Photographic Backdrops – Drypigment.net

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Lafayette W. Seavey and Leadville, Colorado, 1881.

Photograph by Alfred Brisbois of Leadville, Colorado, in the 1880s.
Here is the link to the online image:
https://www.theheartofcolorado.com/history/leadville-fame-and-fortunes/article_d4078130-730c-11e7-aa6d-9376972147fa.html

Before I leave the 1879 Tabor Opera House scenery discussion, there are some other factors to consider, providing an additional perspective that help place the original scenery collection in context. Today’s post has to do with a major New York scenic studio delivering photographic backings to Leadville in 1881. That is less than two years after the Tabor Opera House opened its doors to the public.

On Nov. 1, 1881. The “Leadville Daily Herald” included the article, “PHOTOGRAPHY. Some Facts About the Progress of the Art in this City.” The article begins, “There is probably no art that has improved so rapidly in the same space of time as photography, and at the present day has attained a standing in art and business circles second to no similar enterprise in the world. In the place of the daguerreotype, now almost extinct, the photograph is found in every household, and the process for an ordinary first class picture have been so reduced by new modes and improvement that every family van and does have their ‘pictures taken,’ either collectively or individually, for the gratification of themselves and near friends.” The article continues to note two very important aspects suggest the significance of Leadville, as this is no longer a small mountain community. Here is the first: “Among the many photographers is the state, Leadville has probably the very best, in the person of Mr. Brisbois. Having served for years in the business with the finest in the land and having graduated competent to conduct the extensive studio, which now carries his name, on East Fifth Street. Since the retirement of his late partner, Mr. Brisbois has made a number of improvements, which not only facilitate the business of the establishment, but has added considerably to the comfort and entertainment of his patrons.”

Photograph by Alfred Brisbois of Annie Oakley.

“Mr. Brisbois” was actually Alfred Brisbois, founder of Brisbois Photograph Gallery at 501 & 503 Harrison Avenue in Leadville, Colorado. He was listed in the city’s directory from 1886-1890. The Denver Public Library includes a photography collection picturing his staff: “ Miss Rose Northrupp, Reception Room,” “Mr. A. Muhr, Operator Late of New York,” “Mr. W.W. Cecil, 1st Printer,” “Mr. C.C. Turldon, 2nd Printer,” “Mr. Carl Eitner, Retoucher.”Here is the link if you are in the area for a visit: https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/42415291

In 1881 Brisbois has knowledge, experience, and a first-rate establishment in Leadville, perfect for the growing area. The second part of the Leadville article links his photographic backings to one of the top scenic studios in the United States.

The “Leadville Daily Herald” continues, “One of the requirements of an excellent picture is to have backgrounds that will add to the beauty of the work, and as Mr. Brisbois entertains a full appreciation of this fact he has only the work of celebrated New York artist, L. W. Seavey, in his gallery, although they are procured at a price nearly five times as great as some of the less noted painters. With first class operators and workmen it is no wonder that Mr. Brisbois has been so successful in gaining a reputation second to none, and with his exalted views of the necessity of turning out only the best work, together with a gentlemanly deportment to all guests, whether customers or only sight seers, this success is bound to continue.”

*This image was published as part of a L. W. Seavey catalogue, currently for sale by the 19th Century Rare Book Shop and Photograph Shop. Here is the link:* *https://www.19thshop.com/zh/book/rare-album-of-painted-studio-backdrops-furniture-and-props/*

East and west were connected in many ways and people traveled much more than we realize. In 1881, there was a photographer’s convention at the American Institute in New York. An article in the New York Times reported that the largest number of photographic displays with images and photographic apparatus were from the principal western cities” (New York Times, 10 April 1881, page 8). At the conference L. W. Seavey gave an illustrated lecture about dry plates. This was great publicity for his business. I find this absolutely fascinating; especially in light of the Leadville article about the new L. W. Seavey photographic backings.

That same years, L. W. Seavey placed an advertisement in the New York Clipper, “Theatrical scenery, new and second hand, and to order. Home and foreign trade. Send stamp for illustrated circular. Some credit Seavey as establishing the first scenic studio in the United States, with his establishment dates ranging from 1857 to 1865. By the time he shipped painted backings to Brisbois in Leadville, his establishment had been operating at least two decades. L. W. Seavey was a big name, a New York name, and well-known scenic artist.

I bring this up, because if the photographic studio in Leadville is advertising painted scene by Lafayette W. Seavey, a well-respected theatrical manufacturer in 1881, I have a hard time believing that Tabor would hire a regional fresco painter (Lamphere) to paint the drop curtain or scenery for his flagship theater in 1879. When you look at the Tabor Opera House’s painted décor, opera chairs and other elements – all are the best. It would make sense that he would also have purchased the best scenery that money could buy too. After all, scenic illusion, what was happening on stage, often drew people to the theatre. Why would a Leadville photographer hire a better scenic artist than Tabor for the new opera house?

The Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, 1881.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 583 – Background Painters, Luminous-Lint

Part 583: Background Painters, Luminous-Lint

Here is a little sidestep from the life and times of Thomas G. Moses. Occasionally while looking for information online, I discover a site, that takes me by surprise. Here was one that I uncovered while looking for information about advertising curtains by the Kansas City Scenic Co.

