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Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Service Provider Expo at the League of Historic American Theatre National Conference, July 16

I operated a scenery restoration business, Bella Scena LLC, for years without ever having to advertise. All of my business was secured through customer satisfaction and word of mouth. Positive referrals can be some of the best advertising, traveling fast across among a group or throughout a region. If you do a good job, people talk about it and you get more work. The same can be said for poor craftsmanship; if you do a bad job, it lives forever and people realize that you have no idea what you are doing. I have restoration projects that are over two decades old and they remain in good shape. People still pass along my name and their satisfaction with my work. My new book “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Tempe: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” even includes detail images and entire scenes from the restored 1912 collection; the images show the quality of my work.

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Theater Ramble at the League of Historic American Theatres Conference, July 15

There is something wonderful about meeting people who are passionate about historic theaters. Whether they are executive directors, board members, architects, consultants, or technicians, this conference gathers a variety of people from different backgrounds and experiences. The League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT) national conference began on the morning of July 15 with a breakfast. I sat down at one of the large banquet tables and introduced myself to two gentlemen. Wouldn’t you know that they were from the Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne, Wyoming; the same theater that I visited just a few weeks ago on my way to the Santa Fe book release event. It was wonderful to discuss their accomplishments and challenges at their venue. They immediately had questions about the front curtain that I had documented while in their building and my experience with their tour. Small world.

This was the day that many of us were gathered for the LHAT Theatre Ramble. There were sixty of the League members who boarded a bus after breakfast to go on the pre-conference “ramble.” Over the next ten hours, we would visit six historic theaters in the area: the Austin Scottish Rite, the Gaslight Baker Theatre in Lockhart, the Brauntex Performing Arts Theater in New Braufels and the Majestic Theatre, Charline McCombs Empire Theatre and the Tobin Theatre in San Antonio.

The first stop was the Austin Scottish Rite where I had just spent the past two days. I was asked by our Masonic host, and current Theatre Board president for the venue, to say a few words about the stage and scenery collection. It is always humbling when I am presented as a “national expert” in Scottish Rite scenery and historical scenic art. It is hard to suppress any passion that I have for historical scenery collections and the stage machinery; my enthusiasm has a tendency to spill out with sheer joy about sharing what I love. People recognize this excitement and often express their appreciation, and in turn are excited about their own historic stages. The opportunity to speak about something that I am very passionate about provides one of the best introductions I could have ever to 60 LHAT members.

Many people approached me after my presentation to discuss scenery at their own venues, including one gentleman who showed me a picture of an 1858 Russell Smith curtain. This was a scenic artist from the generation before David Austin Strong and two generations before Thomas Gibbs Moses. I have been slowly plugging through a book about his unpublished manuscript. He was an amazing artist, yet I had only seen black and white photographs of his work To see color detail of this painting and technique in a drop curtain was magical.; a complete unexpected surprise.

After out tour of the Scottish Rite, we headed to the Gaslight Baker Theatre in Lockhart, Texas. This theater opened in 1920 and was proclaimed as the “most modern theatre in the state.” It was later renovated and much of the original grandeur changed as the interior of the auditorium was altered to suggest the interior of a steamship. Even the theatre doors include portholes. Across the street from the theater in Lockhart was a Masonic Temple – go figure. It was hard to ignore, but I hopped back on the bus and we headed to San Antonio where we would visit three more theaters.

In San Antonio we visited the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts; it is listed as a versatile and world-class performing arts facility. Behind a historic façade is a multipurpose performance hall with a mechanized seating system that can transform the space into a flat-floor configuration. This was fascinating to watch the rows of seat appear to unfurl and get placed on stage. There is also a smaller Studio Theatre, and an outdoor performance plaza along the lovely river walk area.

After the Tobin, we headed to the Empire and Majestic Theatres; two stages that share a common upstage wall. The Majestic is a 1929 theater designed in the Mediterranean style by John Eberson for Karl Hoblitzelle’s Interstate Theatres. The 2,264-seat Majestic Theatre was restored during the 1990s. Nextdoor, the 1913 Charline McCombs Empire Theatre sits on the site of the former Rische’s Opera House. The Empire originally operated as a vaudeville house, but then became a motion picture theater. It was redeveloped as part of the Majestic Theatre project after sitting vacant for years. Both were simply stunning.

