Part 394: William Telbin: Artist in Tempera
In 1889 W. J. Lawrence listed some prominent English scene painting families – the Greenwoods, Grieves, Stanfields, Callcotts, Dansons, Fentons, Gordons, and Telbins. This installment looks at the Telbins (The Theatre Magazine, July 13, 1889). The most famous of the Telbin family was William (1815-1873).
William Telbin was a scene painter at Drury Lane Theatre, Covent Gardens and Lyceum Theatres. His scenic art was greatly influenced by the paintings of J. M. W. Turner. The following article about the artist was published in “The Magazine of Art” (January 1, 1902, page 371-376):
“In the records of scenic art no name is held in higher repute than that of Telbin. Since Clarkston Stanfield abandoned the painting-room of the theatre – nearly sixty years ago [1840s] – and was succeeded at Drury Lane by William Telbin the elder, much of the principal scene work for London, for provincial, and even some of the foreign theatres has been executed by painters of this name, the elder Telbin, the father of the subject of this sketch, was at one time scene painter for the four theatres in London then the most important – Her Majesty’s, the Lyceum, Drury Lane, and the Olympic; and in addition was frequently requisitioned for work at Covent Garden and the Haymarket. His elder son was principal assistant, and the younger one, William, drifted in to the same work. From childhood his mind was centered on artistic matters. Provided with models, and modeling tools as toys, he was encouraged in every possible way to develop his artistic tastes. The profession chosen for him when his school days were ended was that of architect, and with the view of training himself for it, he went through a course of sketching in Westminster Abbey, not wholly as a duty, but from an innate love of architecture. This was in 1862. In the following year he paid a visit of some months’ duration to Bonn, and spent the time sketching on the Rhine between that town and Coblentz. Thence he journeyed to Cologne, and worked for some time in the Cathedral. Upon his return home he entered the painting-room of the theatre as assistant to his father, where his brother was already engaged.
The first scene for which he received public credit was a vision of “Robinson Crusoe on the Raft,” painted for a pantomime produced at Covent Garden Theatre by Sir Augustus Harris’ father. Mr. Telbin confesses that, although he was mentioned on the programme as the author of the work, he “shrewdly suspected” his father of “tampering considerably: with t before it was placed on the stage. He was absent in Ireland for two months before Christmas, and when he saw the scene from the front of the house he recognized his father’s handiwork upon it – the brilliancy of color was mistakenly not his own.
Under the direction of Mr. Telbin the elder, the two younger painters were afforded many valuable opportunities of improving themselves in artistic work, for when sketches from nature were required for the work in hand, they were sent to make them. In the manner Mr. W. Telbin has become acquainted with the greater part of the Continent, his journeyings embracing the distances from Iceland to Tangiers, and Ireland to Vienna. Such experiences are invaluable to a scene-painted of the first rank, as well as to the general landscape painter.
From 1870 to 1873 Mr. Telbin’s work increased to an enormous extent, of, owning to the death of his brother, who fell from a cliff whilst sketching on the shores of Lake Lucerne, his father’s health broke down, and the responsibility of providing the family’s means fell upon Mr. Telbin. The many friends of his father showered do man commissions upon him, that he had a great difficulty in keeping pace with them. One instance alone may be given of his efforts to cope with the work: for when the manager of the Theatre Royal, Manchester, desired him to paint the complete scenery for the production of “Macbeth,” for a whole month Mr. Telbin worked twenty hours a day, reaching the theatre at 6 a.m., and leaving at 2 a.m. the following morning. Since then his work has been seen at all the principal theatres in London, and need not be referred to in detail here. He has latterly been engaged upon the scenery for the revival of “King John,” after having completed that for “Paolo and Francesca” for Mr. George Alexander. His scenes for “Faust,” executed for Sir Henry Irving some years ago, are seeing the light again in the revival of the piece at the Lyceum Theatre.
We desire now to call to attention to a branch of Mr. Telbin’s work which is not generally known to the public, but which, to our mind, is in its way as important and as beautiful as any of his stage productions. With tempera as his medium he has produced a series of black and white drawings which proclaim him a master in black and white art. For brilliancy of execution, for certainty of effect, sparkle of the touch, and beauty of presentation, these drawings are not easily surpassed. Some of them were reproduced in this magazine in two articles on “Scene Painters and their Work,” published in 1889, and others in a paper on “Iceland,” in 1893. Another series of views in the Mediterranean, more of which are to be published later, are admirable representations of the scenes to be witnessed during the season of the “bora” on the Mediterranean shores. They show Mr. Telbin was a careful and accurate student of nature, with an instinctive feeling for the picturesque allied to an inimitable power and facility of presentation and suggestion.”
The younger William Telbin, the principal scenic artist for Irving, believed that it was better “to work from the back of the stage to the front, since presumably the nearer the scene to the audience the more subtle and detailed its finishing”
To be continued…
