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Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 828 – Thomas G. Moses, Vice-President of Sosman & Landis

In 1912, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Ella and I started on our vacation November 9^th to Cincinnati and Asheville, N. Car., which is all written up in detail elsewhere. Arrived home from our vacation December 8^th. Four good weeks. Had a fine trip. Christmas day was a good one. We had Frank with us, which made a big family reunion. At the close of this year’s business, I have no kick to make. I only regret not being able to do more sketching, as I found it too cold in North Carolina. I am sorry that we did not go away down south to the Gulf. I think we would have found it at least warm, if nothing else.”

View of Chattanooga, photograph by Alan Cressler.

One stop on his trip was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Of his visit to the city, the “Chattanooga News” reported, “Chattanooga Catches the Eye of the Artist. Vice-President Moses, of Sosman & Landis Scenic Studios, delighted.”(15 Nov. 1912, page 2).

The article headline included “LIKES THE LOCAL SCENERY. Chooses Chattanooga Vicinity as a ‘Promised Land’ for Artists to Revel In.” The article continued:

“Thomas G. Moses, vice-president of the Sosman & Landis scenic studios of Chicago, and one of America’s most distinguished artists, has spent several days in Chattanooga and the vicinity, with a view to establishing a post for the Palette and Chisel Art Club of Chicago. He has been sent out by the club in search of new fields, Sketch grounds all over Europe and America are discovered in this way. One or two men are sent out in advance, and they find ‘the promised land’ they herald the good tidings to the eager artists in waiting.

Mr. Moses is enthusiastic over the natural scenery of Chattanooga and its surroundings, and has made preliminary arrangements for the post.

In time of peace and plenty the greatest steps in art and science have been made. Midsummer Chattanooga, in all its glory, will be painted by American celebrities. The pictures will be done by the greatest artists, will be exhibited in the famous galleries, and will bring great prices.

So Palette and Chisel Club of Chicago will flock to Chattanooga and form a little colony. Artists are like gold-seekers; let one find a small pocket, and there will be a stampede.

The well-known Palette and Chisel club has furnished the art world many bright lights. They have secured the “Prix de Rom” plum, which carries with it three years in Rome and $3,000. The east winner was Mr. Savage, with E. Martin Hennings a close second.

Mr. Moses agrees that this is a ‘garden spot of America.’ He says:

‘We have painted much in the Rockies, but they are too large and the air is too clear. What we want is mist and a little smoke. They will be great factors in producing the poetical sketches we find here. The delicate opalescent coloring of the distant mountains is greatly enhanced by the drifting mists that float about your valleys.’

A magnificent view of Chattanooga 14×28, done by Moses, can be seen at the manufactures’ association headquarters on Market Street. It was taken from North tower on Missionary ridge, and has been presented to the association by Mr. Riffe.

Mr. Moses left Chattanooga Thursday morning on an early train for Asheville, where he may establish a second post. By his side is his charming and companionable wife, who is interested in all movements of art. In his baggage were many sketches of this location; in his mind were dreams of burnt sienna clay and opalescent coloring.

The sketches will be reproduced on large canvas and will be exhibited next spring to the Salmagundi Club, of New York City, of which Thomas Moses is a member. They consist largely of rustic scenes, rugged mountains, dense forests, falling waters and babbling brooks. These are the delightful avenues through which Mr. Moses walked to renown.

The exhibition of these scenes will be made with a view of inducing the members of the Salmagundi club to this ‘garden spot of America’ that is unlimited for the artist in scope and variety.

The Salmagundi Club is one of the most conservative in all Europe and America. No man enters uninvited; no man is invited under the age of fifty years. Some of the well-known artists are Charles Warren Eaton, R. M. Shurtleff, J. Francis Murphy, H. A. Vincent, George Innis, Jr., and Walter C. Hartson.

If this club, too, accepts the challenge next summer, Chattanooga, in all its glory, will indeed be painted.”

A lovely photo by Jake Wheeler of the scenery near Chattanooga.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 827 – Little Wayoff, 1913

A year after Thomas G. Moses was invited to a stage party hosted by the Palette & Chisel Club, his son Rupert was invited to an informal stag. In 1913, Rupert Moses received an invitation to an informal stag party, sponsored by the Pallet & Chisel Club. The letter was sent to Moses at the Sosman & Landis main studio address on 417 Clinton Street in Chicago. I encountered the invitation in the John H. Rothgeb papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. It was part of the contents in an unlabeled file in an unprocessed collection.

Informal stag invitation addressed to Rupert Moses, 1913

The informal stag invitation announced, “Your presence is requested at the debut of Little Wayoff Saturday Eve, December Six Nineteen Thirteen” from “Gita Wayoff and husband.” The invitation included a ticket to admit “R. Moses” to “Little Wayoff” Palette & Chisel Club, 59 East Van Buren Street, Saturday, Dec. 6, 8:15 P.M.

“Little Wayoff” was billed as “an Eugenic Prodigy with Futuristic Tendencies,” sponsored by Gordon St. Clair. The production was “dressed by Gustave Baumann & William Watkins” with “orchestra muffled by Carl Krafft, Properties and plumbing by R. McClure and reception by Theodore Gladhand Lely.”

