When Western Scenery Co. made an appearance in Lincoln, Nebraska, during 1911, the “Lincoln Herald” reported, “In the past 10 years the subject of scenery painting has attracted the attention of the most skillful painters in the world. The demand is for a much higher grade of artistic painting especially in localities where artwork is appreciated. Lincoln is fortunate in having Western Scenery Co., formerly of Chicago, located here, at 2042 O Street under the management of Mr. C. L. Dodson” (March 3, 1911).
A year earlier, the business directory section of the “New York Dramatic Mirror” listed ten scenic studios: H. P. Knight Scenic Studios (New York), Sosman & Landis Great Scene Painting Studio (Chicago), M. Armbruster & Sons (Columbus), Ormston Scenic Construction Co. (New York), the O. H. Story Scenic Co. (Boston), Inc., P. Dodd Ackerman Scenic Studio (New York), Schell’s Scenic Studio (Columbus, Ohio), the Myer’s Company, Inc., Scenic Studio (Steubenville, Ohio), Howard Tuttle (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), H. Fredericks (New York), and the C. Wash. Valentine Scenic Studios (Brooklyn, NY). Individual advertisements included Edward Fourneir (Minneapolis, MN), W. H. McConnell (Minneapolis), and H. Maurice Tuttle (Milwaukee).
There were many other scenic studios at the time not listed in the “New York Dramatic Mirror,” such as Toomey & Volland, Lee Lash, and New York Studios. Keep in mind that by 1910, Sosman & Landis studio was celebrating three decades of business, having installed stock scenery collections in thousands of theaters nationwide. During the period from 1880 to 1894 alone, they had delivered stock scenery collections to 4000 theaters nationwide.
Although scenic art production was nearing its peak in the United States, change was in the air. The same year that the Sosman & Landis shops were manufacturing hundreds of painted scenes in Chicago, a new type of drop curtain arrived at the Blackstone Theatre. One January 13, 1911, the “Fremont Tribune” of Fremont, Kansas, reported, “The new Blackstone theater in Chicago possesses the finest stage curtain in the United States, if not the world. It is a solid piece of imported tapestry and cost $15,ooo without including the duty” (page 5). $15,000 in 1911 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $404, 436.32 in 2019. The article continued, “There are only two other theaters in the world that have curtains of the same kind, and neither of these, it is said, is a fine a piece of work as Blackstone’s. One of these curtains is at Milan [Italy] and the other in [Moscow] Russia. No Paris playhouse has such a curtain, and there is none in England. The curtain was woven especially at Aubusson, near Paris. It is the largest single piece of tapestry ever imported into this country, measuring 30 ½ by 42 feet.”
The work began in the studio of M. Lemaille in Montmartre, Paris, two years prior to delivery. From a small cartoon, a full sign-painting was created for the tapestry artisans. The actual weaving did not commence until June 1910 at Aubusson. The tapestry was a partial reproduction of a famous tapestry owned by Napoleon that depicted a group of young people dancing on the green in the time of Louis XII.
The April 1911 publication of “Fine Arts Journal” included the article “A $15,000 Tapestry Drop Curtain” (Vol. 24, No. 4, pp.280-281). The Blackstone Theatre was credited as being “the most modern and the handsomest playhouse in America,” erected by Chicago businessmen at a cost of $500,000 in Hubbard Place between Michigan Boulevard and Wabash Avenue and adjoining the Blackstone Hotel. Charles Frohman, Klaw and Erlanger were the lessees with Harry J. Power as manager and Augustus Pitou, Jr. as business manager.
It was William J. Sinclair, director of the Hasselgren Studios, who conceived the idea of having a drop curtain of tapestry. Hasselgren Studios was a furniture company and celebrated interior-decorating firm that operated between 1911 and 1937 in Chicago. The firm was famous for their fine art work in mansions, hired for decorating. The artistic staff included scenic artists who painted ceiling murals on canvas that were shipped and hung in distant locales. They were also well known for their Oriental rugs, too, many of which were woven in Persia and would take years to complete. (Quad City Times, 24 May 1953, page 4). The company went bankrupt in the 1920s, with much of the stock being sold to John A. Colby and Sons. The order for the Tapestry drop curtain was placed over two years before delivery and necessitated a full-sized “cartoon” for the design. The piece was completed only a month before its arrival in the United States and the duty was noted as “a small fortune.”
What should be contemplated after thinking of this substantial purchase is the significance of the proscenium opening. Although the auditorium was ornately decorated with Ivory, dull gold and green, the “Fine Arts Journal” explained that the color scheme was “specifically designed to harmonize with and display the beautiful tapestry drop curtain.” As in many cases with previously painted drops curtains, the entire auditorium functioned as a frame for the artwork hanging in the proscenium. The architectural elements were simply supportive to whatever was suspended in the focal point of the auditorium – the proscenium.
To be continued…