Image from Luminous-lint.http://www.luminous-lint.com/__phv_app.php?/f/_studios_backgrounds_painters_01/

It was an advertisement for the Kansas City Scenic Co. that drew me into a series of photographs depicting scenic artists from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. The images were part of an online collection called Luminous-Lint and the artists were categorized as “Painters of backgrounds.”

If you are unfamiliar with the Luminous-Lint, this is one site to bookmark. It contains 85,989 photographs from 3,278 different collections around the world. The creators mission is to create “detailed and well structured histories of photography.” The site includes “1,031 distinct, but interlinked, histories of photography that are evolving on a regular basis.” The creators report that their site is used worldwide by curators, educators, photo historians, collectors and photographers to better understand the many histories of photography.

My interest in the contents has little to do with the photographers or history of photography; I am interested in the subject matter. My interest lies with not only the scenic artists with paint palettes, buckets, and brushes, by also the performers and tradesmen.

David Knights-Whittome on a ladder. Image from Luminous-lint.http://www.luminous-lint.com/__phv_app.php?/f/_studios_backgrounds_painters_01/

One of the collections features David Knights-Whittome. Here is the information about the collection on Luminous-Lint: “About 1978 a collection of around 11,000 glass plate negatives was found in the basement of Linwood Strong’s shop (Optician) on the High Street in Sutton, a town in South London. The plates had been stored there in deteriorating conditions for over 60 years, they were saved and eventually became a part of Sutton Archives, South London, England. They were stored but not made available until 2014 when a preservation and digitization project commenced. The photographer was little-known David Knights-Whittome and the portraits provide a time capsule of Late Victorian and early Edwardian England. The collection included images of studio backgrounds, a photograph of David Knights-Whittome standing on a step ladder and posed as if he was painting a backdrop, and a notebook with a sketch for a background that he had drawn as a teenager in the 1890s.”

Many of the photographers also worked as scenic artists, creating painted backings of various sizes and subjects.

Here is a link to the “background artists” category: http://www.luminous-lint.com/__phv_app.php?/f/_studios_backgrounds_painters_01/ I really recommend taking a peak at this site.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 247 – Men Who Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains, the Scenic Artists

The same year that the Sosman & Landis Annex studio opened, an article appeared in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, “Paint Mimic Scenes, Men Who Have Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains” (Dec, 18, 1892, page 41). Here is the continuation of that article started in installment #245.

“Passing reference to some of the eminent American scenic artists and their work is appropriate in this connection. The late Matt Morgan was a genius, remarkable in everything, correct occasionally. His color was French, his tone exquisite, and he boasted of never using anything deeper than burnt sienna for his most profound shadows. Morgan was ambidextrous and worked with great rapidity. It is said that he could paint life-size figures in an hour, and he used a sponge with remarkable dexterity to make foliage. His “Chariot of the Sun” on a drop of the Olympic and “Birth of Drama” for the Academy are well remembered in this city.

Richard Marston, one of the pioneers of the modern school, for years painted the scenery at the Union Square in New York. His production gave vigorous incentive to rivals, for his work was remarkably accurate, and considering the fact that he painted for a stage only 28 feet deep his scenes were marvels in perspective.

Harley Merry 1886. Family photo provided by great granddaughter, Victoria Brittain. Private collection.

Harley Merry is another master I the same school in perpetuating the English ides of water-color. His dainty work is to be observed in the decoration and stock scenery of the opera house at Pullman. Merry is the greatest painter of monochromes and photographic backgrounds in the country. He has two sons who inherit his talent. Phillip Goatcher of New York, is a well-known artist of the old school, famous for his oriental color and tropical foliage.

Phillip Goatcher, scenic artist. Image from http://www.goacher.org/notables/phil

Boulder Opera House curtain by Phillip Goatcher. Kalgoorlie, Australia, 1908.

David Porter of San Francisco is another of the famous old scenic artists, whose Norman and Gothic architecture has seldom been surpassed. In the same class is Joseph Pigott of New Orleans, whose production of “Aida” at the French Opera House, in 1878, was recognized at the greatest operatic spectacle up to that time.

One of the foremost figures in the scenic world today is Henry Hoyt, an artist of remarkable power and versatility. In architecture he is a trifle irregular but always interesting, has a taste for the rococo, and in the duplication of plushes and velvet textures he is unequaled. That he is facile in clever conceits and delicate color is testified in his output of pink and green ball-rooms for the New York Casino. “The Isle of Champagne” produced here last summer was one of his hasty but brilliant ideas.

And the list in the article will continue in tomorrow’s post. I have covered some of these scenic artists in the past installments and examined their influence on scenic art and design. To see some of their contributions discussed in past posts, see: Richard Marston (installments #124, 127, 138, 140, 171, 179 and 215); Harley Merry (installments #127, 133, 136, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143); Henry Hoyt (installments #138, 140 and 179); and Phillip Goatcher (installments #133 and 217). At a later time, I will cover David Porter and his family.

To be continued…