Moses wrote extensively about the Columbian Exposition in his typed manuscript. He commented that the “Great Fair” opened with bad weather, but soon changed, and there wasn’t rain for 106 days. Moses recalled, “We continued to get work at the Fair, away up into July.”
Portrait of Fred McGreer in the Cincinnati Enquirer, 1900.
On June 1, 1893, work was still plentiful and Moses hired Fred McGreer at the annex theatre on the West Side. Moses recorded that McGreer “proved to be a good man.” It was McGreer’s speed that was the key for Moses’ approval. Moses was also known for his speed, having written in 1881, “The others were able to draw more, because they were better in the artistic end, but I had it over them when it came to speed.” McGreer was also fast and built his reputation on the rapidity of his painting.
Very little is known of McGreer beyond a few articles that mention his artistic speed and skill as a scenic artist. The first time Fred McGreer appears in print is in 1887. He was reported as providing “an hour’s divertissement” in rapid oil painting at the Continental Council No. 55 under National Union section of the Inter Ocean (10 April 1887, page 20).
Advertisement for Fred McGreer’s painting in the Chicago Tribune, 28 Nov 1888, page 8.
A year later, there is an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune about a free art exhibition by Fred McGreer at the store James Wilde Jr. & Co. on the corner of State and Madison Streets. (28 Nov 1888, page 8). It reported that McGreer was “the most Wonderful Artist in the World – the rapidity of his work is marvelous. Hundreds of thousands of people visited him at the New Orleans Exposition.” Every afternoon between 1 and 5pm, McGreer was exhibiting his great talent in the James Wilde Jr. & Co. Boys’ and Children’s Department. He was advertised as completing an 8×12 oil painting in ten minutes while customers waited. If customers spent more than $10 in the store, they could select any painting free of charge as a Christmas Gift.
By August 1888, McGreer partnered with his cousin Ernest Cooke to exhibit their rapid painting skills. They were featured at E. W. Viall’s store on Main Street in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The two artists showed how fast paintings could be created and also gave lessons. Their art classes numbered 20 students and were offered in Elgin and Janesville, Illinois. I chuckled as the advertisement noted “Ladies are specially invited to the Entertainment; seats will be kept for them.”
Advertisement of Fred McGreer painting with his cousin Ernest Cook in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Four years later, McGreer is still exhibiting art in Chicago at A. H. Abbott & Co.’s with several other local artists, including Norwegian artist Svend Svendson and Adele Ross. McGreer exhibited two landscapes: “The Grove” and “A Scene Near Allegheny, Pa.” (Chicago Tribune, 22 May 1892, page 40). It is around this time that Moses hires McGreer. He remains with Moses until 1897. That year, Moses writes, “Early fall found Mr. Landis and Mr. Hunt camped on my trail; offering me the Pyke Theatre Stock Company work at Cincinnati for the season. They agreed to send down enough drops from the studio to complete my contract. I accepted $75.00 per week and went, taking McGreer and Loitz from Chicago.” It appears as if McGreer never left Cincinnati and soon became the scenic artist for the Pike Theatre.” By 1900, the Cincinnati Enquirer did an entire article on Fred McGreer, the scenic artist. He was still successfully employed at the Pike.
Early in December of 1892 Moses worked on “A Flag of Truce’” for William Haworth. His paint crew included Harry A. Vincent, A. J Rupert, Frank Peyraud, a number of assistants and some paint boys. Moses wrote, “I did a stone quarry set – a very effective scene. Vincent did a big foliage act.” He was speaking of the artist who would later be nationally recognized for his marine paintings – Harry Aiken Vincent.
Painting by Harry A. Vincent posted online, date unknown.
Vincent appears in various articles and manuscripts, including one where Edward Fournier recalls Vincent as one of his old “pot boys.” On a side note, “pot boy” was another name given to the young workers who kept the “color pots” on the palette full.
