Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Arthur Rider was a scenic artist at Sosman and Landis’ main studio from approximately 1904 until 1908. After 1910, he became associated with their eastern affiliate, New York Studios. His theatrical contributions are seldom mentioned, yet his easel art is still making headlines on social media.
Earlier this year the Crocker Art Museum posted Rider’s 1928 painting, “The Bells at Mission San Juan Capistrana,” to their Facebook page.
The Crocker Art Museum post included a brief biography for Rider. The following text was attached to the image:
“Arthur Rider was born in Chicago and received his early training at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. While a student, he painted for local opera companies and then continued this line of work in London. Seeking further training, he moved to Paris to study at the Académie Colarossi and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.
Having heard a lecture by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla in 1911, Rider set off for Spain, where he studied and befriended Sorolla. He was greatly influenced by Sorolla’s approach to color and spent nine summers in Valencia painting with him and portraying the coast and activities of local fishermen.
After Sorolla died in 1923, Rider returned to Chicago and made visits to California. In the late 1920s, he rented a house in Laguna Beach and settled in Los Angeles in 1931. While pursuing easel painting, he also produced scenery for the film studios MGM and Twentieth Century Fox.
In California, Rider sought out subjects that recalled his time in Spain. Although he painted coastal scenes, he also depicted inland landscapes and buildings. He was especially fond of the gardens and architecture of Mission San Juan Capistrano. His depictions of the mission were unlike those produced by the previous generation of California artists, who sought to capture the entire mission in all its detail. Rider sought only the essence of the mission, finding it in fragments of light and color.”
The same snippets of information about Rider are continuously used by art galleries, museums, auction houses and other online platforms. Like many scenic artists at Sosman & Landis, Rider exhibited his easel art and joined a variety of artistic groups. In Chicago, Rider belonged to the Palette & Chisel Club, as did most of his fellow scenic artists at the time. He was also a member of the Academy of Western Painters, Painters and Sculptors of Los Angeles, the California Art Club, and Laguna Beach Art Association. Rider participated in numerous exhibitions and received many awards, including recognition from Chicago’s Institute of Art, the Chicago Galleries Association, the California State Fair, the Golden Gate International Exhibition, the California Art Club, Circulo des Bellas Arts Spain, just to name a few. His paintings belong to public and private collections all over the world. In 2009, his “Bringing in the boats, Valencia,” sold at Bonhams, Los Angeles, for $254,000. He is a pretty big deal in the art world.
All of this aside, Rider’s personal and scenic art story is absolutely fascinating. Prior to any association with the West Coast or work for the movie industry, Rider’s life in Chicago was quite a tale. Here is what I have uncovered to date.
Arthur Grover Rider was born in Chicago on March 21, 1886. He was of Irish-German heritage, with his paternal grandmother emigrating from Ireland and his maternal grandparents emigrating from Germany. Rider’s paternal grandfather and father were both born in New York. His mother was raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. George W. Rider (1843-1916) headed west as a young man and settled in Chicago before starting a family of his own. In the Windy City he met Emma Blank (1858-1908) and the two were married on March 25, 1880. In Chicago, George Rider worked his way up from bartender to saloon keeper over the years. The couple celebrated the birth of at least four children, with only three surviving to adulthood. Arthur was the oldest, with his sister Libbie born a year later in 1887. Brother William “Willie” J. arrived the year after that in 1888. During the late 1880s, the Rider’s briefly moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Willie was born, but returned to Chicago shortly thereafter.
The 1900 US Federal Census listed the family living at 274 Randolph Street, Chicago. At the time, George was working as a bartender and his daughter Libbie as a drug clerk. Arthur and his younger brother Willie were simply listed as “at school,” so they were students somewhere. In 1900 Arthur was only fourteen years old, too young to be accepted as a paint boy at Sosman & Landis; the firm made a practice of only hiring those over 16 yrs. old. That does not mean that he waited for work, however, as there were many other studios hiring much younger children.