The cast for the production included:

Hesa Wayoff – an husband – Glen Scheffer

Gita Wayoff – his wife interested in the vote – Alex Kleboa

Little Wayoff – their only child aged six – A. J. Anderson

An Ice Bandidt – Mr. Wayoff’s half brother – R. V. Brown

The Art Wife – R. J. Davieson

Promise Wood Shavings – R. McClure

Prof. Glow-Worm – Art Instructor – R. V. Brown

Young Lady Sketcherines – Violet (John E. Phillips), Fay (De Alton Valentine), Gladys (R. J. Davison), Pearl (J. Jeffrey Grant), and Maude (D. Gut Biggs).

Hanging Committee – Hi Kroma (John E. Phillips), Siam Blooey (J. J. Grant), Harrison Wredo (D. Guy Biggs), Strontian Pale (Glen Scheffer), Paris Green (D. Valentine) and Hugh Newtral (R. J. Davison).

Lem – a janitor – W. C. Yoemans and Genevieve.

The “s’nopsis” for the first picture was Mrs. Wayoff’s husband’s kitchen not far from the Palette Chisel Club shortly after the great suffrage parade in the spring of 1913. The second picture was the sketch pasture of Prof. Glow-Worm’s class near the club’s summer camp at Fox Lake. The third picture was the hanging committee at play.

In 1908, newspapers reported that Ibsen’s Little Eyolf was sometimes referred to as “Little Way-off” (Star Tribune 26 Jan. 1908, page 19). However, “Little Wayoff” was also a parody of Ibsen’s work, included in “The Vassar Miscellany” (Vol. 24, 1894, page 227). Noted as “Life’s admirable paraody, wickedly entitled ‘Little Wayoff’ the book review commented the criticism was unjust. On June 17, 1895, the Baltimore Sun” mentioned “Little Wayoff” in the book review “Criticism – With Sugar” (page 8). The article reported, “ ‘Suppressed Chapter and Other Bookishness.” By Robert Bridges, author of ‘Overheard in Arcady.’ New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, Cushing & Co. It is not necessary to be dull to be wise, nor is long wind one of the requirements of a critic. A glance is pleasant if the eye sparkles, and a touch and away may leave an impress, while a heavier stroke would induce the wearied reader to exercise that wise discretion which is known as skipping. Those who have read ‘Drock’ in ‘Overheard in Arcady’ will need no introduction to the ‘Suppressed Chapters,’ from the ‘Dolly Dialogues,’ will appreciate the belated ‘Trilby’s criticism of Trilby,” and the absurd parody on Ibsen, of “Little Wayoff,” or the happiness of title and contents of ‘Literary Partition of Scotland.” On March 28, 1896, the “Courier-Journal” mentioned “Little Way-Off, a variation of Little Eyolf, is a clever addition to the work of the Norwegian Dramatist” (Louisville, Kentucky, page 9).

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 826 – The Palette & Chisel Club’s Stage Party – “The Shredded Vast,” 1912

Stage party invitation to Thomas G. Moses 1912.

Stag party invitation to Thomas G. Moses, 1912.

In 1912, Thomas G. Moses received an invitation to a stag party, sponsored by the Pallet & Chisel Club. I encountered the bright orange envelope in the John H. Rothgeb papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. It was part of the contents in an unlabeled file in an unprocessed collection.

The back of Moses’ invitation noted, “Informal Stage. 8 p.m. This card admitting one only, must be present at the door.” It was a party hosted by the Palette & Chisel Club of Chicago. By 1911, the Palette & Chisel Club had one hundred members; we have no idea how many were invited to the party.

The Palette & Chisel Club was known for its remarkable parties. On June 5, 1921, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “Some of the original entertainments of the club, given during the past years, are amusing to recall. “Il Janitore,” by George Ade, afterward became known as “The Sultan of Sulu.” At the time when newspapers were bringing influence to bear upon the Illinois Central to get them to electrify the roads into Chicago, the club produced a burlesque, ‘The Hog in Chicago’s Front Yard.” It might well be given again now. The electrification of the road is as much needed today as ever. ‘Carmine,” a take-off of the opera ‘Carmen,” was a marvelous production. ‘The Shredded Vast” was a huge comedy success. “Le Cabaret du Howard Pourii’ was another famous bit of humor and sarcasm” (page 79).

In 1906, the Palette & Chisel Club hosted Bohemian Night for Alphonse Mucha on the seventh floor of the Athenaeum Building Athenaeum Building. Before moving to their later quarters at 1012 N. Dearborn Ave., the club rented studio space in the Anthenaeum building on Van Buren between Michigan and Wabash Ave.

The May 18, 1912 event was at the new location – 59 E. Van Buren St. “The Shredded Vast” was designated “an operatic neoteric.” Musical selections by Offenbach, Bizet, Gounod, Donizetti, Planquette and Flowtow accompanied the book by Gordon St. Clair. The “Palette & Chisel Club Augmented Symphony Orchestra” included Emil Biorn, director, and Martin Baer, F. Tollakson, Max Gundlach, R. F. Ingerle, Max Boldt, Watkins Williams, Willie Marsh, W. J. McBride, and W. C. Kintz.

Scenery for the production was designed by Gus Baumann and executed by Watkins Williams, Gus Baumann and E. R. Burggraf. The costumes were designed by Baumann and “executed by wives & sweethearts.” Production notes included “Shoes by McBride. Beer by the gallon.”

The Synopsis of Scenes described “Scene 1 – sunset in wood in kingdom of Glum-Glum,” “Scene 2 – Twilight in studio of Artneo Teric. Elapse of one month,” and “Scene 3 – Throne-room of King Rum- Dum. Next day.”