Harry A. Vincent was born in Chicago on February 14, 1864. He began working for Moses as a scenic artist in Chicago, but moved to New York by 1896, where he would continue as a scenic artist for Moses, as well as Gates and Morange. Moses wrote that Vincent “went East where he made a hit.” In 1901 Moses left the Sosman & Landis studio, also heading east. When he was living and working in New York, he went on sketching trips with John H. Young and Harry Vincent. He wrote that they two artists joined him quite often as they all lived near a picturesque spot. Their favorite places at the time were Seton Falls and Glen Island.
In his later years, Moses would reflect on Vincent and others who had attained fame in the fine art world. These friendships that formed in the scenic studio would continue throughout his life. In 1922 Moses wrote “In 1893 Harry A Vincent applied to me for a position. I tried to convince him that he was foolish to break into a business that had a future only in hard work. He succeeded and has become one of the cleverest landscape painters in America…Many of his pictures are being reproduced and selling well. He is now in Italy on a sketching trip.”
Harry A. Vincent, “Dry Dock,” date unknown.
Although Vincent was primarily self taught, he gained recognition in the fine art world and later taught art classes at a variety of institutions, including the National Academy of Design in New York, the Chicago Art Institute, the Carnegie Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Pittsburg.
On the East Coast, he continued to create many fine art pieces. Soon, he was painting and exhibiting throughout the New England area, gaining a strong reputation for his seascapes. He was noted for his heavy use of pigment and colorful compositions. Vincent was one of the artists who made up the Rockport School. Becoming the first president of the Rockport Art Association in 1921, he also served as a charter member of the North Shore Art Association. One of his favorite subjects was the old Lobster House in Rockport. This subject inspired about fifty paintings, one of which (“Rockport Harbor”) hung in the Butler Art Institute in Youngstown, Ohio. Vincent was also a member of the Allied Artists of America and the NY Watercolor Club.
He received a variety of awards from the Salmagundi Club of New York – the Shaw Prize (1907), Isador Prize (1916) Turnbill prize (1918). In 1919, he was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design. He was also an expert in making ship models. Vincent was married twice, the second time to Mildred Dietz in 1916. His final residence was in Rockport until his passing at the age of 67years old in 1931.
Auction lot of twelve books that recently sold for $12,300. This lot contained many sketches and notes by Harry A. Vincent.
Recently, twenty sketchbooks and a portfolio of loose drawings sold for $12,300 at https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2818T/lots/1167 Several of the sketchbooks in the lots were inscribed “H.A. Vincent,” with two inscribed “P. Cornoyer.” The auction lot included pencil and charcoal sketches of various sizes, as well as three books belonging to Vincent – The Whistler Book, Dante’s Inferno by Gustave Dore, and A History of Architecture. One of Vincent’s sketchbooks was a record with thumbnail sketches of various works and notes regarding their sale at galleries. I wonder if there were any scene designs included within his sketchbooks. Regardless, I am grateful for the digital age and the many examples of his sketching techniques posted online.
Some of the sketchbooks depicting the work of Harry A. Vincent. These books were part of an online auction lot.
For more information about the work of Vincent, there is a catalogue that was released in conjunction with the art exhibit “Harry A. Vincent & His Contemporaries in a Retrospective Exhibition in 2006.” The publication is by Judith A. Curtis. Here is the link rtartassn.org/product/harry-vincent-n-contemporaries-judith-curtis-hardcover/ on Harry A. Vincent
Catalogue by Judith A. Curtis that accompanied the 2006 exhibit. Here is the link: rtartassn.org/product/harry-vincent-n-contemporaries-judith-curtis-hardcover/ on Harry A. Vincent
Thomas G. Moses left for Portland and the Marquam Theatre job on January 8, 1890. Ed Loitz and Howard Tuttle were there on the job to help him paint the scenery for Marquam’s Teatre.
Photograph of Portland, Oregon, in 1890.
Bird’s eye view map of Portland in 1890.
