Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 379 – Homer F. Emens, a student of Phillip Goatcher and John Mazzanovich

Part 379: Homer F. Emens, a student of Phillip Goatcher and John Mazzanovich

 The past two installments described the design process and scenic art of Homer Franham Emens (1862-1930). Here is a little more information about this well-known New York artist who was a contemporary of Thomas G. Moses. He was nationally recognized as a fine artist, trained in both the United States and Europe.

Emens was born in Volney, New York, and began a career as an artist in Syracuse, New York. He soon moved to New York City for further artistic instruction and studied with Phillip W. Goatcher (1851-1931), the principal designer at Wallack’s Theatre from 1875-1885.

Another artist at Wallack’s theatre who worked with Goatcher was John Mazzanovich. He painted for various theatres, including Niblo’s Garden and the Standard Theatre. Mazzanovich also became a mentor of Emens. The Chicago Inter Ocean recognized Mazzanovich as one “who used his brush with singular facility and felicity” and “had excellent qualities as a draughtsman and colorist and a delicate and refined fancy” (Chicago Inter Ocean June 12, 1886, page 8). However, Mazzanovich’s instruction was short-lived, as the well-known artist died at the young age of 30 in 1886. It was after Mazzovich’s death that Emens really started designing scenery on his own. It was common at the time for various scenes in a production to be assigned to different artists.

By 1894, Emens sought additional artistic training in Europe, understanding the value of classical training and having a great desire to improve his own artistic abilities. Upon his return to New York, he resumed his career in scenic art, but also began exhibiting paintings with the National Academy of Design, the Society of American Artists, and the Art Institute in Chicago. In 1904 Emens returned to Europe to advise on scenery design. Work in the United States included partnering with Edward G. Unitt to work for some of the most prominent theatres in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. At the height of Emens career, he managed eight scenic studios. His accomplishments included being the scenic director for the Metropolitan Opera for over a decade.

During WWI, Emens worked for the Department of the Navy to create a new system of camouflage. By the 1920s, Emens and his wife moved to the West Coast. Their first home was in Santa Barbara, but later moved to Camel, constructing studio-home in the Eighty Acres Tract on Torres Street and Eighth Avenue. He concentrated on landscape painting during this period, exhibiting with the Carmel Art Association. Emens is a nationally recognized fine artist of both oils and watercolors.

The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) has an extensive list of productions that Emens worked on. It is an impressive list that provides some context for his contribution to Broadway productions. Here is the link: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/homer-emens-26159

 

“The Main Line, or Rawson’s Y” (1886 with Phil Goatcher)

“Lohengrin” (1886 Academy of Music with William Voegtlin)

“Lakme” (1886 Academy of Music with Charles Graham and William Schaeffer)

“Faust” (1886 Academy of Music with Gaspard Mauder, William Schaeffer, Hughson Hawley, Thomas Weston, Mark Apjohn and Otto Namzynowski)

“Mikado” (1886 Academy of Music with William Voegtlin)

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1887 with Hughson Hawley)

“Dorothy” (1887 with Walter Burridge and Hughson Hawley)

“A Midnight Bell” (1889)

“The Black Crook” (1893 with Albert, Grover & Burridge, J. S. Getz, John W. Sommer, and J. S. Clare)

“Gismonda” (1894 with Joseph Clare, D. Frank Dodge, Richard Marston and Ernest Albert)

“For the Crown” (1896 with Richard Marston)

“The Village Postmaster” (1896)

“The Old Homestead” (1898, 1907, 1908)

“Erminie” (1899 with Richard Marston)

“Peter Stuyvesant” (1899 with Richard Marston)

“More Than Queen” (1899)

“Chris and the Wonderful Lamp” (1900 with F. Richard Anderson, Frank E. Gates, E. A. Morange, and Ernest Gros )

“Lost River” (1900 with Frank E. Gate and E. A. Morange)

“Monte Cristo” (1900 with Frank E. Gates, E. A. Morange, Ernest Gros and John H. Young)

“Dolly Varden” (1902 with John H. Young)

“Her Lord and Master” (1902)

“Mary of Magdala” (1902 with Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange, and 1903)

“Captain Dieppe” (1903 with Edward G. Unitt)