The cast of characters included:

Rum-Dum [King of Glum-Glum] – R. F. Ingerle

Princess Palala [his daughter] – Holger W. Jensen

Artneo Teric [a futurist painter] – Ernest P. Thurn

Lord Beno [Vice reformer to the king] – Theo Lely

Chorus [woodsmen, soldiers, ballet, lords and ladies of the Court] – J. E. Phillips, George Ruckstaetter, B. A. Kleboe, Theo Lely, J. J. Grant

A final note stated, “Post-Ursine Vibrations by Fred S. Bersch and Glen C. Sheffer.”

Recognizing many of the artists, when I look at the list of names I am astounded at the room full of talent.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 765 – Thomas G. Moses and the Chicago Society of Artists, 1911

In 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “As a member of the Chicago Society of Artists, I had a water color with a Society Exhibition, and sold it for a good price.” The fifteenth annual exhibition for the Chicago Society of Artists opened on January 31, 1911 (Chicago Tribune 31 January 1911, page 5).

Founded in 1887 and incorporated in 1889, the Chicago Society of Artists had two primary objectives: to advance art in the Chicago area, as well as cultivating the production of art and displaying artworks by its members.

The organization is noted as the oldest continuing association of artists in the United States, with membership including painters, print makers, graphic artists, photographers, sculptors, art critics and art educators. Here is a link to the Chicago Society of Artists website: http://chicagosocietyofartists.org/

Here is the current membership application process for the Chicago Society of Artists:

“The Board of Directors has developed a juried process for the selection of new members that insures maintenance and vitality of high professional standards. Applications are accepted at any time during the year from local, national, or international prospective members.

Please submit the following items for membership consideration:

Five (5) images of personal work via slides and/or digital prints for each medium in which the applicant works. If personal work is in a single medium, ten (10) slides/prints need to be submitted. Works may be submitted on a CD.

A biographical résumé (complete contact information, art training, educational background, etc.).

An art résumé (exhibitions, group shows, juried shows, awards, publications,
other art related activities, professional affiliations, etc.).

A check for $35.00 made payable to the Chicago Society of Artists, Inc. This check covers the cost of $30.00 for annual dues and a $5.00 initiation fee. If the applicant is not accepted by the jury, the $35.00 will be refunded.

Submit the four items above to:

CSA Membership
C/o Corrie Lou Livingston Glass
383 Banbury Road
Mundelein, IL 60060

You will be notified by mail regarding the action of the jury.

Thank you for you for your interest in joining the Chicago Society of Artists.”

In 1892, Moses was one of the guests invited by members of the Chicago Society of Artists to a Bohemian party, complete with “music, dancing, red-hots, beer and smoke” (Chicago Tribune 12 Nov. 1892, page 6). At the time, the society was five years old and membership continued to increase. At the time, many of his close friends were the host so the party; a party specifically aimed to honor both members of the press and professional men.

By 1906, Moses wrote, “I joined the Palette and Chisel Club at the Chicago Society of Artists. I don’t know why, as I had so little time to give to pictures, but I live in hopes of doing something some day, that is what I have lived on for years, Hope, and how little we realize from our dreams of hope. As the years roll by, I think one’s whole life is one continuous dream, unless we are wonderfully gifted and fame drops on us while we sleep.”

In addition to Moses, there were many scenic artists who became members of the Chicago Society of Artists and its Palette & Chisel Club in the early twentieth century. Their ranks included many of Moses’ close friends and colleagues, such as A J. Rupert, Walter C. Hartson, Walter Burridge, Hardesty Maratta, Victor Higgins, Ernest Albert, Oliver D. Grover, Harry Vincent and Frank C. Peyraud.

During the spring of 1911, Wilson H. Irvine was chosen as the president of the Chicago Society of Artists (Chicago Tribune 5 April 1911, page 11). Other officers included Frank Phoenix as vice-president, George F. Schultz as secretary and Rudolph F. Ingerle as treasurer. Trustees were listed as H. Leon Roecker, Joseph Elliott Colburn, Lucie Hartrath, Charles Edward Boutwood, Water Marshall Clute, John F. Stacey, Frank C. Peyraud, Leonard Crunelle and Alfred Juergens.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 722 – The Palette & Chisel Club Camp at Fox Lake, 1909

Part 722: The Palette & Chisel Club Camp at Fox Lake, 1909

Like theatrical managers, scenic artists also sought to escape the tranquility of the country, escaping the hard work of the studio and the noise of the city. Thomas G. Moses wrote of summer sketching trips to Fox Lake, Illinois, throughout the early twentieth century, especially in 1909.

In 1905 the Palette & Chisel Club at the Chicago Society of Artists formed an artistic community along in Fox Lake. The club was founded in 1895 and consisted of a variety of artists and craftsmen for the purpose of work and study. The members were “all wage-workers, busy during the week with pencil, brush or chisel, doing work to please other people” (Inland Printer, 1896). On Sunday mornings, they gathered for five hours to paint just for themselves.

Fox Lake provided haven far away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. Many Sosman & Landis artists journeyed to Fox Lake whenever they could escape the studio for a few days, including Moses. In the beginning, the site was quite rustic with tents and cots. In 1906, one year after the group formed the camp, Moses joined the Palette and Chisel Club. At the time, the group consisted of approximately sixty local painters, illustrators, and sculptors. Of Moses’s first trip to their seasonal camp, he wrote, “June 1^st, I made my first trip to the Palette and Chisel Club camp at Fox Lake, Ill. Helped to put up the tent. A new experience for me, but I enjoyed it. I slept well on a cot. Made a few sketches. A very interesting place. I don’t like the cooking in the tent and there should be a floor in the tent. I saw a great many improvements that could be made in the outfit and I started something very soon.”