The story is best is left for Moses’ own words as part of 1890 is summed up in a blur of entries. Here is one:
“Found Loitz had got everything in good shape, and we went to work and soon made a showing. One day just after I had finished laying in some foliage borders, and I was smeared from head to foot, face awfully dirty, a party of young folks came up on the paint bridge. They asked me a dozen questions. One of the ladies asked me, “What are they going to have for the drop curtain?” I answered that “It had been left to me to paint whatever I thought best.” They all looked at my dirty face and wondered what kind of curtain I would paint. Then she said,” I hope you will paint one as nice as the one in the New California Theatre in San Francisco.” I said to her that I was pleased to hear she liked that curtain, for I painted it. She was very much surprised and said, “So you are Mr. Moses!” We should be honored in having you paint our new theatre scenery.” She then introduced me to her friends. She seemed to know all about my work. Rather hard to connect me with a successful curtain. They all called several times after that. I managed to look more presentable when they called. I met her again in San Diego years after that at the Hotel Florence and she related to Fisher how she had met me and was astonished that an artist so “be-smudged” as I was could paint such beautiful pictures. Overalls don’t always make a man, they only help to keep the tailor and laundry bills down to normal.”
Carter’s overalls receipt from 1890.
This is just one of the stories in Moses’ typed manuscript, but there was something about the statement “overalls don’t always make the man” that struck a cord with me. I have worn my old paint overalls for years and recently received the comment, “Oh, how sweet, you are still wearing overalls!” I was a bit shocked. Then I thought about her statement as it wasn’t intended as a slight. They are seldom in stores now, even at thrift stores, and yet they remain a staple of my painting wardrobe. When my few remaining pairs finally wear out, I will certainly have a problem. Overalls, coveralls, or bibs – whatever you chose to call them- keep the laundry bills down, especially when using dry pigment.
Thomas G. Moses met up with Howard Tuttle in Riverside, California on November 28, 1889. Tuttle had come up to help Moses with the next few projects where they would work as a team. Tuttle had started working with Moses when Walter Burridge left Burridge, Moses & Louderback the previous year and remained with Moses when he returned to Sosman & Landis. Projects that Tuttle accompanied Moses on were in Riverside, CA, San Francisco, CA, Evansville, IN and Corvallis, OR. Tuttle would later be the scenic artist for theatre settings at the Davidson (Milwaukee, WI), the La Crosse Theatre (La Crosse, Wisconsin), Grand Opera House (Oshkosh, WI), Illinois Theatre (Rock Island, IL), Calumet Theatre (Calumet, MI), and Stone’s Theatre (Flint, MI).
During the Riverside project, Moses wrote, “I had too much to do. We worked night and day, and every evening a number of ladies would drop in from the hotel to watch us. They were very interesting – very refined – mostly from the Eastern cities. It was a pleasure to meet them.”
Riverside, California, in 1885 depicting the intersection of Ninth and Main Streets.
Moses and Tuttle stayed at the Old Glenwood Hotel. The Glenwood Hotel was started by Christopher Columbus Miller and his family, who came to Riverside in 1874. The operation included a small, cottage built hotel around the Miller home. Later additions expanded their business.
The Glenwood Hotel in Riverside, California.
In 1880 the hotel and grounds were sold to Miller’s oldest son, Frank, who continued the business for more than twenty years. Moses noted that the Frank Miller was an the “ideal” landlord during their stay in Riverside. However, Frank Miller planned a larger hotel in 1902 and started construction of the Mission Inn on the grounds of the old Glenwood Hotel.
Stage for the Glenwood Hotel in Riverside, California.
Competing stages for the Glenwood and Arlington hotels in Riverside, California.
Miller used a stage coach, and later his brother’s fleet of automobiles, to transport visitors from the train stations. The Glenwood Hotel Stages in the 1880s made daily trips to bring passengers to Riverside from the train stations in Colton, East Riverside, and eventually downtown Riverside. The Arington Hotel on the northwest corner of Eight Street and the Glenwood Hotel on the northeast corner of Main and Seventh Streets enjoyed a rivalry trying to secure guests for their establishments. The history of Riverside is included in a publication by Steve Lech, “Riverside, 1870-1940.”
