While Wendy Waszut-Barrett is recovering from travel and catching up on current projects. She is reposting a few weeks from “Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar Acquiring: The Fort Scott Scottish Rite Scenery for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center.” Here is her twenty-first post from March 6, 2017.
For additional installments, visit www.drypigment.net
Part 21: Rags to Riches
We slowly made our way across the old studio, pulling a variety of theatrical artifacts from the gap such as lining sticks, a pounce wheel handle, 1924 newspaper, teaspoons, Masonic buttons, miniature wooden battens to support scenic designs, and more. By this time I had my little mound of treasured items near the ledge.
Then a grey knitted rag appeared, so filthy that the dirt just dropped in clumps. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was an old paint sweater. Little dabs of white paint were all over the sweater. I was trying to determine whether this could possible an article of clothing that belonged to a scenic artist. If the spots were just white it could have belonged to any painter working throughout the building during its construction. Most of the spaces would have received a coat of white primer.
In the dim light, I peered at little splotches of color. This was all dry pigment, and a wide range of colors! I am familiar with the appearance of dry pigment on my paint clothes. It sets on top of the fabric and looks like little dabs of pastels (colored chalk) on the surface, not simply blobs of latex paint. This sweater belonged to a scenic artist. The likely hood that it was Moses’ was also very great based on his diary entries. The nearby artifacts would support also my theory.
After my return to Minneapolis, I staged the sweater for a series of photographs to document as many details about the sweater as possible.
During this photo shoot I noticed a loose button on one of the pockets. When I examined the left pocket, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and that little voice of intuition say, “Check the pockets.” I stuck my fingers in the pocket and felt something. Tears came to my eyes as I pulled out pink and white silk flower petals.
There is something about finding an article of clothing belonging to an artist that is awe-inspiring, especially when you have studied this particular artist for a few decades. It is something else entirely when you discover such a personal aspect about the artist. The petals in his pocket meant something to him, enough for him to pick them up and tuck them in his pocket.
Moses was a romantic and it is very apparent in the writing of his diaries, typed manuscript and newspaper submissions. He incorporated poetic phrases and sentimental touches to many situations.
And Moses noticed flowers, commenting on them throughout his life.
In 1925, Moses wrote:
“… we were busy watching the annual Flower Parade through the principal streets of the city…However, as it was our first view, we will have to admit that it had some very interesting features in it, as many of the floats were made of the actual live flowers, the others artificial.”
To be continued…