Our final visit was to the Brauntex Performing Arts Theater, a 1942 movie theater that has survived despite the odds. It was this last stop on the LHAT Theatre Ramble that was the most welcoming. As we departed the bus and entered the theatre, each of us was met by board member who shook our hand and offered a bottle of water. The staff gave a lovely presentation about the history of the venue and its subsequent renovation finished, offering a departing gift as we left the building. It was such a warm and welcoming experience that it ended the tour on a sweet note – especially as each of our swag bags included a gingerbread cookie from the oldest bakery in Texas.

We returned to Austin by 6PM, with just enough time to take a short break before heading back to the hotel for the opening night cocktail reception & welcome dinner. This is a remarkable group of people with a long history. LHAT is an incredible resource for historic theaters, whether they are in large metropolitan areas or small rural towns. As one historic theater owner from Ontario explained, “I like coming here because no one laughs at me for buying a theater, they all understand.” It is a wonderful group of kindred spirits, I am glad to be a member again.

To be continued…

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Austin Scottish Rite, a theatre within a theatre

Rick Boychuk and I met at the Austin Airport on Friday, June 13, 2018, for the League of Historic American Theatres national conference that would begin on Sunday, July 15. By that evening, Boychuk was streaming live on Facebook from the flies of the Austin Scottish Rite theater. He was accompanied by FB friend and local IATSE stagehand, another history buff who occasionally works for the Austin Scottish Rite – Frank Cortez. Braving excessive heat, the two navigated three galleries above the stage, two of which date from 1871. Fortunately, I wore completely inappropriate footwear and had to stay on stage level, conversing with the director of the space and looking for hidden treasures.

The Austin Scottish Rite was originally constructed in 1871 and opened in 1872 as a Turner Hall for the German social organization Turn Verein (pronounced toorn –fair – ine). This group was similar to the SOKOL halls in America for the Czech-Slovaks; each organization provided a home for immigrants to socialize and celebrate old world traditions. The Turner Hall members congregated to study the German language, celebrate exercise and carry on a variety of revered German customs that included musical performances and theatrical productions.

The Scottish Rite in Austin has a very convoluted history that is intermingled with the Ben Hur Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; too complex to discuss at this time. What is significant about the Austin Scottish Rite theater is that in 1914 the Masons retrofitted the 1871 Turner Hall for their degrees productions. This was a common practice for Scottish Rite Masons throughout the late nineteenth century as the renovated cathedrals, synagogues, and even a previous pork slaughter house, included theatrical stages, auditoriums, dressing rooms, properties areas and other performance spaces to produce Masonic degree work. This historical practice of the Fraternity is covered in many of my past installments.

I previously visited the Austin Scottish Rite during the fall of 2016, after the photo shoot for the Santa Fe book. My desire to have Boychuk look at this particular venue was due to the artistic provenance and my understanding of used stage scenery in Masonic theaters. My research suggested that a portion of the Austin scenery collection, and possibly the accompanying stage machinery, was purchased used from Guthrie, Oklahoma, and installed in Austin during 1914 or 1915. However, early communications between a theatrical manufacturer and two Austin Scottish Rite Bodies commenced in 1912. So, lets look at some of the facts that surround the transformation of a German social space into a Masonic performance space.

In 1910, the Guthrie Scottish Rite bodies began enlarging their Scottish Rite stage in the original building. This is not the massive complex that is a popular travel destination today. The enlargement of an existing stage occurred in a variety of Southern Jurisdiction Valleys, including Little Rock, Arkansas; Wichita, Kansas; and McAlester, Oklahoma. The original 15’ x 30’ scenery for the Guthrie Scottish Rite was replaced with new scenery measuring 19’ x 36’ in 1911.

Although enlarging scenery was a commonplace practice for growing Scottish Rite Valleys, the regalia and paraphernalia supplier (M. C. Lilley) did not recommend an alteration of the original scenery due to the amount of fabric and labor needed to enlarge the entire collection. This was solely a sales tactic to sell new merchandise, as I own a Scottish Rite collection that was enlarged from 14’ x 28’ to 20’ x 40’; it was certainly possible to do without making it noticeable from the audience.

Going back to the Austin Scottish Rite story. The Guthrie Bodies acquired their 1900 Scottish Rite scenery collection for approximately $7,500. This same scenery was returned in 1910 to the same company that sold it to them – M. C. Lilley – for a $1,400 credit on their purchase of new scenery. Around this same time, negotiations with the Austin Scottish Rite began, even thought the final purchase of used Scottish Rite scenery would not occur for a few years.   This is the same year that the Santa Fe Scottish Rite was being completed. Both projects were contracted by M. C. Lilley & Co. of Columbus, Ohio, and all scenery and stage machinery subcontracted to Sosman & Landis. This was a very solid partnership with the western sales representative for M. C. Lilley, Bestor G. Brown, and the president of Sosman & Landis, Joseph S. Sosman, being well-known Scottish Rite Masons.