Life was finally looking up and Moses’ finances were becoming a little more stable. He wrote, “I had done very well this year, ahead of last year, so I was satisfied.” Moses recorded that he and Tuttle had a difficult time getting out of Riverside, but they were on their way by December 30, 1889, and left town with Verona Jarbeau’s company. On their way they were delayed by a washout that held them up for thirty hours. During this time, he made some sketches and “sold them on the ground.”
Verona Jarbeau
Moses and Tuttle then stopped for several days in San Francisco to visit with old friends, one being Bill Porter who was the scenic artist at Tivoli Theatre.
Tivoli Theatre where Bill Porter worked as the scenic artist.
There was a great network of scenic artists across the country and many remained friends. Moses always looked up his fellow artists wherever he traveled as he never knew when he might need a helping hand on a project. After San Francisco Moses and Tuttle headed up to Tacoma for several days to sketch. Then they continued on to their next contract in Portland. In Portland they were also able to pick up a few extra projects in addition to painting for the theatre.
The final artist that accompanied Thomas G. Moses, John H. Young and Hardesty Maratta on their sketching trips in 1883 was Edward A. Morange. At the time, Morange was working as the scenic artist for the Grand Opera House in Chicago. He would later work as a scenic artist for the Academy of Music and New National Theatre in Washington D. C., as well as, the National Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, prior to establishing the studio Gates & Morange.
Born in Cold Springs, New York during 1865, Morange was trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Corcoran School of Fine Arts in Washington. D.C. His early leanings and ambitions toward architecture and civil engineering were set aside for a career in scenic art and design. Fortunately, he had an opportunity to secure a position in a scenic studio and later with the Grand Opera House in Chicago. The pictorial appeal of scenic art called to him and he remained with this theatrical profession.
However, his involvement in the performing arts would not solely focus on scenery production. In 1914 Edward A. Morange was be listed as the Director for a silent movie, “The Great Diamond Robbery, “ a six-reel film was assembled by the Playgoer’s Film Company of New York City. Wallace Eddinger starred as detective Dick Brummage in a case involving a Brazilian adventurous (Gail Kane) and the theft of the fabulous Romanoff diamonds. When Detective Brummage proved Kane’s guilt, she took poison. The film was based on the play by Edward M. Alfriend and A. C. Wheeler.
Article about “The Great Diamond Robbery” that Edward A. Morange directed in 1914. Published in the New York Tribune, March 20, 1914. Morange was an artist who worked in the scenic studio and went on sketching trips with Thomas G. Moses.
On March 20, 1914, the New York Tribune published, “At last a theatrical manager has put on a legitimate drama, with a cast composed entirely of screen novices, but stage veterans. The resulting motion picture more than justifies the effort…’The Great Diamond Robbery’ is a melodrama which was produced in New York about twenty years ago, when it ran for about a year in the American Theatre. It is adorned with regular melodrama features, such as a beautiful villainess, a working girl heroine and gallant detective, who foils assorted criminals and marries the working girl. But the story is nevertheless one that holds attention.”
Article about “The Great Diamond Robbery” that Edward A. Morange directed in 1914. Published in the New York Tribune, March 20, 1914.
Morange had an extremely interesting life, but little is available in terms of his family and private affairs. He married in the 1890s and had two children, Julia and Leonard. Only five years after the debut of his movie, Morange would lose his son, Leonard Sowersby Morange, to the war. A WWI aviator, Leonard would be the first Bronxville resident who died during WWI. Leonard was noted as an expert piano player who could hear a song once and repeat it. His obituary noted that Leonard was inspired by Jerome Kern, a fellow Bronxville resident and longtime friend of his father Edward A, Morange. It is recorded that Kern wrote “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” in the Morange home and had hoped that Leonard would return home from the war and possibly join him in musical venues. This interesting fact was recently reprinted in the “Journal Sentinel” on May 24, 2014 (“RAF pilot was 1st Bronxville resident killed in WWI.” May 24, 2014).
