Part 380: Phillip William Goatcher, Art Instructor of Homer Emens
The artistic mentor of Homer Emens was Phil Goatcher (1851-1931). Goatcher was characterized as “Well travelled, well read, a born raconteur and practical joker.” He was fascinating; In Melbourne, Australia, a horse race was named after him. Some reports from 1890 note that Goatcher was the highest paid scene painter in the world. So, who was Goatcher?
Philip William Goatcher was born November 23, 1851, in London. He first worked as a young law clerk at Lincoln’s Inn Chambers in London. During this time, he visited Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the experience left quite an impression, sketching scenes and other doodles from the stage on office pads. Later in life, Goatcher said, “Stage painting was to my mind the greatest achievement of man, so the desire to study the art took root deeply.”
By the age of 14, Goatcher accepted an apprenticeship with a Liverpool shipping firm, and began to travel on the high seas. He sailed to Melbourne, Australia in 1866 as an apprentice seaman on the True Briton and later on the Dover Castle. The second voyage he jumped ship near Melbourne and walked to his aunt and uncle’s home in Ballarat. Some accounts suggest he jumped ship to head for the gold fields, but failed to strike it rich. Regardless, in Ballarat Goatcher was employed backstage by John Hennings, Melbourne’s lead scenic artist at the Theatre Royal. Hemmings predicted that the young man had a great potential to be a successful scenic artist. However, the wages for a young man entering the scenic art filed were poor and the opportunities scarce.
It was gold fever lured Goatcher away from Melbourne and to New Zealand, and then to Californa. An additional incentive to leave for the West Coast was an invitation from Henry E. Abby of the Park Theatre. Goatcher left Sydney for San Francisco, traveling through the South Sea Islands. In San Francisco Goatcher found a new mentor, the scene painter William Porter. Goatcher also met J. C. Williamson, an American actor who would later become a prominent theatre director in Australia. His stay was brief and Goatcher was once again on route, this time to New York by way of Mexico and Panama. At the time, Goatcher was only 19 years old, but after arriving in New York he soon began working for the scenic artist Matt Morgan. Morgan worked at Niblo’s Garden.
Goatcher stayed in New York until the age of 22, when he finally returned to England. By 1873 he was painting settings as an assistant to the scenic artists at the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatre. At the age of 24, he married Alice Little and established a decorative-arts business in the West End. The business did not last when Goatcher decided to return to America as projects surrounding the Centennial Exposition offered substantial profits. He remained in the United states for the next fifteen years, spending an entire decade at Wallack’s theatre where he remained the chief scenic artist from 1875-1885.
Goatcher was naturalized as a US citizen in 1882 and listed his residence as Lexington Avenue in New York. In 1888, at the age of 27, he entered into a partnership with John H. Young as “Goatcher & Young” at 44 West 30th Street. Keep in mind that Young had worked with Moses up to 1882 and permanently moved to New York in 1884.
In 1889 Goatcher and Young created the scenery for “King Cole II” at Hermann’s Philadelphia Theatre. The show was reported to be “one of the most gorgeous affairs of its kind ever gotten up in this country” (Morning Call, Allentown, Penn., 21 April, 1889, page 5).
In the US Goatcher he painted scenery for the companies of Dion Boucicault, Edwin Booth, David Belasco, Edwin Booth, and Lillie Langtry. His specialty was not only drop curtains, but also pastoral landscapes, complete with wonderful translucent effects. His techniques were characteristic of the English tradition working up a backdrop with glazes. Goatcher especially excelled at painting scenery for Shakespearean production.
Goatcher and his first wife Alice had four children, but the marriage did not survive and the divorce was messy. In addition to domestic strife, Goatcher also struggled with chronic bronchitis. In 1890, Goatcher returned to London with his two eldest sons accompanied and accepted a position at the Adelphi Theatre. In London he worked for Hawes Craven, the leading stage designer for Henry Irving and Richard D’Oyly Carte. His projects also included settings for Gilbert and Sullivan productions. However, he was not destined to remain in England for long and returned to Melbourne that same year to work at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre.
At this time, Goatcher was 38 years old and a well-respected; he accepted a three-year contract with J. C. Williamson to work at his scenic artist in Melbourne (Arkansas Democrat, 22 July 1890, page 8). Goatcher’s first project was ‘The Gondoliers’ that October. He soon earned the nickname “Satin n’ Velvet Goatcher” for his elaborate painted textile drops.
Continued health issues prompted Goatcher to relocate to Perth, in hopes the dry climate would prove to be therapeutic for his acute bronchitis. There, he recreated the original scenery from his London and New York productions of ‘The Silver King’ (1882-83) for the Theatre Royal production in Perth during 1897. By 1899 he found love again and married a woman from Sydney, Emma Stone. More than 20 years his junior, the couple had twin sons, with only one surviving infancy. In West Perth Goatcher set up a successful painting and decorating business, later partnering with his son James. Decorative projects included the smoke room at Melbourne’s Menzies Hotel, Sydney’s Palace Theatre, the Singer Sewing Machine showroom in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building, and the painted auditoria of Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne.
In 1913, his second wife Emma passed away on Christmas Eve. As a 65-year-old widower, Goatcher purchased land in Dalwallinu during 1916, where he became not only a member of the Roads Board, but also a Justice of the Peace. Goatcher died in West Perth on the 8th October 1931 at the age of 80 and was buried in the Anglican section of the Karrakata Cemetery next to his second wife. Goatcher’s reminisces were published in a few publication that included the Australian Star (27 December 1890), Table Talk (31 October 1890, 8 January 1892) and the New Zealand Herald (11 March 1927).
To be continued…
Thank you for the information. Do you have any additional information on Emma Stone?
Not yet. I will keep you posted.