Many of the technical specifications for the new Santa Fe Scottish Rite lighting system were recommended for the Austin Scottish Rite, carefully described in a series of letters exchanged between the Valley of Austin and M. C. Lilley. Tensions were high as the Valley of Austin did not understand the complexity or the skill required to produce and install a Scottish Rite scenery collection, complete with an entire counterweight rigging system. The negotiations for the used scenery and the communications with the architects could be a book in itself – or a fabulous doctoral dissertation.

To be continued…

Part 453: The Scenic Artists’ Union – “Reaping the Whirlwind”

When I was looking for images and articles about the 1903 production of Owen Davis’ play “Reaping the Whirlwind,” I stumbled across an interesting article about union artists. It provides a little insight into the artistic life and times of Thomas G. Moses during 1903. Although the scenic artist “from a well-known painting firm” remained unnamed in the article, it reminded me of Moses.

Moses never joined the union. Throughout the years he expected great speed from his studio crew, commenting that a guaranteed hourly wage should never affect any artist’s productivity. It is the argument that the speed of some scenic artists decreases when they are hired “by the hour” instead of “by the job.” It is understandable that there is an incentive to work fast when you are paid “by the job” as it directly increases the profit margin in your own pocket. Working fast for others to increase someone else’s profit margin is not always an incentive for some people. It takes great loyalty and appreciation for a studio owner to have their staff uniformly overcome this potential obstacle. You need artists that have a vested interest in the speed of the process, as well as the end product.

Here is the article “Reaping the Whirlwind” in its entirety as it was published in “The Santa Cruz Sentinel” in 1903 (Santa Cruz, California, 4 August 1903, page 2).

“While talking to a member of a well-known painting firm a few mornings ago at his place of business, no less than four journeymen daubers interrupted our conversation during the fifteen minutes that it lasted. The journeymen were asking for employment, and I was told that five others had applied during the morning, yet it seems that, although it was only half-past nine o’clock. It seems that although this ought to be the busiest time of the year in the painting line it is not, for the simple reason that many employing painters refuse to take up new work on account of the exorbitant scale which the union demands for a day’s wages. (Me: Really? They are not going to accept a project if they have to pay people a good wage?) As a consequence only chance jobs are taken, except by a few of the very largest firms, which prefer to keep busy even when there is but meager or no profit to be had. One of the applicants for work, I was told, is one of the best painters in the city, and his services were in such demand a year ago that the firm to which he had just applied was unable to get him at any figure, and now he is tramping the streets looking for a job. My informant told me that last year painters were commanding a premium and now there are any number of them idle. He remarked that if the union wage schedule was any way reasonable that there would be plenty of work to do, but no one in the business desired to waste their energies by accepting jobs in which there was no profit just for pleasure of paying big wages to employees. Still worse, he alleged that the men no longer worked as diligently as formerly. They loafed a great deal, and the result was that jobs which were figured on to show a fair profit caused a loss to the firm. I was not surprised to hear what the man said because I had foreseen such a state of affairs for a long time.” The article was signed, “S. F. Wasp,” possibly for the San Francisco Wasp magazine.

To be continued…

Part 452: Thomas G. Moses and “Lost in the Desert”

In 1903, Thomas G. Moses produced scenery for the melodrama “Lost in the Desert” when he was in New York and running Moses & Hamilton. Living in Mt. Vernon, New York, he commuted to the city daily where he worked at both the American Theatre and the 125^th Street Theatre.

The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY, 1 March 1903, page 16) reported:

“Lost in the Desert” is one of the numerous successes of that popular and prolific melodramatist, Owen Davis. The play tells of the adventures of a party of Americans who are wrecked upon the coast of Arabia, and who, through the villainy of one of their party, fall into the hands of the tribe of wandering Arabs. The chief of this tribe falls desperately in love with one of the ladies of the party and makes desperate efforts to force her to return his love. Through the aid of a friendly Arab, who has been touched by the young American girl’s helpless position, she is enabled to escape. After many exciting adventures and trials she is again captured and taken to the mountain home of the Arab chief. He determines to kill the girl’s friend and force his unwelcome attentions upon her. She is taken to his tent and her friends are placed under guard in the vaults of an old fortress. The American whose plans of revenge for his unrequited love had been the cause of all the trouble of his fellow-countrymen, begins to fear that the girl’s tears will prevail upon the Arab chief, and that he will be induced to spare the hero’s life, decides to take things into his own hands and plans an explosion that will bring about the death of the party of Americans. His plans, however, fail, as the explosion, instead of killing the prisoners, merely blows down the prison walls and opens their way to freedom. Once clear of the prison, by a daring ruse the girl is saved from the chief, and securing food and arms, the happy party starts home across the desert, guided by the Arab. The action of the play gives unusual opportunity for picturesque scenes and exciting climaxes, and the entire idea is novel and interesting.”