Leonard Sowersby Morange, sone of Edward A. Morange, the scenic artist and film director. Reprinted in the “Journal Sentinel” on May 24, 2014 (“RAF Pilot was 1st Bronxville Resident Killed in WWI”).
WWI aviator Leonard Morange, son of Edward A. Morange the scenic artist.
In 1930, Edward Morange was still listed in the census as an artist, working in the scene painting industry. At the time, he was sixty-five years old and living with his wife Julia (b. 1867) in Bronxville, New York. The census listed that they also had a maid who lived with them. By 1940 Morange was living at 80 Sagamore Rd. in Eastchester Town, Westchester County, New York. He was now with his daughter Leila (b. 1904), her husband Leland Hanson (b. 1899), their two children Joan (1930) and Lealand Jr. (b. 1931), and two servants. In 1955, Morange died on the even of his ninetieth birthday.
After the failure to complete the Spectatorium for the 1893 World Fair in Chicago, Hardesty G. Maratta was released from his contract with Steele MacKaye. He traveled with Frank C. Peyraud (1858-1948) to Peoria, Illinois, where they completed two public painting projects and several private commissions. They were contracted to paint murals and decorate the interiors of both the pubic library and City Hall. One of the library murals was titled “View from Prospect Heights.” The 20-foot by 11-foot mural painted for Peoria’s library presently is stored in the vault of the Lakeview Museum.
Mural by Hardesty G. Maratta and Frank C. Peyraud, celebrating the founding of the town in 1831.
The landscape depicts a meandering river and Peoria Lake with marshlands and a few islands. The composition shows the landscape before the construction of levees, a lock, and a dam in 1939. One of the Peoria City Hall murals was titled “Peoria, August 29, 1831” to commemorate the founding of the town. They also created fine art works for the library, some that still hang in the current boardroom. Here is a link to two paintings: http://old.library.eiu.edu/artarch/displayall.asp?LibraryID=749
Frank C. Peyraud. Painting by Antonin Sterba, Brauer Museum of Art, gift of Percy H. Sloan.
Peoria newspapers hailed Peyraud as “Illinois’ foremost landscape painter” who had produced artworks for the Union League Club, the Flanagan House, and the Peoria Women’s Club. Unlike Maratta, Peyraud stayed in Peoria for three years and offered art lessons for young aspiring artists. He stayed until his wife (also a fellow immigrant from Switzerland) passed away in 1899. Peyraud he found love again in 1906 with fellow artist Elizabeth Krysher. Kyysher was a children’s portrait painter and illustrator. Early on in their marriage, the couple traveled from California to the East Coast. In Old Lyme, Connecticut, they even stayed with a colony of impressionist landscape painters. The couple eventually settled in north-suburban Ravinia, Illinois (a section of Highland Park) in 1919. In 1921, Peyraud traveled back to Switzerland for three years.
I have previously touched on Maratta’s partnership with Peyraud in Peoria in the February 2, 2017 www.dry pigment.net post. In light of Maratta’s and Peyraud’s scenic art connection with Thomas G. Moses’ it is worth recapping a little information about this fascinating Swiss immigrant. Peyraud was a notable Impressionist landscape artist who would also work as a scenic artist with Thomas G. Moses during the 1890s.
François “Frank” Charles Peynaud was born in Bulle, Switzerland and received some early artistic training at the l’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He traveled to the United States in 1881 and soon decided to stay, settling in the Chicago area. He would remain in this region for the majority of his life. Peyraud first applied for work as a draftsman at the architectural firm of William Le Baron Jenney. Historians have suggested that he did not receive any work due to his poor English. However, he started working as both a scenic artist, on cycloramas and panoramas. Very little is known of his early years in Chicago, but in 1891, Peyraud touched up Paul Philippoteaux’s panoramic painting depicting the Battle of Gettysburg.