The Palette & Chisel Club camp tent at Fox Lake. Photograph taken by Stuart Fullerton.

The portable house purchased by Thomas G. Moses for the Palette & Chisel Club camp.

By 1908, Moses wrote, “I bought the portable house that we built years ago and at that time we received $300.00 for it. I finally got it for $50.00, some bargain. It cost $25.00 to remove it and we will put it up at Fox Lake in the Spring.” The house had been used in Forest Park that summer to show the attraction, “The Day in the Alps.”

The next summer, Moses wrote, “As we had put up the portable house in Fox Lake, I was better contented to go up. I gave the camp a portable kitchen and it was some class. I felt sure I would manage to get a camp outfit worth while and the boys all fell in line with me.” In 1909, he also wrote, “I also enjoyed sketching at the Lake. That is one thing I don’t think I could ever get enough of. But our business has to be taken care of before too much pleasure.”

There were two significant events over the course of the last five years that placed Fox Lake in more of a personal context for me. The first occurred in Minnesota, and the second occurred in Maui. In 2014, I discovered a map to Fox Lake drawn on the backside of a Scottish Rite drop destined for Winona, Minnesota, in 1909. This was the same year that Moses wrote, ““As we had put up the portable house in Fox Lake, I was better contented to go up.” Located near the top batten on the stage right side, I discovered the pencil sketch while placing the Winona scenery collection into temporary storage for the City of Winona. The backdrop was later sold in an online auction with many others from the scenery collection. It is now somewhere in storage at the Des Moines Scottish Rite, likely not to be seen for years.

Map on the back of Fox Lake drawn in the back of a scene painted for the Scottish Rite in Winona, Minnesota, 1909

The second event occurred in 2017. That fall, three very small paintings by Thomas G. Moses came into my possession from Moses. One of his great grandchildren sold these and a few others to me. Our friendship began, after he responded to a 1996 letter that I sent out in 2016. Three of the paintings from his collection were of the same size and vintage, with one titled “Fox Lake, 1909.” The other two depicted a distant lake and the Palette & Chisel Club’s portable house at Fox Lake. These three scenes painted on hardboard had remained with the family for decades; they meant something special to Moses.

Painting of the Fox Lake cabin of the Palette & Chisel Club camp by Thomas G. Moses, 1909

A view of Fix Lake painted by Thomas G. Moses, 1909

It was Moses’ view of Fox Lake that prompted my entire journey to the Hawaiian Islands.

They each remain a lovely reminder to me – take time for yourself. We all need to enjoy some form of scenic retreat, a respite from the daily grind. That is one of the reasons that I decided to start offering Scenic Art Retreats last year, hosted by Historic Stage Services. They are held at a stagecoach stop along a picturesque river in central Minnesota. Here is the link: http://www.historicstageservices.com/training.html

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 716 – Higgins and Puthuff

Part 716: Higgins and Puthuff

Victor Higgins, A.N.A. (1884-1949) and Hans Duvall Puthuff (1875-1972) created a unique work of art for Sosman & Landis shop foreman, Charles E. Boyer during the early twentieth century.

Thomas G. Moses mentioned Boyer’s departure from Sosman & Landis in 1909. Four years earlier, he mentioned Higgins’ first departure from the scenic studio. In 1905, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Victor Higgins, one of our promising young men, quit to take up picture painting and started with a strong determination to win, and I think he will.” He did succeed, yet returned to paint theatrical scenery, time and time again. Moses records one of the returns in 1909.

Higgins, was a close friend of Thomas G. Moses, remaining close until Moses’ death in 1934. Higgins was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, leaving home and entering the Chicago Art Institute at the age of fifteen. It was during his time in Chicago that Higgins also began painting for the theatre. Higgins worked at Sosman & Landis alongside well-known artists such as Art Oberbeck, Fred Scott, Edgar Payne, Ansel Cook,Walter C. Hartson, William Nutzhorn, David Austin Strong, and Hans Puthuff. Higgins also worked for New York Studios, the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis. In New York, he painted with William Smart, Art Rider, and Al Dutheridge. While in New York, he also studied with Robert Henri, a leading figure of the Ashcan school of art before heading to Europe for further artistic instruction in Paris and Munich.

While traveling abroad, he sent Moses several postcards at the studio. By 1909, however, Higgins briefly returned to work for Sosman & Landis, decorating the interior for the American Music Hall in Chicago. In 1912 Higgins was still spending significant time in Chicago, Higgins exhibited artwork with the Palette & Chisel Club, earning national recognition and the Gold Medal in 1913. Other artistic awards received by Higgins included the Municipal Art League (1915), the Logan Medal of the Art Institute of Chicago (1917), and the first Altman prize for the National Academy of Design (1918). His work eventually became part of permanent collections of the Art Institute in Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles museum.

I am intrigued that Higgins, after all his fine art studies with various masters in Chicago, New York, Paris and Munich returned to periodically paint at Sosman & Landis. It says a lot about the camaraderie, especially in light of his traveling to California with fellow scenic artist for a sketching trip and their gifting a painting to the shop foreman.

Hanson Duvall Puthuff, Higgins’ co-worker and traveling companion, is nationally recognized for his paintings of Southern California deserts. Puthuff was considered as a member of the eucalyptus school of California landscape painters. Puthuff was a co-founder of the California Art Club and the Laguna Beach Art Association. An interesting side note is that Moses also belonged to the Laguna Beach Art Association.