The touring company that performed “Lost in the Desert” was composed of twenty-three performers that included Arab acrobats. Sie Hassan Ben Ali’s Whirlwind Acrobats and a camel were noted among the “accessories” that toured with the show. Newspapers commented that these exotic elements added realism to the production (Hartford Courant, 13 March 1903, page 7). The Hartford Courant also advertised, “It is said to be handsomely staged with special scenery.” These special settings produced by Moses & Hamilton included:

Act I-Deck of the Mary Jane – from Rockland to Budapest. A fire at sea.

Act II.-Lost in the desert. “O, for water to quench our thirst.”

Tableau-“A Race with Death.”

Act III. Scene 1. The Arab prison. “To Liberty.” Scene 2. The road to freedom. Scene 3. The oasis. The recapture.

Act IV.-The Arab camp. “Feasting and Pleasure,” introducing Sie Hassan Ben Alis Whirlwind Acrobats. “Who laughs last, laughs best.”

To be continued…

Part 451: Thomas G. Moses and “Reaping the Whirlwind”

In 1903, Thomas G. Moses created the scenery for two shows written by Owen Davis – “Lost in the Desert” and “Reaping the Whirlwind.” The Broadway opening for each show was in the Star Theatre, located at 844 Broadway. The venue opened in 1861 and was previously known as Wallack’s Theatre and the Germania Theatre. It was renamed the Star Theatre on March 26, 1883.

The playwright, Owen Gould Davis (1874-1956), wrote hundreds of melodramas during the first two decades of the twentieth century. He also used a variety of pseudonyms, including Ike Swift, Martin Hurley, Arthur J. Lamb, Walter Lawrence, John Oliver and Robert Wayne. Between 1897 and 1907, he wrote 100 melodramas. By the 1910s, he began writing comedies. He later wrote scripts for both film and radio. Davis became the first elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America and received the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for his 1923 “Icebound.” Davis then joined the staff of Paramount Pictures as a screenwriter from 1927-1930. He married the actress Elizabeth Drury Bryer. This was around the time he wrote “Reaping the Whirlwind,” how ironic. Davis eventually penned two autobiographies: “I’d Like to Do It Again” and “My First Fifty Years in the Theatre.” The latter focused on the period of his life from 1897-1947. I could not help think of Moses’ desire to have his own memoirs published – “60 Years Behind the Curtain Line.”

Owen Davis was featured a 1911 issue of American Magazine under the section title “Interesting People” (Vol. 71, No. 5, page 609). The article called Davis “the Abou ben Adhem of American playwrights – quantitatively, at any rate.” It then reported: “And so Mr. Davis, who used to write ‘em so fast that he was what smokers would call a chain-writer – that is, he’d write FINIS to one play and, without resharpening his pencil, begin with the title of the next and go right ahead – Mr. Davis is thorugh with lines like “Have courage, girl, I’ll save you!” and “Rather than do what you say, Remington Hallowell, I would starve in the gutter!” Anybody who has seen one of Mr. Davis’s shows might not picture the author as a soft-spoken, mild-mannered, book-loving, modest-bearing (Note to Editor: Do compounds count as two words?) gentleman. That is where anybody might have erred. See him in his tastefully furnished West One Hundred and Sixteenth Street apartment, reading “Joseph Vance” aloud to Mrs. Davis, and you would hardly think he was the author of “The Opium Smugglers of Frisco” and kindred pastorals.” Here is a wonderful dissertation on the theatrical career of Owen Davis: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=4300&context=gradschool_disstheses

Davis’ first Broadway play was “Reaping the Whirlwind,” opening 17 September 1900. It was one of the touring productions for the Maude Hillman company and based on the proverbial phrase, “They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind.” The Maude Hillman Co. advertised “a repertoire of scenic productions” with “new and bright specialties” (Pittston Gazette, 27 Oct. 1903, page 3). The show was set during the Franco-Prussian War.