It was Peyraud, Maratta, A. J. Rupert, Harry Vincent, Thomas G. Moses, and a number of others artists painted who William Hawoth’s “Flag of Truce” in 1892. By the way, the original script is still available at the University of Chicago (in the Charles Morton Agency Collection of American Popular Drama 1842-1950, Box 35, folder 2). Peyraud worked with Moses in the theatre during 1892 and 1893.
By the mid-1890s Peyraud was noted for his impressionist style, often depicting dramatic skies at dawn, sunset, or moonlight.
Yellow Moon Over Setting Sea, Frank C. Peyraud. Currently held in the Peoria Historical Society Painting Collection.
His fine art was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design (NY), the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Philadelphia), the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), the Pan-Pacific Exposition (San Francisco) and many other exhibits too numerous to mention. His paintings remain in a variety of collections worldwide, including the Art Institute and Union League Club of Chicago, the Municipal Collection of Phoenix and the Art Museum of Bulle, Switzerland. In 1935 the conservative Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors awarded Peyraud a gold medal and he was widely regarded as the dean of Chicago landscape painters.
Frank C. Payraud, Autumn on Desplaines, 1925. Richard Norton Gallery.
Peyraud won the Young Fortnightly Prize for the best painting in the Chicago Art Institute’s 1899 annual show. It was the first of many awards he would receive over the course of his career. Other awards included a Municipal Art League p prize in 1912 and the Art Institute’s Martin B. Cahn Prize in 1921. In 1948, Peyraud exhibited for a final time at the Chicago Galleries Association. He died later that year, on the eve of his ninetieth birthday.
Frank C. Peyraud, In the Shade, Worlds Fair 1933. Richard Norton Gallery.
It is Moses’ mention of Peyraud, Maratta and other notable artists that causes me to ponder the significance of Moses writings, scenery, and fine art. His typed manuscript, handwritten diaries and scrapbook are much more significant than the interesting details that provide a glimpse into theatre history. Moses provides eyewitness accounts and context for his contemporaries in an ever-shifting art world.
These artists from a variety of backgrounds worked, traveled, dreamed, and planned together. They were working towards a much bigger picture in the world of arts and sciences. One gets a sense of their personalities, the industries that they worked for, and how fluid their talents were during this golden age of scenic art. Their friendships, social exchanges, moral support, and partnerships went far beyond the realms of mere work or artistic study for the stage. They played and brainstormed together about future possibilities for not only themselves, but also later generations.
To look at Moses’ creation of the Fort Scott scenery collection as simply a small moment in Masonic or theatre history is shortsighted! It was the culmination of decades of training after interacting with international visionaries. He was part of a patchwork quilt that transcended our own country’s borders.
Today I look at Hardesty Gilmore Maratta (August 22, 1864-October 1924). His birthday was yesterday, August 22 – 153 years ago. He also enters the Thomas G. Moses’ story at this point.
Thomas G. Moses and John H. Young continued to study art and go on sketching trips throughout 1883. Traveling companions and other fellow artists included Edward A. Morange and Hardesty G. Maratta (August 22, 1864-October 1924). Moses wrote “we certainly had some good trips.” He elaborated in one entry writing, “We were all working in watercolor. Most of our trips were along the river where we found good material and a lot of adventures – too numerous to mention. One Sunday we were sketching a grain schooner that was ready to leave at the Rock Island Elevator. A tug arrived to tow it from the lake. We objected as we had some work to finish on the sketch. The tug Captain was good-natured and invited us aboard the tug. We finished the sketch and rode out in the lake beyond the water crib some three miles. The Captain brought us back to Washington Street. We were profuse in our thanks and we were also satisfied. It gave the crew something to talk about.”
Maratta was born in Chicago, Illinois. A life-long resident, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where he exhibited from 1888 to 1906. He was well known as a watercolorist, scenic artist, newspaper illustrator, color theoretician, and designer of TECO pottery at Gates Potteries in Chicago.
1904 advertisement for Teco Pottery at Gates Potteries in Chicago, Illinois.
Example of Teco sign and vases.