“Babes in Toyland” (1903 with John H. Young)

“The Office Boy” (1903 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph A. Physioc)

The Girl From Kay’s” (1903 with Edward G. Unitt and Ernest Gros)

“Babette” (1903 with Edward G. Unitt)

“The Man and I” (1904 with Joseph A. Physioc, Edward G. Unitt, and Ernest M. Gros)

“Piff! Paff! Pouf!” (1904 with Edward G. Unitt)

“A Venetian Romance” (1904 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph A. Physioc)

“A Madcap Princess” (1904 with Edward G. Unitt)

“Granny” (1904 with Edward G. Unitt)

“The Two Roses” (1904 with Edward G. Unitt)

“The Winter’s Tale” (1904 with Castle & Harvey, Ernest Albert and Edward G. Unitt)

“Babes in Toyland” (1905 with John H. Young)

“Cousin Billy” (1905 with Ernest M. Gros and Edward G. Unitt)

“The Duchess of Dantzic” (1905 with Thomas Mangan and Edward G. Unitt)

“The School for Husbands” (1905 with Edward G. Unitt)

“Miss Molly Dollars” (1905 with Edward G. Unitt)

“Beauty and the Barge” (1905 with Edward G. Unitt)

“Just Out of College” (1905 with Edward G. Unitt)

“Mlle. Modiste” (1905, 1906, and 1907 with Edward G. Unitt)

“The Mountain Climber” (1906 with scenery painted by Emens and Unitt)

“The Little Father of the Wilderness/The Mountain Climber” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt)

“About Town” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt and Arthur Voegtlin)

“The Red Mill” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt, F. E. Gates, E. A. Morange)

“The Great Divide” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt, and 1908)

“Eileen Asthore” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“Cymbeline” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt)

“The Blue Moon” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt, Ernest Albert, and Joseph Wickes)

“Pippa Passes” (1906 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“The Straight Road” (1907 with Edward G. Unitt, Alexander Corbett, and Joseph Wickes)

“The Rose of Alhambra” (1907 with Edward G. Unitt, F. E. Gates and E. A. Morange)

“The Tattooed Man” (1907 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“The Spoilers” (1907 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“His Excellency the Governor” (1907 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“The Rogers Brothers in Panama” (1907 with Walter Burridge and Ernest Albert)

“The Step-Sister” (1907)

“The Hoyden” (1907)

“Artie” (1907)

“The Right Way” (1907 with Richard Marston)

“O’Neill of Derry” (1907 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“Funabashi” (1908 with Edward G. Unitt and Young Brothers & Boss Co.)

“Lonesome Town” (1908)

“A Waltz Dream” (1908)

“The Prima Donna” (1909)

“The Fair Co-ed” (1909)

“The Candy Shop” (1909 with John H. Young)

“The Taming of the Shrew” (1909 with Edward Unitt)

“The Old Town” (1910)

“The Arcadians” (1910)

“The Merry Whirl” (1910 with John H. Young)

“The Girl in the Train” (1910)

“Barry of Ballymore” (1911 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“The Siren” (1911)

“The Rose of Panama” (1912)

“Robin Hood” (1912 with Frank E. Gates and E. A. Morange)

“The Girl from Montmatre” (1912)

“Oh! Oh! Delphine” (1912 with Edward G. Unitt and Joseph Wickes)

“The Lady of the Slipper” (1912)

“The Isle o’ Dreams” (1913)

“The Sunshine Girl” (1913 with Ernest Albert)

“The American Maid” (1913)

“The Marriage Market” (1913)

“Pretty Mrs. Smith” (1914 with Robert Brunton and Kellam)

“Chin Chin” (1914)

“Cousin Lucy” (1915)

“The Princess Pat (1915)

“Hip! Hip! Hooray!” (1915 with Mark Lawson, F. E. Gates, E. A. Morange and Ernest Albert)

“Sybil” (1916)

“Betty” (1916)

“Rambler Rose” (1917 with Baron Voruz de Vaux)

“Jack O’Lantern” (1917 with Ernest Albert and Joseph Urban)

“Come Along” (1919 with F. E. Gates and E. A. Morange)

 

To be continued…