The Wilkes-Barre Record reported on the production, “A thrilling incident in a varied spectacle which the melodrama “Reaping the Whirlwind” affords is a sensational escape from the military prison at Metz. There are also other thrilling climaxes in this latest and victorious four-act drama. It is not a mess of lines built about a display of scenery, but it is a play with excellent characters interpreted by Maud Hillman and a strong supporting company. Hilarious mirth alternated with deep pathos.” (16 March 1903, page 5).

I had to chuckle as I read: “It is not mess of lines built about a display of scenery.”

To be continued…

Part 450: Thomas G. Moses and “Old Sleuth”

In 1903 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “We started the New Year with more work than last year.” The “we” was Moses and his partner Will Hamilton, having founded the New York studio of Moses & Hamilton. They used the paint frames at both the American Theatre and the 125^th Street Theatre. In addition to the seasonal work at the two theaters, they also accepted a variety of other projects, such as touring shows that traveled across the country.

Moses recorded that they took the show “Old Sleuth” to Elizabeth, N.J. for its final rehearsals. This was common for most of the shows that Moses worked on during this time. The majority of shows both rehearsed and opened in a smaller venues, where they could tweak any scenic or mechanical issues. After these trial runs, the productions went eiter on tour, or headed to Broadway.

The opening of “Old Sleuth” was rehearsed for three days whole days in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Moses wrote, “Everything worked fine – not a hitch.” However, on opening night the panorama in the tunnel scene fouled and stopped. Moses continued, “the driving rod fell off the locomotive and the Falls of Niagara refused to fall. Which caused a big laugh from the audience, and some profanity from the producers. After the show, I wanted to go back to New York, but the producers insisted on my remaining there. I had nothing to do with the actual working of the mechanical effects, but had to see that they were put in good working order, which I did in two days.” What a nightmare for Moses. It also speaks of the complicated aspect of many scenic elements for melodramas.

“Old Sleuth” was a five-act melodrama written by James Halleck Reid. After rehearsing the show in New Jersey, the show opened on October 27, 1902 at the Star Theatre in New York City, and toured across the country. “Old Sleuth” was both the creation and pseudonym of Harlan Page Halsey (1837-1898), a “dime novel detective” that appeared in the 1860s. The use of “Old Sleuth” was the equivalent to the 20^th century use of “Dick Tracy.” During thr late-nineteenth century, it became quite common place to see multiple references in newspaper articles reporting various crimes being solved “Old Sleuth” equivalents.

In 1874, the story “Old Sleuth, the Detective” was adapted for the stage in Manhattan at the Bowery Theatre. The Lebanon Daily News described the great detective play, reporting, “Old Sleuth is a character so well known to all lovers of sensational fiction further comment is unnecessary. The ‘Old Sleuth’ series of sensational detective stories from the pen of Chas. Garvice have been carefully dramatized into five thrilling acts and ten big scenes abundant with startling climaxes and intensely dramatic situations. Mr. Hal Stephens will portray the title roles and introduce his many lighting changes. He will be ably supported by a carefully selected cast of players, together with special mammoth scenery and marvelous mechanic effects” (Lebanon, PA, 1 Oct. 1902, page 2). A vehicle for lighting innovation and scenic effects, the play was packed with action adventure, including the rescue of the heroine from a burning bridge and another rescue in front of a speeding train.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reviewed the play when it was scheduled for the National Theatre, advertising, “A dramatic production which in its actions mirrors the caprice of temperament, sunshine, cloud, showers, raging storm and scented zephyr and has the atmosphere mingled and tangled over and over with thrilling and intensely powerful situations comes to the National this week. The play is labeled ‘Old Sleuth,’ a name familiar to those living in glittering palaces as well as to those that call a little hut in the desert their homestead, and where is one on the long plain that stretches from the Empire State to the Golden Gate, that has not read or heard of the cleverest of all detectives, ‘Old Sleuth?’ But non ever enjoyed the treat of seeing his doings realistically portrayed on the stage until Hal Stephens, surrounded by a cast of unusual excellence, went on a starring tour to move the many admirers of ‘Old Sleuth’ closer to him. The theme is so cleverly worked that sobs are followed by hearty laughs. The acting is startling, the scenery sensational and the mechanical effects of an order that will excite and thrill” (16 Nov. 1902, page 33).

