Part 480: Chicago is My Kind of Town
In 1904 Thomas G. Moses returned to Chicago. That same year, he was finally accepted into the prestigious “Salmagundi Club” in New York City. R. M. Shurtleff has sponsored his membership into this fine art society and Moses was eager to continue with his artistic studies. In addition to making inroads into the world of fine art, the scenic studio of Moses & Hamilton was doing very well. This meant that it was very hard for Moses to walk away from future projects in New York, as well as his business partner Will Hamilton. Moses wrote, “When I had to tell Hamilton, I almost gave in to stay with him, for he was awfully broken up over it, as he saw his meal ticket slipping away.” Since the beginning, Moses was the heart and soul of the company. Even five years later, Hamilton would still advertise his previous partnership with Moses as “formerly of Moses & Hamilton.”
Of Moses & Hamilton, Moses wrote, “Our work was rather pleasant and we received good prices. I sometimes think I should have stayed as our business was increasing each year. Our fiscal year was June 1st and I remained at [Coney] Island up to the last.” They had just opened “War of the Worlds” at Luna Park that season. They received $2,900.00 on this work and made a profit of $2,200.00, as they painted it in less that one half the time they thought it would take. Moses commented, “The show was a big hit.” It was hard for Moses to leave his success to become one of many painters in a studio, even if her were in charge.
But he would not be welcomed with open arms by everyone at Sosman & Landis. Moses wrote about his return to Sosman & Landis that year, “When Mr. Sosman announced to the ‘gang’ that I was coming back and would take charge of all the work, there was much dissention among a few.” In particular, one lead scenic artist resented Moses’ return to a supervisory role. Moses continued, “Fred Scott tried to start a mutiny and went as far as he could by quitting, hoping the others would follow. But none did, and he came back and asked for a job. I put him on for he was a clever painter.” Scott was still working at Sosman & Landis in 1911. Very little is known about this scenic artist other than a few brief comments in Moses’ memoir.
Moses continued to describe his return to Sosman & Landis, “I fell in line with the old work rather quickly. It lacked the interest of production work, but after all, what is the difference? There is no glory to be had in the painting of a production – all the honor goes to the stage manager or director.” In some ways Moses’ return to Sosman & Landis broke his spirit; he was settling, possibly abandoning his dream of fine art. I believed that Moses recognized that his own artistic growth would become stagnant while employed at Sosman & Landis. This was why he yearned to be a fine artist; at the end of the day, you are in charge of the end product and how it will appear before the audience. Fine art is often treasured, whereas backdrops are often perceived as mere backings, regardless of how fine the painting.
Moses also commented on Landis’ failing health, writing, “We found Mr. Landis in bad shape. While he seemed to know Ella and myself, he couldn’t talk at all, yet appeared to be awfully glad to see us.” Moses might have painted side by side with Sosman over the years, but there was unique loyalty to Landis and his family.
To be continued…