Maratta was one of the artists commissioned by Juan Lorenzo Hubbell, owner of the Hubbell Trading Post at Ganado, Arizona, to copy Navajo rugs, especially the classic designs, in watercolor and oil. These designs were hung on his walls to encourage the rug weavers working during the duplication of the designs. Maratta studied the coloring of the plains of the Southwest after returning from his time abroad.
Maratta painted in California during the late 1890s. Some of his artworks remain in the Santa Fe Railroad Collection, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; Fogg Museum, Harvard University; and the Hubbell Trading Post Museum, Ganado, Arizona.
Hardesty G. Maratta, “Marsh Landscape,” 1905.
Maratta also made a name for himself with the color scale. While he was while cleaning several paintings by Guido Reni, he first became convinced that color harmony was a well-known science from long ago; he just happened to rediscover these ancient Greek rhythms.
The “color scale” by Hardesty G. Maratta.
In an article titled “Color Scale,” published in Railway Master Mechanic Vol. 31, 1907 (pg. 301), Maratta was interviewed. He was quoted, “I began studying this subject when I discovered the analogy that exists between color, music, architecture, and chemistry. Music is a division of sound into harmonic ratios; architecture a division of space into harmonic ratios, and chemistry the division of elements in the same manner.” The “Color Scale” article continues, “The blending and harmonizing of shades and colors were so exact in each of these that he does not believe it could have been accidental. Examination of pictures by other old masters confirmed his belief…Harmony of color, heretofore depending solely upon the training and taste of the individual handling of pigments, has been reduced to an exact science as the harmony of music. This assertion of a great principle, forming the foundation for all art in which colors are used, is made by Hardesty G. Maratta, a Chicago artist, who has devoted the last twelve years to its solution.”
The basis of his approach was also explained in the 1920 publication, “Arts & Decoration, Vol. XIV, No. 1. The author explained the color system of Maratta, writing that any system of beauty, whether it is created or follows a system, is built upon rhythm (Nov. 1920, pg. 1).
When Maratta finally decided to devote all of his time to the study of color, he first experimented with fire-resistant colors, making many burnt clay pictures. Then he went into the factories where paints where made and studied them there. The article notes, “for a year, to demonstrate his theory, he painted stage scenery, using only three primary colors – yellow, red, and blue.” He then applied for a color system patent.
1909 Patent for the color chart by Hardesty G.Maratta.
1909 Patent for the color chart by Hardesty G.Maratta.
From a theatrical context, Hardesty C. Maratta and Frank Peyraud were actively involved with Steele MacKaye’s Spectatorium project. Maratta had a fifteen-year contract with MacKaye, which “the failure of the scheme and MacKaye’s sudden death left null and void” (The Critic, June 27, 1896, pg. 427). I’ll explore this topic tomorrow.
While researching scenic artists who worked with Thomas G. Moses, John H. Young kept reappearing in many documents. One of the best articles that I came across was a loose piece of paper from the John R. Rothgeb Papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. It was a photocopied page of an article without any citation titled, “How Scene Painting is Done in a Big Studio, John H Young Goes About His Work in Systematic Fashion and Gives Public an Idea of How His Difficult Work is Performed.” There was no date or source to credit to this article. I have searched in vain, trying to track it down.
“How Scene Painting is Done in a Big Studio” Article in John R. Rothgeb Papers, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. No date. The information provided by John H. Young, scenic artist is wonderful. Illustration is one of his sketches from “The Highwayman.”
“How Scene Painting is Done in a Big Studio” Article in John R. Rothgeb Papers, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. No date. This is the only image that I have seen of John H. Young!
“John H. Young at Work” illustration in “How Scene Painting is Done in a Big Studio” John R. Rothgeb Papers, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. No date.
However, this is not a document that should be lost. It signifies a well-known designer and artist who got his start with Thomas G. Moses. Here is the article in its entirely as it is a treasure trove of information:
“No scenic artist in this country enjoys a higher reputation than John H. Young of the Broadway Theatre. Hardly a play of any moment which has been produced in the metropolis has been written without evidences of his careful and skillful touch, and for the road attractions they bristle with the touches of his brush.
