After Albert, Grover & Burridge closed their studio in 1894, Ernest Albert returned to New York where he opened up his own shop – Albert Studios. By 1896, he moved to New Rochelle and continued an active scenic art career, producing stage designs for Booth & Barrett, Helena Modjeska, Edward H. Sothern, Julia Marlowe, William H. Crane, Nat C. Goodwin, Maxine Elliot, Fanny Davenport, Ethel Barrymore, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Klaw & Erlanger, and for Charles Frohman.
He was a prolific artist who designed 113 shows for Broadway between 1895 and 1919. New York venues included the Fifth Street Theatre, Casino Theatre, New York Theatre, Greenwich Village Theatre, Cort Theatre, Booth Theatre, Globe Theatre, Hippodrome Theatre, 44th Street Theatre, New Amsterdam Theatre, Grand Opera House, Longacre Theatre, Knickerbocker Theatre, Moulin Rouge, Astor Theatre, Jardin de Paris, Maxine Elliot’s Theatre, Weber’s Music Hall, Herald Square Theatre, West End Theatre, Broadway Theatre, Wllack’s Theatre, American Theatre, Liberty Theatre, Bijou Theatre, Hudson Theatre, American Theatre, Liberty Theatre, Majestic Theatre, Murray Hill Theatre, Thalia Theatre, Academy of Music, Weber and Field’s Broadway Music Hall, Berkeley Lyceum Theatre, Manhattan Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Victoria Theatre, Harlem Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Daly’s Theatre, Hoyt’s Theatre, and Theatre Republic. He also created the scenery for Ziegfield Follies productions in 1911,1912, and 1913. At one point, Albert had eight productions running simultaneously with scenery that he had designed and painted. Some of his more famous designs include “Ben Hur,” “Kismet,” and “Herod.”
In a 1913 issue of “The New York Dramatic Mirror, ” Albert explained his own design process for the stage in an interview with Arthur Edwin Krows. He began a design after receiving “a commission for a scenic investiture in a play. ” The artist was first called into a meeting with the manger and author. He noted that the author usually knew what he wanted and would make a simple sketch “with some angles to represent the walls of a room perhaps, leaving open spaces for windows and doors, and if his artistic education has developed since his previous play, with some queer marks to represent tables and chairs.” Albert continued, “So the artist receives his instruction, act by act, for four or five acts.” He also added that it helped if the artist actually read the entire play manuscript as the author might overlook important details. This was not standard for the artist to read the play, but Albert insisted on it.
After the initial discussions, the artist would refer to his extensive library of clippings, plates and descriptions of every conceivable thing that was relevant to supply the correct details. As an example, he explained spending six months researching the particulars of “Ben Hur” stating, “When the production went on, I knew the exact height of every arch and gateway in Jerusalem.”
Albert then explained that the artist made first sketches of the scene and then a half-inch scale model. The prevailing colors for the each setting were determined, specifically “the general tone of the act for which the set is used.” The completed model would be submitted to the manager and author for final approval. Adjustments were not made to the model, but careful notes were taken and filed away for the actual construction.
It was at this point that the carpenter was sent for to begin construction of the frames for various settings. He would take special care so that they could be readily handled when the set was struck for transportation, especially if the show went on the road. All scenery must be constructed to fit in a railroad car. Once the frames were constructed, the canvas was stretched over and sent to the paint studio. Typically, flats were designed to be folded, with the painted surface inward.
Albert explained that an artist’s function did not cease until the scenery was all installed and the lighting arrangements completed. He commented, “Lighting is within his province, just as groupings are in a measure. An unexpected orange light on violet, for instance, will produce a russet brown that will make everything look dirty. It is true that in the days of gas lighting much softer effects were possible, but I will sacrifice all of the advantages of mellow light for safety. I am a crank on fire regulation. It was very dangerous in the old days with the exposed rows of hot gas lights. It used to be amusing too, to see lights go out every once in a while when an actor would accidentally step on a soft gas pipe. Anyway, we are now avoiding many of the hard qualities of the electric light by greater use of ambers, straw colors, and pinks.” Wow. The artist controlled the lighting and this was still Albert’s standard practice in 1913.
Two years later, he designed a winter scene for the New York Hippodrome’s ice skating ballet under director Charles Dillingham. The painted composition was titled “Flirting at the Saint Moritz” and measured 243’ x 70’ for the attraction “Hip-Hip Hooray.”
Albert was the founder and the first president of the Allied Artists of America (1914-1920). By 1916, he moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, where he began to focus on fine art. His stage design output began to gradually decline. In terms of fine art, Albert initially specialized in autumnal and winter scenes, later focusing on still life subjects. He held exhibitions across the country in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Albert’s fine art credentials are quite impressive. He belonged to New York’s Salmagundi Club, the Player’s Club, the Paint and Clay Club, the Silvermine Guild of Artists (New Rochelle), the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts (Lyme, Conn.), the National Academy of Design, the American Watercolor Society, the National Arts Club, and the Grand Central Galleries. He also belonged to the Chicago Art Association and the Chicago Society of Fine Artists, where he served as President.
Albert’s first wife Annie passed away in 1925, but he found love again and married Lissa Bell Walker two years later. He died in New Canaan, Connecticut, at the home of his daughter and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery (New Canaan).
To be continued…