Puthuff was born to Alonzo Augustus Duvall and Mary Anne Lee in 1875. At the age of only two years old, Puthuff’s birth mother died and he was passed into the care of a close family friend – Elizabeth Stadley Puthuff. Elizabeth was a seamstress and young Civil War widow who became surrogate to the young child. He remained in her care until 1889 when he moved to Chicago to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. While in the Midwest he worked in Peoria, Illinois, painting murals in the city hall and local churches, and later moving to Denver where he worked in a variety of capacities, including that of a sign painter. This trip west continued, and Puthuff was soon working in California periodically. His work in Los Angeles included a variety of projects, such as billboard painting for the Wilshire Advertising Firm. His later focus of artistic study became the La Crescenta area around his home, the Sierras, and Arizona. It is noted that Puthuff received his first solo exhibition in 1904, yet continued to return to the scenic studio and paint.

Puthuff won awards in 1909 from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, the same year that he worked with Higgins at Soman & Landis. He was also awarded a bronze medal at the Paris Salon in 1914. By 1915 he received two silver medals from the Panarama-California Exposition. Puthuffs works are now part of collections in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Art Museum, and Bowers Museum, as well as being catalogued in the Smithsonian American Art inventory. In 1926, Puthuff devoted himself to easel art, dying in Corona del Mar on May 12, 1972.

There is something to be said about artists who willingly bridged the scenic art and fine art worlds, keeping one foot in each studio. Did both Higgins and Puthuff only return to the scenic studio for a paycheck, or was it something more? Possibly to share the camaraderie of his fellow artists, and working on a communal project. There is something to be said about collaboration and a combined group effort; the joking and laughter of working with and near your fellow artists. Fine art is fulfilling, but often a solitary endeavor. Painting alongside others is an entirely different experience. It is the chatter, as well as the sharing of your soul. Talking about families, or other issues at hand forms that common bond, and possibly life-long friendships.

It is that wonderful feeling of being a creator within a community, just like a musician who plays in a band or orchestra. As Moses suggests in his memoirs, it was always more than studio work – they were a family.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 544 – Alphonse Mucha Receives Tribute of Chicago Artists, 1906

Part 544: Alphonse Mucha Receives Tribute of Chicago Artists, 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses recorded joining the Palette and Chisel Club in Chicago. Of his decision, Moses wrote, “I don’t know why, as I had so little time to give to pictures, but I live in hopes of doing something some day, that is what I have lived on for years, Hope, and how little we realize from our dreams of hope.” The year that he joined, the Palette & Chisel Club, the group sponsored “Bohemian Night” in honor of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939). Mucha was in town teaching at the Art Institute of Chicago that Fall.

Mucha is one of my favorite artists and a well-known representative of the Art Nouveau style. A Czech painter, sculptor and illustrator, prints of his work have always adorned the walls of either my home or studio. To place Mucha in context with Thomas G. Moses (1856-1943); he was just four years younger than Moses. The two artists’ paths crossed in Chicago during 1906 at the abovementioned Palette and Chisel Club event. At the age of 19, Mucha worked as a scenic art apprentice for Kautsky-Brioschi-Burghardt, a Viennese theatre design company. This employment was short-lived, however, as his position was eliminated by 1881. He and several staff members were all dismissed after Kautsky-Brioschi-Berghardt suffered a financial loss; a major fire destroyed the theater of a significant client – Vienna’s Ring Theatre. Years later, Mucha would paint the front curtain for the newly renovated German Theatre in New York.

To place Mucha’s time in Chicago within the context of his career, he had previously worked in the United States from 1904 to 1905. During 1906, he returned to Prague to marry Marie Chytilová, “Maruška,” on June 10.

Alphonse Mucha and Marie Chytilová on their wedding day in 1906

The couple honeymooned in the small village of Pec in the highlands of South Bohemia, before traveling to America. Their time spent in Chicago was at the beginning of the couple’s four-year visit in the United States; Mucha accepted a one-term teaching position at the Art Institute. After completing this job in Chicago, the couple lived in New York City and Mucha completed a variety of artistic commissions, including decorating the newly renovated interior of the German Theater in New York. He painted five decorative panels, the stage curtain and painted ornamentation throughout the building. His central panel was known as “Quest for Beauty” and was flanked by to vertical compositions – Tragedy and Comedy. Unfortunately, the theatre was demolished in 1929 and the only surviving works are Mucha’s prelimary drawings for the theatre. In 1909, Mucha was working with the well-known actress Maude Adams and depiction of her in the of Joan of Arc; her portrait was used for the theatre poster.

Poster by Alphonse Mucha of Maude Adams in her role as Joan of Arc

Mucha became a father in America too, when their daughter Jaroslava was born in New York City during 1909.

While in Chicago during 1906 there were two receptions held in Mucha’s honor. The first was a reception was sponsored by the Art Institute of Chicago to honor their visiting instructor. “The Inter Ocean” reported, “Five hundred students and invited guests of the Art Institute assembled in the upper galleries of that building at 8 o’clock last evening, and for three hours paid social tribute to Alphonse Mucha, admittedly the greatest living exponent of the poster school of art. The artist came to the city from Paris three weeks ago to give a brief course of instruction to the most advanced class in the institute. He leaves next week for New York, where he expects to make his home. Mr. Mucha is widely known both in this country and abroad as an illustrator and poster artist. Several of his works, the most noted of which are La Plume calendar posters, and those representing Sarah Bernhardt in her various roles, have won places at the exhibition in the Salon, at Paris. The walls of the room in which he received his admirers last night were hung with more that a hundred of the best posters and sketches. Owing to an unexpected delay in his arrival in Chicago last month, Mr. Mucha missed the reception which the art students annually hold in honor of all the exhibitors in the institute. His regret in having missed that function resulted in the planning of last night’s reception, which was held solely in his honor” (4 Nov. 1906, page 5).