The playwright “Hal” Reid was born in 1863 in Cedarville, Ohio. Interestingly, I found a few newspaper articles that placed his birth in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although he remained an actor throughout the duration of his career, he is primarily remembered as a writer of melodramas. Reid was responsible for writing at least thirty melodramas between 1895 and 1908 that opened on Broadway. He later went to Hollywood were he worked as a screenwriter, actor and director. Reid was eventually associated with the Reliance Company, directing all of their productions. “Moving Picture World” reported that he was only director at the time to have filmed the President of the United States and royalty of the British reigning family (page 414). His son Wallace was also an actor, but tragically died of a drug overdose in 1923, only three years after the death of his father.

To be continued…

Part 449: R. M. Shurtleff and the Civil War

In 1903, Thomas G. Moses studied fine art with Roswell Morse Shurtleff (1838-1915). A few years earlier, the newspapers published an article about Shurtleff’s art during the Civil War. The story first appeared in the “New York Sun,” and later republished in newspapers all over the country. Here is “Designed Confederate Button” from the Lindsbourg Record in Kansas (Lindsbourg, Kansas, 13 July 1900, page 4).

“Of the many former confederate veterans who wear the button of the confederate veteran’s association very few know that the design of the button was first drawn by a union officer. The designer was Lieut. R. M. Shurtleff and he drew the original design without any idea that it would ever be officially adopted by the confederate army. This is how the matter came about, as Lieut. Shurtleff tells the story:

A few days before the first battle of Bull Run he was sent out on a small scouting expedition with a small party of men of the naval brigade Ninety-ninth New York volunteers, union coast guard, in which organizations he was the first lieutenant. He was to make a report on the condition of the country in front of the union forces. While reconnoitering with his party he was surprised and attacked by a much larger force of confederates, and after being shot through the body and arm, was captured with all his men. The small union flag which the artillery carried was used to bind up the leader’s wounds, and today Lieut. Shurtleff has in his possession, the officer who captured him having sent it to him with his compliments many years after the close of the war. For a time his condition was very serious, but his captors gave him the best care they could and as soon as possible he was sent to Richmond where he had hospital care. At that time the confederates were not well furnished with prison quarters for captives. Libby prison not having been opened, and the lieutenant eventually brought up in the Richmond poorhouse, where he had little to eat, but was treated very kindly.

Still weak from the effects of his wounds, he was unable to walk about and spend much of his time while lying on his cot in making drawings for his own amusement and for he edification of the soldiers. The officers got paints and brushes for him and he made water color sketches which he presented to them. One day one of the officers who had been very kind to him came to his cot and said, “I wonder if you could design a sort of patriotic emblem for me. ‘I might,’ replied the prisoner smiling, ‘but I suspect that your idea and mine of what a patriotic emblem is wouldn’t quite be identical.” “Very likely not,” agreed the other, “but this isn’t anything that you need to trouble your conscience about. Gen. Beauregard’s little daughter is a great chum of mine, and I promised her I’d get up some sort of a painting of a confederate flag for her to hang on her wall. I’ve been trying to think up something, but as a designer I’m no use. So it occurred to me that you might help me out.” “Why, of course, I’ll be glad to do whatever I can,” said Lieut. Shurtleff. Give me a few days’ time, and I’ll get something done in water colors.”

Getting out his paints, he set to work to sketch, and presently, with the instinct of an artist, became deeply absorbed in the manner of the design, working all that day and getting up early the next morning to continue the task, discarding one idea after another until he finally hit upon a design that suited him. This was the St. Andrew’s cross in blue on a red ground with minor ornamentation of stars. He finished it up handsomely in watercolors and turned it over to his confederate friend, who was much pleased with it and brought back word that little Miss Beauregard was highly delighted, and was going to importune her father to let the Yankee gentleman who made it go back north. Shortly afterward Lieut. Shurtleff was transferred to Libby prison, and in 1862 was exchanged.

He forgot about the design for the time. A year or so later it was called to his attention in rather a startling way as he saw a captured confederate flag consisting of his design almost exactly as he had painted it. Still later he saw an official flag of the confederate states of America, and there was another repetition of the design, for it formed the entire corner of the ensign. Naturally, the artist was not pleased with his friend, the confederate officer, who had put him in the position of furnishing flag designs for enemies of his country. From what he has since learned, however, Lieut. Shurtleff is inclined to believe that the officer was not in fault.

