Design – Page 4 – Drypigment.net

Scenic Artist – Andrew Geis and his designs for the Twin City Scenic Company

Over the years, I have tracked down a variety of scenic artists and their work, finding bits and pieces of information regarding their life and painting. During this time, my primary focus always remained on Thomas Gibbs Moses (1856-1934) and his Masonic installations.

Recently, I have branched off to look at some of Moses’ contemporaries. Andrew Geis will be my first subject as I have an immediate connection to him.

Many years back, I received multiple packages from a friend in Chicago. I have often become the depository of “things a local museum won’t take and I can’t store them anymore.” Each once is loving placed in a file or stored in my studio until I am able to find a better home – one that the future generations can access. This is one of the reasons that I have started a blog. I want to get the information out sooner rather than later as it takes years to process a museum/archival collection ad digitize it. The blog also provides a searchable format for the information that I am sharing with the public.

So, back to my story…One of the Chicago boxes contained a portion of Geis’ design book. My training introduced me to this type of source book as a “painter’s morgue.” This term was introduced to me by my Professor Emeritus C. Lance Brockman at the University of Minnesota. In short, it is a source book for painters and designers with a variety of images to reference when drawing and painting.

Looking at Geis’ imagery with “older eyes” (and a tad more experience) I was able to pair up some of Geis’ sources with Masonic stage compositions. This excited me and I immediately went to my “Andrew Geis” file. Unfortunately, it only had four images of his design, currently held at the University of Minnesota Performing Arts archives. I contacted my friend in Chicago to see if he had any idea about Geis’ background. He recalled seeing the name in the 1927 Scenic Artists’ Ball program. Bingo.

I finally stumbled across a single census entry from 1920. Here is what I know to date about Geis. Both of his parents were born in Germany, emigrating the the United States before Andrew was born. Andrew is born in 1888 and eventually marries his wife Elizabeth (b. 1891). They lived in Chicago’s 34 Ward at 3906 West 19th Street in Chicago, Cook County. His profession was listed as scenic artist for the art industry. Both Geis and his wife are listed in the 1927 program as helping with the event.

The Scenery Collection renderings also his union affiliation: United Scenic Artists Local 350-2021. Again, here is the link to the online collection – http://umedia.lib.umn.edu/scenicsearch. You can find his rendering by typing in “Geis” in the Keyword option and hitting the “search” button.

Today, I will start with sharing his four rendering of interiors that were created for the Twin Cities Scenic Co.

Abbey Ruins

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F. Lloyds “Practical Guide to Scene Painting and Painting in Distemper” in 1875 prominently depicts a painted scene with abbey ruins as the scene. This composition was picked up by a variety of stage venues, especially the Scottish Rite. In the majority of Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite venues, the setting depicts the ruins of an abbey for a secret meeting during dark times in Europe for the 21st degree.

At the Austin Scottish Rite, their abbey ruins are also intended for the 30th degree – complete with the translucent section on a tombstone that reveals the words “He who shall overcome the dread of death shall ascend above the terrestrial sphere and be entitled to the greater mysteries.” This is an alternative staging to the catacombs where the magical illusion of “Pepper’s Ghost” transform’s a man into a skeleton with the assistance of plate glass and lights.

All compositions are similar to various illustrations of Holyrood Abbey as noted below.

Backdrop in Austin, Texas at the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the 30th degree.

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Renderings

“The Scenic Painter oftentimes is requested to furnish sample drawings or sketches of the work to be performed, and to familiarize the beginner with the most essential rules of correct drawing, which necessarily must be known by all scenic artists, we have included, in this work; several chapters on pencil drawing, elementary perspective, pencil sketching, crayon drawing, in addition to the painting of scenery in oil, all of which are very instructive and necessary, as no scenic painting, no matter how elaborately executed in colors, can correct the faulty drawing of the scene depicted.”

Excerpt from “Theatrical Scene Painting: A Thorough and Complete Work on How to Sketch, Paint, and Install Theatrical Scenery” (Appleton Publishing Co., Omaha, Nebraska, 1916, preface)

The rendering below is from the Holak Collection at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Performing Arts Archives. These renderings are available in a searchable online database: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/scenicsearch

The attached rendering depicts a 31st degree scene, titled Classical Interior and is in numerous Scottish Rite Theaters across the country.

Corresponding scene by Sosman & Landis Studios, ca. 1912. This was taken during the photo shoot this week for the upcoming Santa Fe Scottish Rite book.