On November 17, the Palette and Chisel Club sent out invitations for another event honoring Mucha – “The Bohemian Night.” It was held in the Athenaeum Building at 26 Van Buren Street.

Bohemian Night program, hosted by the Palette and Chisel, 1906

Guest book for Bohemian Night, hosted by the Palette and Chisel, 1906. Thomas G. Moses’ signature is second up from the bottom, under Wm. W. Riddell.

Bohemian Night in honor of Alphonse Mucha, hosted by the Palette and Chisel, 1906

On November 21, a social column in the “Inter Ocean” described Mucha’s adventures in Chicago (Inter Ocean, 21 Nov. 1906, page 6): “What does Alphonse Mucha think of Bohemian Chicago. The students over at the Art institute, who are getting the curve theory of composition into their “block” filled systems from Monsieur Mucha’s daily lectures, have had a mad revel or two, under the fatherly eye of Charles Francis Brown or Lorado Taft or some other of the “grads” among the artists; and last Saturday night Monsieur Mucha witnessed a really wild carouse at the Palette and Chisel clubrooms, where members decked themselves out as ladies – the members are men- and simply tore up the earth with burlesque and beer. According to all reports things were just too bohemian for anything – but a Parisian schooled artist. Therefore Monsieur Mucha was able to attend to his Monday afternoon lecture, with only thirty-six hours in which to recover.

It is rumored strongly that Monsieur Mucha is here on his honeymoon trip. And if that is the case we must all pray that the artist and his bride may not leave Chicago for the Mucha studio in New York, which is all ready and waiting on West Twenty-Second street, until after Thanksgiving day. For what would it mean to a real bohemian like Monsieur Mucha to miss the annual orgy of Little Roomers – our real bohemian club – who hold their frantic feasts on the tenth floor of the Fine Arts building, and serve the seductive baked bean canned, which is not a baked bean but a boiled bean; the alluring sardine in his little lake of oil; the stuffed mango pickle, which biteth like an adder, and very sour lemonade, which stingeth like the deuce. At the revels of the Little Roomers, lest Monsieur Mucha throw up his beautiful hands in horror at the thought of Mme. Mucha witnessing such bacchanalian sights, let us hasten to say wives freely take their own husbands, and husbands their own wives. In fact, the idea of a gentleman genius taking his friend’s wife, without written permit, or a lady genius her friend’s husband, without equally definite permission, would be frowned down and out. Wherefore the lemonade. But of the Thanksgiving feast more anon.”

The Muchas returned to Prague in 1910 where Mucha continued to work on a variety of projects. Their second child, Jirí was born in 1915. By 1939, Mucha was one of the first people arrested by the Gestapo when German troops marched into Czecholslavakia that spring. During the lengthy period that he was interrogated, Mucha fell ill with pneumonia. Although he was later released, the illness took its toll on the artist and he died from a lung infection later that year.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 522 – J. Francis Murphy

Part 522: J. Francis Murphy

Yesterday, I concluded an article written by Thomas G. Moses that was published in the Palette & Chisel Club newsletter during 1927.

Moses wrote, “Some of the leading American artists were scenic artists. J. Francis Murphy was an assistant to Mr. Strauss, who was the artist at Hooley’s Theatre in 1874. The well-known illustrator and water colorist, Charles Graham, was also an assistant to Mr. Strauss at this same time.” Moses mentioned Murphy and Graham early in his career when he was working as a decorator for P. M. Almini.

In 1874, Moses wrote: “In June I was sent to Hooleys Theatre to work. On the scenery was employed J. Francis Murphy and Chas. Graham. I was put in charge of the proscenium boxes, mostly gilding. I could see the work being done on the paint frame. I was more convinced that scenery was what I wanted to do; more opportunity to do landscapes.”

Hooley’s Opera House, the Parlor of Home Comedy, was dedicated on 21 October 1872. It was later referred to as simply “Hooley’s Theater.” Located at 124 West Randolph Street, the cut stone and iron building occupied twenty-three feet of street frontage until 1924. A 1500-seat theatre, the stage measured 50 feet wide and 65 feet deep. Mr. Hooley and his stock company first appeared at the venue on the evening, 31 August 1874. This upcoming performance and the renovation of the theatre was why the eighteen-year-old Moses was working on the opera boxes that June. Over the next three installments, I will explore Murphy and Graham, two scenic artists who Moses considered at he top of their profession.

John Francis Murphy (Dec. 11, 1853 – Jan. 30, 1921) was renowned for his small and intimate views of nature. He was one of the leading Tonalists of the American Barbizon school, even referred to as the “American Corot.” The Tonalists were known for their dawn or dusk scenes; intimate compositions depicting toned atmospheric views. Their artworks were intended to express mood and insights into the human spirit.

Painting by J. Francis Murphy. The Sprout Lot, 1915

Born at Oswego, New York, Murphy moved to Chicago at the age of seventeen, just a few years before Moses. Later in life, the “Chicago Tribune” reported that Mr. J. Francis Murphy went to Chicago as a boy, “beginning as a type-setter, advancing to a scene-painter’s and then to a wood-engraver’s position” (25 April 1880, page 18). At the age of 21 years old, Murphy was painting the scenery for Hooley’s Theater with Charles Graham. Graham was also 21 years old at the time.

