch with creators of feminine styles and one of the greatest individual influences in the field of Fashion.” They note that 95% of all the creations shown in her films were American made with her films were now made in New York on Tenth Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street.
For film, Donner was a director, writer and producer for a variety of productions, including: “What It Takes to Make a Star” (1945), “Music from Manhattan” (1946), “Behind the Footlights” (1947, producer), “Something Old, Something New” (1948), “Talented Beauties” (1949), “Music of Manhattan” (1950).
For me, her most fascinating work was the design of the “Question Producer Pin!” Donner designed this piece of jewelry with Julio Kilney casting it. This pin dates form the suffrage period and represents the fight for Equal Rights Amendment. Donner’s pin is now part of the National Woman’s Party archives and can be viewed at http://nationalwomansparty.org/are-you-wearing-your-question-producer/ This needs a come back!
The next few posts are going to cover an interview with Donner in an 1922 called “Vitalizing the Silhouette.” This interview examines in detail her art, training, creative approach, and challenges.
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
I’ll look into it.