It seems that Gen. Beauregard saw the painting which had been given to his daughter, and on asking her about it was told that it was a flag of her country and belonged to her personally. He suggested that she present it to her country, and after some consideration she agreed, stipulating that the original be returned to her after copies had been made. The flag was then produced in cloth and Gen. Beauregard had it adopted as the battle flag of the confederacy. Just how it came to be incorporated into the official flag Lieut. Shurtleff doesn’t know. At the close of the war the southern association of veterans adopted the original battle flag design for their button, and all the confederate veterans’ associations now wear that design with some slight modifications or additions. Meantime Lieut. Shurtleff would be interested in finding out the exact steps by which the adoption of his watercolor as the basis of the national flag of the confederacy was brought about. There is probably some one still living who could enlighten him, but he doesn’t know how to come at the information.”

To be continued…

Part 448: Thomas G. Moses and R. M. Shurtleff

I return to the life and times of Thomas Gibbs Moses in 1903. Moses was living in Mt. Vernon, New York, and was running the scenic studio of Moses & Hamilton in New York City.  His his business partner was William F. Hamilton. Everything was on an upward swing, but it wouldn’t last for long. In less than a year, his he would return to Sosman & Landis in Chicago. When looking at the entire context of Moses’ career, this was his last true ascent before starting a slow decline from this pinnacle. There would still be many highlights, but Moses would always lament leaving New York and the potential that seemed possible in the fine art work there. In New York, he was able to study landscape painting with the famous artist R. M. Shurtleff.

In 1903, Moses wrote, “I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. R. M. Shurtleff, the famous interior wood painter. I showed him some of my sketches and he was rather pleased with them. So much so, that he finally agreed to take me on as a pupil. I could only spare a day each week, but that gave me great insight into his successful methods. I had been an admirer of his work for thirty years.”

Roswell Morse Shurtleff (1838-1915) was born in Rindge, New Hampshire, to Asahel Dewey and Eliza (Morse) Shurtleff. His firs studies were at Dartmouth College. Leaving the institution in 1857, he later received an honorary BS in 1882, suggesting that he never completed his initial studies. In 1857, Shurtleff took charge of an architect’s office in Manchester, New York. By 1858 he moved to Buffalo, New York, and began working in the field of lithography. He continued his artistic studies at the Lowell Institute of Boston, later attending the Academy of Design in New York from 1860 to 1861. There he worked as an illustrator for newspapers and engravers. He halted all artistic training to enter the Civil War in 1861, initially helping to organize the famous “naval bridgade” for the protection of Washington. His grandfather had as also a soldier, having served in the Revolutionary war with Gen. Peleg Wadsworth’s brigade. The elder Shurtleff had also fought in the battle of White Plains and later in the War of 1812.

R. M. Shurtleff enlisted in the Ninety-ninth New York Volunteers on April 16, 1861. Soon after, he was wounded and taken prisoner while on a scouting expedition. As a Southern Prisoner, he was held in Richmond and detained until February 22, 1962. It was often reported that he was the first officer to be captured as a prisoner of war.

After the Civil War, Shurtleff married Clara E. Halliday (b. 1846) on June 13, 1867. She was the daughter of Joseph B. and Eleanor (Carrier) Halliday of Hartford, Connecticut (Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 1915, page 19). The marriage never produced any children.

 

It was during the late 1860s that Shurtleff tried his hand at magazine and book illustration. His projects included designing the cover for an edition of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.” He worked for the American Publishing Company in Hartford and also did several illustrations for Mark Twain’s “Innocent’s Abroad” and “Roughing It.” It was not until 1870, that Shurtleff began his fine art career in oils and watercolors in earnest. He opened a studio at the Charter Oak Building on Main Street in Hartford. In the beginning, he painted animals, but later focused on woodland landscapes.

In 1881, he became an Associate of the National Academy of Design and was elected a National Academician in 1890. Shurtleff was also a member of the American Watercolor Society. His artistic awards included a bronze medal at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, a bronze medal at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, and the Evans Prize of the American Watercolor Society in 1910. For thirty years he maintained a studio in New York City, spending his summers in the Adirondack mountains and painting scenes in the forests. His paintings are in prominent collection throughout the United States, including the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

On January 6, 1915, newspapers reported that the artist Shurtless fell dead of heart disease in front of 860 Ninth Avenue (The Sun, 7 Jan. 1915, page 13). Shurtleff was on an errand for his wife, Clara, and possibly entering a pharmacy at the time. He was only 78 years old. I could not help think of another mentor of Moses’ who suffered the same fate a few years earlier on the Streets of Chicago – David Austin Strong. Shurtleff was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Sons of the Revolution, the Salmagundi Club, and a variety of other social clubs.