Sketch by J. Francis Murphy, 1874. Image from the Adirondak Experience. Here is the link: https://adirondack.pastperfectonline.com/bycreator?keyword=Murphy%2C+John+Francis

Murphy studied very briefly at the Chicago Academy of Design in 1875 and then moved to New York where he opened a studio. The “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” reported that Murphy’s studio was located at the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway in New York (26 Jan. 1880, page 9). He also studied in Paris before 1880. During this same time, he worked as a painting teacher in the Orange County region of New Jersey. By 1876, Murphy was exhibiting at the National Academy of Design. He became an associate of the National Academy of Design by 1885 and a full academician in 1887. In 1887 he also built a studio in the Catskills at Arkville, New York; there he spent the summer and fall with his wife who was also an artist. In winter, they worked at their respective studios in the Chelsea district of New York.

Small painting by J. Francis Murphy, 1874. Image from the Adirondak Experience. Here is the link: https://adirondack.pastperfectonline.com/bycreator?keyword=Murphy%2C+John+Francis

J. Francis Murphy, Path to the Village, 1882

J. Francis Murphy. Afternoon Light, from the online Smithsonian Collection

Murphy was a member of the Society of American Artists, the American Watercolor Society, and the Salmagundi Club. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design (1876-1921), the Brooklyn Art Association (1878-1885), the Boston Art Club (1881-1909), the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (1884-1885, 1898-1901, 1908-1911, 1916, 1921), the Society of American Artists (1887,1902), the Columbian Exposition (1893), the American Water Color Society (1894), the Art Club of Philadelphia (1899), the Paris Exposition (1900), the Pan-American Exposition (1901), the Charleston Exposition (1902), the St. Louis Exposition (1904), the Corcoran Gallery (1907), the Salmagundi Club (1911), and the Pan-Pacific Exposition (1915).

He received numerous awards throughout his life, including two Hallgarten Prizes at the National Academy, a medal at the World’s Columbian Exposition (1893); the Evans Prize at the American Water Color Society (1894); a silver medal at the Pan-American Exposition (1901); a gold medal at the Charleston Exposition (1902); the Inness medal in (1910); and a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915). Art historians have described Murphy as an affable, even-tempered man who made friends easily.

John Francis Murphy in his memorial program, printed by the Salamagundi Club.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 521: Palette & Chisel, November – The Changing Times of Scenic Art

Part 521: Palette & Chisel, November – The Changing Times of Scenic Art

Thomas G. Moses was a member of the Palette and Chisel Club in Chicago and contributed a variety of articles to their monthly newsletter during the late 1920s. His series “Stage Scenery” was first published during September 1927. The article, however, was written by Moses during the spring of 1918.

Palette & Chisel newslsetter from November 1927 with Thomas G. Moses’ article “Stage Scenery”

Here is Moses’ final November installment during 1927:

“Advertising in theatrical papers and magazines is quite necessary for this line of scenic painting. Illustrated catalogues are gotten up with a good deal of care and half-tones of the actual painted scenes are used. As stages differ in many ways, especially in size, from nine to forty feet in depth, it is quite essential that accurate dimensions be obtained. A card is sent to the prospective buyers which they fill out, giving all the required measurements. The scenes needed are listed, estimates made, the order is received, and each scene is given to the artist who is the most competent to execute that especial scene.

Advertisement for P. Dodd Ackerman & Co. scenic artists and constructors, 1905

Sosman and Landis shipping Label attached to a wooden arbor

On completion the drop and borders are rolled up the short way and boxed, the frame-work is crated and shipped by express or freight. Instructions are sent for the hanging and setting of all scenes; on many stages it requires the supervision of an expert who is sent to do the work. Models and sketches are made and a miniature stage with all lines and lights, is used to set up the different scenes. The customer can see exactly what he is going to receive. As the average small theatre does not change the scenery within a period of ten years or more it has to be very neutral in design and color so it will not tire the audience in the ten years of wear.

Scenic artists working on a paint bridge, high above the stage

For many years the larger theatres in many parts of the country put in a paint frame and bridge. The scenery was then built and painted in the local theatre, which necessitated the artist and assistant, with a good mechanic, to travel about the country. The writer did this for twenty years, from Maine to California, back and forth, some theatres taking as long as ten months to stock while others were finished in two months. In those days the scenic artist and his work were looked upon in an entirely different light than they are today. Possibly it is the fault of the artists; an indifference as to the real worth of their work has caused the managers to look to others for suggestions, making a simple workman of the artist, one who only follows their instructions, allowing the stage manager to receive all of the credit for the stage settings, while the artist labors on the paint frame all through the hot and sultry night to produce something artistic.

The scenic art has been the starting point for a great many of the well-known picture painters. Among the English painters are Clarkson, Stanfield and David Roberts. All were prominent scenic artists and became as great in picture painting. Some of the leading American artists were scenic artists. J. Francis Murphy was an assistant to Mr. Strauss, who was the artist at Hooley’s Theatre in 1874. The well-known illustrator and water colorist, Charles Graham, was also an assistant to Mr. Strauss at this same time.”

The article continued, “W. C. Fitler was another scenic artist who made good pictures. Jules Guerin, the noted illustrator, started his art career as a scenic artist. I might name several dozen artists who owe their early training to scenic art.