Likely, Rider began working at a scenic studio between 1902 and 1903. Most young adults entered the paint profession somewhere between the age of 16 and 17, starting out as “paint boys,” or “pot boys,” before actually assisting the older artists with the painting process. We know that Rider was already working at Sosman and Landis in 1906 when John Hanny started as a paint boy. Rider’s skill was remembered by Hanny in a letter to Dr. John Rothgeb on July 14, 1976. Hammy wrote that Rider as a “natural.” Around 1906, Rider was promoted from paint boy to scenic artist assistant. This transition meant that Rider was able to work alongside an older artist at the scenic studio, receiving one-on-one training. This was a crucial step for scenic artists; after proving themselves as good assistants, they received their own palette and achieved the full title of “scenic artist.” Rider was assigned to William Nutzhorn at Sosman & Landis, a position later filled by Hanny. Hanny became Nutzhorn’s assistant after Rider left Chicago to work for the Philadelphia Opera Company. His work in Philadelphia gives a two-year window, marking Rider’s transition from an assistant to scenic artist. The Philadelphia Opera Company was founded by Oscar Hammerstein in 1908, but disbanded by 1910. For Rider, this provides an approximate departure date from Sosman & Landis in Chicago (1908) and a later return date (1910).
In regard to the short-life of the Philadelphia Opera Company, on April 29, 1910, “The Citizen” described Hammerstein’s departure from Grand Opera (Honesdale, PA, page 1). The article reported, “By the terms of the sale, which was formerly executed Tuesday evening at 9:42 o’clock in the home of Otto H. Kahn, 8 East Fifty-eighth street, the scenery, properties, costumes and other effects of the Manhattan and Philadelphia Opera companies, with its $400,000 mortgage, and the contracts existing between Oscar Hammerstein and his singers pass to the Metropolitan Opera company. Hammerstein will return to vaudeville.”
This is where everything also circles back to Illinois and Chicago Opera. In later years, some of Hammerstein’s scenery made its way to the Chicago Lyric Opera from New York. The Chicago Lyric Opera collection was eventually donated to the University of Northern Illinois, DeKalb, now known as the Scenery Collection. The Scenery Collection is stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. This Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are three-dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings. There remains the remote possibility that some of Rider’s scenic art survives in this collection.
After Rider left the Philadelphia Opera Company, he returned to Chicago. The 1910 US Federal Census listed 23 yrs. old Arthur G. Rider’s occupation as “artist” in the “studio” industry. This meant that he was working as a scenic artist at a scenic studio. He was living with his father, sister, and brother at 1802 Ogden Ave. Libbie was now 25-yrs. old and working as a bill clerk in a liquor store. Both Libbie and Arthur financially supported their 21 yrs.-old brother and 68-yrs. old father, both unemployed. His younger brother Willie was epileptic. Two years earlier, their mother, Emma, had passed away at the age of 51. She was buried at Rosehill Cemetery on Nov. 8, 1908, but I have yet to locate any cause of death, gravestone or obituary.
Art Rider remained associated with Sosman & Landis after his return to Chicago. In 1910 he began working for the firm’s newly-established eastern affiliate, New York Studios. That was the same year the new studio was established to handle increasing work in the eastern region of the United States. Sosman & Landis’ treasurer/secretary David Hunt enticed Joseph Sosman into partially funding his new business venture. That year, Moses wrote, “Hunt had started a New York studio in New York City, and he expected us to do a great deal of work, as he had Sosman invest a small amount.” Beginning in the 1890s both Sosman & Landis had increasingly diversified their interests. New York Studios starting capital was $40,000, and listed the following directors: Edward A. Morange, Adelaide A. Hunt and David H. Hunt, with offices located at 325 W 29th Street, New York. New York Studios relied upon Sosman & Landis artists, sharing the talents of John H. Young, William F. Hamilton, Victor Higgins, William Smart, Al Dutheridge, and Art Rider. New York Studios also had a regional office located in Chicago, with offices at 1022 Consumers Building.
During the second decade of the twentieth century, Rider began exhibiting more of his easel art. This was very common for many of the scenic artists at Sosman & Landis, almost a rite of passage. In 1911, the Palette and Chisel Club held its fourth annual exhibition of pictures and sculpture at its club house on October 24, 1911. Articles included the names of members, many who were currently or formerly associated with Sosman & Landis, including Art Rider, Thomas G. Moses, and Edgar Payne.