Almost three decades later in 1932, Moses remembered his time spent with Shurtleff in New York. Moses recorded,” My love for the deep forests led me to the Studio of R. M. Shurtleff in New York, whom I considered a wonderful painter of the woods. I was very happy when he consented to take me on as a pupil. When he suggested my joining the famous Salmagundi Club I was doubtful if I could make it. As the picture I gave the club for my initiation fee was sold to one of the club members, this alone placed me in a good position and had I remained in New York instead of coming to Chicago I feel that I would have forged ahead in the higher art, and would have succeeded.” Shurtleff sponsored Moses’s membership in the Salmagundi Club during 1904. Later that same year that he would return to lead the paint shop at the Sosman & Landis studio. The frantic pace of the studio and numerous Masonic project coming in would slow down Moses’ fine art studies.

Of his own artistic style, Moses wrote, “My painting is of the old school, which to me is what I see in nature, my honest impression, which I have been honest in expressing the same – while some of the young artists just starting in the art world are being convinced that the radical modern idea is one big school to follow. I will cling to the Hudson River School of Painting that made George Innes, R. M. Shurtleff, A. H. Wyant, Robert Minor and many more. There are too many so-called “Moderns” that know very little of the rudiments of art, faulty in drawing and color.”

Later in life, it must have been hard to see everything that Moses had worked so hard to achieve challenged, dismissed and then dismantled. Moses would repeatedly mention Shurtleff throughout his memoirs and his instruction in landscape painting. In 1932, Moses wrote, “In 1904, I was at the peak of landscape painting in New York City, encouraged by my dear old friend, R. M. Shurtleff, N. A.” Moses would continue, “we scenic artists have a hard time [convincing] our brother artists that we are something more than mere craftsmen.”

To be continued…

Behind the Scenes

Photographs of historic scenery are often very static, especially in souvenir programs. Performers are carefully posed in front of scenes compositions. I think of the souvenir program for “Ben Hur” with the various actors in carefully arranged stage pictures. The one thing that Jo Whaley and I tried to convey in the book “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018) was a sense of movement and allowing the reader to enter the scene. Whaley spent hours asking models to slightly move their head, hands, or walk in a certain direction during long exposure shots at the theater. Everything else remained perfectly still, but a slight blur suggesting movement activated the space. The first time she showed me the effect, I was blown away. Models were also positioned to break the picture frame and increase the overall depth with use of silhouettes.

This was a remarkable departure from many other photographs that depicted painted scenes on historic stages around the world. As we selected images for my chapter and the degree portfolio (Chapters 4 and 5 in the book), we decided upon some unnatural compositions too. A backdrop that becomes a blur, accentuating the cut drop details down stage; this was created by slowly pulling out the backdrop. One photo that I specifically requested was taking a picture of the auditorium from behind a cut drop. I have been taking these types of photographs for quite some time, as it helps give definition to netting, bobbinet, and theatrical gauze. My argument to include a composition like this in the book was that it placed the reader in the position of an actor on stage.

I enjoy photographing details in a theatre that the average person will never see, not unless you are an actor or stagehand. That is also why I suggested taking an image from the fly rail in Santa Fe, providing a stagehand’s view of the backdrop, cut drop, floor cloth, props and performers for the 4^th degree setting – the Holy of Holies. The collaborative effort was astounding. As Jo had worked for years as a scenic artist in California before focusing on photography in the 1970s, she understood what I was asking, but would still have me take a picture with my phone of EXACTLY what I wanted her to shoot. Then she would take a photograph for the book,  adding in her own expertise as a photographer to the composition. We spent hours over the phone “tweaking” each and every photo in the book, even if they were just historical photographs.

There was one type of composition that didn’t make the cut, and I completely understood the decision – the illuminated backside of a backdrop. Many historical drops used very thin layers of paint. I am not talking about glazing, but a thinner coat than many scenic artists used today. Furthermore, the strips of cotton sheeting that were sewn together for backdrops, cut drops and leg drops was MUCH thinner than we use for standard backdrops. The thin fabric, combined with the thin paint, makes a lovely effect when you view the composition from upstage side. The stage lights illuminate the drop and it always reminds me of a negative. The scene looks a bit surreal.

Today, I am sharing images that I have primarily taken for myself, never intended to share with anyone. Just like a picturesque landscape, or brilliant flower, I see beauty in many of these unusual details and perspectives.

To be continued…