There are a dozen Chicago scenic artists who have forsaken the paint frame pictures for the easel pictures. In a way I do not blame them, for scenic painting is made up of ling hours and hard manual labor. The bigness of the work appalls many who venture into the game, and, with its dirt, soon discourages them and they looker for a cleaner vocation. The close confinement of the old theatre days was another disagreeable feature of the work that never appealed to anyone; no daylight, always long hours and foul air.

The studio of today is an entirely different proposition; a large airy room, plenty of space in which to work, regular hours, all new work, and with very few exceptions, congenial companions; each artist specializing in one line of work, plenty to learn each day and good salaries paid to all, is a big inducement to forsake the stock painting in the theatre and accept the studio work.

The establishment of the scenic studios has created a great deal of competition and sometimes it is very keen, for there are quite a number of assistants who do not know the business thoroughly, yet can convince a certain type of theatre managers who, very often are managers of a very good theatres, that their painting is just as good as that of a man of more than thirty years’ experience and a national reputation.

The raw material has advanced at such a rate that it is impossible to keep pace with it. At this writing (spring of 1918) with the great world’s war going on, common cotton has advanced to thirty-four cents a yard when two years ago it was only eleven cents, and the quality has dropped one hundred percent.

It is impossible to get the rich color we had two years ago. The color question is one of great importance. To begin with, one of the first important features of scene painting is the ground coating or “priming,” whiting and glue size. It must be very carefully mixed and “just so.” T takes several buckets to prime and ordinary drop; the edge must be kept wet so the color will be even all over. If the color edge is dry it will become too thick and will crack when rolled up. In many cases a strong tint in the priming is used for a tonal feeding, especially in landscape. It gives a certain amount of looseness when plenty of tonal color is left in the painting.

The end.”

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 520 – Palette & Chisel, October 1927 – Creating Stock Scenery

Part 520: Palette & Chisel, October 1927 – Creating Stock Scenery

Thomas G. Moses was a member of the Palette and Chisel Club in Chicago and contributed a variety of articles to their monthly newsletter during the late 1920s. His series “Stage Scenery” began during September 1927, however, it was originally written during the spring of 1918.

Here is the third part of Moses’ “Stage Scenery” in the Palette & Chisel newsletter during October 1927:

“The material used to paint on is a fine grade Russian linen and a heavy grade of cotton cloth. Linen is used for all scenery on frames; the cotton is used for drops and borders, usually called “hangers.” The lumber is a fine grade of clear, white pine, without knots or sap. It has to be very clear and straight grained so it will stand upright without too much bracing.

After the canvas has been carefully prepared with a priming coat of whiting and glue is thoroughly dried, the artist draws his design with charcoal, which must be carefully done. In many cases the model must be laid off in squares and the same is carried up on the drop or set pieces. This enables the artist to produce the model exactly as part of the paint frame is below the bridge most of the time so the artist cannot see all of the drop. After the scene is drawn in it is traced with ink, which enables the artist to lay in the main local colors without destroying the drawing. The drawing out of an interior is very laborious. The work has to be done very accurately and pounces and stencils made, as there are many pieces to be covered.

In case of a landscape, they sky is laid in first, distance follows, then the middle distance, and there are many pieces to be covered.

In case of a landscape, the sky is laid in first, distance follows, then the middle distance, and the foreground last. The trees are run up when the sky is dry, which takes a short time. After all the broad “masses” of the “lay in” are dry and a clean palette has been arranged by the “paint boy” and the pots and pails holding the “lay in” are placed under the palette, “(a clear space is required for the many tints that are mixed on the palette, several small cups of dark purple and a strong rich color is used to emphasize the darks in the foreground) comes the careful work of finishing a landscape; strong shadows and half tones in foliage up to the strongest flickering of sunlight. We now take a little more time for our work. The “lay in” had to be done very quickly as it is very essential that the colors be kept will blend, which, in turn, makes the “cut up” easier. A drop representing a landscape 24×36 feet in size can be “laid in” with a lot of rough detail inside of two or three hours and retain wet edges.

As the distemper colors dry out several shades lighter t causes many anxious moments to a novice. There was no trouble with color fading or changing before fireproofing; it eats all the blue (especially Cobalt) out of purple, leaving a bad color, neither a blue nor red, which makes trouble for the artist.

Showing difference between wet and dry pigment colors during the painting process

In most cases, in painting a landscape, the artist endeavors to obtain his dark colors in the “lay in” so that when the “cut up” comes it will be all light colors. Most of the artists start to finish the drops from the foreground, getting the strength of the foreground first. Big, broad strokes are what count. It may look rather coarse close by, but when the completed scene is properly lighted you will find a surprise awaiting you. We know how to light a scene, but often some of our best effects are purely accidental. We follow these accidents up, develop them, and find soft, atmospheric color, all to be done with electricity.

Looking up at a collection of backdrops and seeing the bottom battens

Stock scenery for small halls and opera houses and for large vaudeville theatres has grown to be quite a business. Scenic studios have sprung up like mushrooms all over the country. To get the very best facilities for handling all sizes of scenery, the studio has to have a height of at least 54 feet, allowing a drop 30 feet high to be painted from a stationary floor, 24 feet from the basement floor. The width of the studio should be at least 50 feet and 150 feet in length. A building of these dimensions will accommodate fifteen paint frames, giving work for fifteen artists, five paint boys, four helpers to handle the scenery on and off the frames, two sewing women and six carpenters to build and prepare the frames for the scenes. This would constitute a first class studio and turn put a lot of work.”

To be continued…