In 1911, Rider attended a lecture by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla. Sorolla visited Chicago that spring where he painted the portraits for the prominent citizens and exhibited many other works. On February 19, 1911, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “It was an unusually large assemblage that gathered at the Art Institute last Tuesday evening to greet the great Spanish Painter Sorolla, and his wife to get a first glimpse of his brilliant canvases. W. M. R. French and Charles Hutchinson were supporting guard for the Spanish celebrities and did most of the introducing. The Sorollas speak no English, and even their French has its limitations, though it suffices for the business part of their present adventure into the wilds of the land of dollars. I am afraid they look upon us, as the majority of foreigners do, as so many instruments for the distribution of American money. Mr. Sorolla expects to better here his New York record; and from his Gotham exhibit last year he took back to Spain $170,000. He and Mms. Sorolla are short and dark, but not especially Spanish in type. His face is eager and alert, his manner businesslike. Mme. Sorolla has a small head and features resembles the traditional North American Indian.” His final exhibition in the City was held at the Art Institute the second week in April, 1911. On April 8, 1911, the “Chicago Examiner” reported “Five Portraits by Sorolla on Show.” The couple returned to New York on April 19, 1911. On April 13, 1911, the “Chicago Examiner” announces that although Senor and Senora Sorolla had planned to return to New York last Sunday, they were “still tarrying in Chicago, having remained because of the commission just given to Senor Sorolla to paint Mrs. William G. Hibard” (page 7).
Sorolla made an impact on Rider, prompting him to visit Valencia for several summers after that. During the theatrical season, however, Rider continued to work in both Chicago and New York. The 1915 New York State Census listed Arthur G. Rider as an artist, living at 354 W 23rd. The next year his father passed away on July, 1, 1916. Rider would continue to live with his sister when he wasn’t traveling.
In 1918 he was still primarily working as a scenic artist in Chicago, His WWI draft registration listed his employer as both the Chicago Grand Opera Co. and the Auditorium Theatre. Rider’s physical description at the time was listed as tall and slender, with grey eyes and light hair.
In the 1920 US Federal Census, Rider was still listed as single and living with his sister Libbie in Chicago. The two were lodging at 200 Hamlin Ave. and rider was still primarily working as a scenic artist, employed in the “theatre industry.” He also spent a great portion of the year residing in Spain from February until September.
He was listed in the 1921 “Chicago Directory” as an artistic, living at 2944 W Jackson blvd. That year, his easel art began to make headlines in Chicago News. On April 24, 1921, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “The Palette and Chisel Club is having an interesting exhibit of paintings by Arthur G. Rider, painted for the most part during the months he spent recently in Spain. There are scenes of boats along the beach, of hills and valleys, and charming castles drenched in warm yellow Spanish sunlight – the kind of sunlight that never stretches across the Atlantic.The pictures are well worth the visit” (page 109). He did not remain single long after this. In the fall of 1922, he married Mary Frances McGoorty, the daughter John P. McGoorty and Mary Wiggins McGoorty.
On Oct. 7, 1922, Rider applied for a marriage license to wed Mary. Two weeks later their wedding day made front page headlines.
On Nov 10, 1922, the “Selma Times-Journal” (Selma, Alabama) reported:
“POISON ATTEMPT FOLLOWS MARRIAGE.
Chicago, Nov. 10. – Mrs. Mary Frances Rider, 22, divorced from Maurice Roberts, an artist, was dangerously ill today from poison she took just a few hours after her marriage yesterday at Valpariso, Ind. To Arthur Rider, another Chicago artist. She is the daughter of former Judge John P. McGoorty of the circuit and appellate courts. Mr. Rider returned home from his studio last night to find his bride desperately ill. The judge’s daughter caused a sensation in 1917 by running away to become an actress. She married Roberts in 1920.” What I find interesting is the timeline; she takes poison after wedding, yet her husband doesn’t find her until after returning from studio. I have to wonder – did he attend the wedding ceremony and then go to work? It is a little confusing, and this certainly presents a red flag from the get-go. 17 yrs. old runaway becomes actress, marries, divorces, marries, and immediately takes poison. There is something wrong, and there had to be more to the story.
I recalled a comment about Rider made by Art Oberbeck in an interview with Dr. John Rothgeb. Oberbeck said, “Working right alongside of me he wouldn’t even talk …He was so entrenched in what he was doing. And he was a very peculiar man. Nobody seemed to ever like him because he was so individual and so much for himself. But I had several arguments with him over this. But I always admired his work.”
After the tumultuous start to Rider’s first marriage, the couple ventured to Europe. They both applied for passports in 1923, with Rider listing the reason for travel as “study.” He and Mary were planning to visit Spain, England, and France. On April 26, 1923, Rider departed the US, sailing aboard a ship named LaBourdonnais. His study and work made headlines back home. On Nov. 11, 1923, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “Arthur G. Rider is holding an exhibition of Spanish landscapes in the galleries of George Petit, 8 Rue de Seze, Paris. Mr. Rider is one of the most active members of the Palette and Chisel Club, and this interesting item concerning his present activities was gently appropriated from that organization’s bulletin” (page 95). The couple returned to Europe again in 1924, but tragedy struck the couple. On Feb. 4, 1924, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “Marie M’Goorty Takes Poison by Error in Paris.” The article continued, “Mrs. Marie Rider, daughter of Judge John McGoorty of Chicago, wife of the artist, Arthur G. Rider, is tonight recovering in the American hospital from an overdose of twenty tablets of veronal, taken last night in her hotel in the Latin quarter, by mistake, according to her husband. “My wife, nervous and suffering from insomnia recently, took veronal to overcome her sleeplessness,” Mr. Rider said. “Last night she swallowed twenty tablets, not realizing the danger, and then became violently ill. I rushed her to the hospital in an auto ambulance. The doctors report that she is out of danger” (page 10). If she had not previously attempted to commit suicide on her wedding day, I would read less into this story.
For medical context, Barbital was introduced by Fisher and Mering in 1903 under the name Veronal. It was the first commercially available barbiturate, used to treat agitation, anxiety, and insomnia. As a sleeping aid, its action was quite rapid and ordinarily produced sleep in ½ hour to an hour. Large doses of Veronal, however, caused depression of the central nervous system, resulting in dizziness, nausea and even vomiting. Although it was marketed as “safe” and “non-addictive,” Veronal overdose and death became increasingly common by the 1920s. My guess is that Mary was addicted to Veronal and repeatedly overdosed on the drug.
Mary Frances McGoorty died in March 1925 and was buried at Mt. Olivet on March 30. She was only 25 yrs. old at the time. Despite the loss of his wife, Rider’s artistic career soared, and he continued to travel. His name appeared in a variety of passenger lists at this time. For example, On Feb. 2, 1927, he was listed as an arriving passenger in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. On Nov. 30, 1933, Rider returned home from France. He was still listed as single, but remarried by 1935.
In 1935, Rider was living with his second love Jane B. Rider, still listed as an artist. Jane McChesney Berry (1897-1964) was a divorced, having left her husband Thomas Jesse Bethea Sr. by 1930. By 1937, Jane and Arthur relocated west again, with Rider seeking employment in the motion picture industry. By 1940, the two were still in California with Rider working approximately thirty hours each week painting film sets. Rider’s WWII Draft Registration card from 1942 listed his employer as MGM Studio. His physical description still described a tall slender man, at 5’-10 ½” and 150 lbs. He now had grey hair to frame his blue eyes and light complexion. In 1944 Rider pops up in California Voter registration records; he was living at 1906 Shenandoah, Los Angeles and registered as a Democrat. And then I found the couples California marriage record from 1955. On Dec. 15, 1955 Arthur G. Rider married Jane M. Berry. Life would continue the same for the next two decades, with Rider painting and always making time to travel for his easel art.
Arthur Grover Rider passed away on Jan. 25, 1975 in Los Angeles County, CA and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial.
In a 1976 interview with Dr. John Rothgeb, Oberbeck explained that he and Rider were friends, but claimed that Rider was a difficult person to be around, due to his intense focus on work.
Oberbeck went onto comment that he considered Rider as one of the best colorists in the scene painting industry, sharing the same approach as Fred Scott. Scott worked at Sosman & Landis in Chicago from approximately 1904 to 1911. Oberbeck explained that the color theory implemented by both Scott and Rider relied upon an undertone. This meant that every color mixed on the palette for the composition must have the same color in it to unify the composition.
To be continued…