But Mr. Young’s position in his special line has not been reached without long and conscientious work dating back nearly a score of years. Born in the early 60s, Mr. Young soon gave signs of his artistic bent by turning his back upon the allurements of Michigan farming, and he was barely out of his teens before he was turning out pictures, which, though the evinced talent, were lacking in that technique which can only come from study and practice. About this time Mr. Young had the good fortune to come in contact with Thomas Moses, the veteran scenic artist of the West, and the latter was quick to see signs of talent in his young protégé.”
For several years Mr. Young worked in concert with his instructor and the scenes that he painted caused so wide comment, that in time he came to New York, where he could find a better field for his abilities. New York managers were quick to appreciate his efforts and thus came about that the subject of this sketch was installed as chief artist at the Broadway, which position he has held for more than seven years.
The average manager, when he has selected a play, has but seldom anything more than the vaguest idea of what he wants in the way of scenery to enhance it. It is just here that Mr. Young steps in a rescues the befuddled manager from the slough of theatrical despondence. He gets the main incidents of the author’s story and suggests the possibilities of scenic illustration. Oftentimes the manager who is to produce the play has ideas of the most impractical nature and Mr. Young shows him a hasty sketch of the utter folly of attempting to reproduce them. Provided Mr. Young and the manager come to an agreement, the decided-upon scenes are first done in watercolors, and these, when finished are subjected to another inspection by both artist and manager. Changes are suggested here and there, and sometimes even, the whole work is gone over, when it is found advisable. When the preliminary sketch is satisfactory, the next step is to transform into a miniature set scene, which duplicates down to the most trifling detail, the contemplates larger on for the actual performance. For this performance Mr. Young has in his studio, a small stage fitted with all the appurtenances which belong to the most complex of the regular stages; there are trap doors, wings, fly-galleries, a drop curtain, electric light, and a maze of small cords and fixtures for managing the whole.
If it be a mill scene, for instance, that is being arranged, the duplicate in miniature must have the revolving wheel, the running water, the sluice-box, and nothing whatever must be lacking. Very often when all is completed and in place on this trial stage, something of an impractical nature may be discovered and remedied, before the expense of the larger model is incurred. Theoretically many wonderful stage scenes may be all right, but the little trial stage prevents all failures and fiascos so far as the mere scenery is concerned. Of course, after this point is reached – the test on the trial stage – nothing remains but the putting of the scenes into the proper shape for the public. Time is the principal factor in this, and the more scenes and the more full of mechanical contrivance they are the longer it takes, Mr. Young has been most fortunate in overcoming the difficulties which put the mere spectacular plays beyond the abilities of many scenic artists. In “Under the Poplar Star,” for nicety of construction and naturalness of action, Mr. Young’s iceberg scene has seldom been equaled, and in all of his work there is the same evidence of thorough art, combined with a broad grasp of mechanical detail.
To the layman, scenic painting is somewhat of a mystery, and if he gives any thought to it at all it is doubtful if he realizes the high order of artistic ability which one must possess in order to faithfully deploy upon mammoth stage canvases the scenes which reflect the spirit of the play. Not only has one got to be an artist to begin with, but he must be a perfect jack-at-all trades in order to transfer his preliminary small sketch to a back drop measuring sometimes more than 100×40 feet; in the main, the small pattern picture is ruled off into squares, each of which is consecutively numbered. Similar squares, but on a much larger scale are then drawn upon the great canvas and the sketch is then “blocked in” square for square and number by number. As long as four months is needed on some of the more pretentious scenes, though about six weeks is the average for an ordinary scene. To enumerate the plays for which Mr. Young has painted scenes is no easy task, but among them may be mentioned, “The Highwayman,”
“The Highwayman by John H. Young” illustration in “How Scene Painting is Done in a Big Studio” John R. Rothgeb Papers, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. No date.
“On the Bowery,” “Power of the Press,” “In Old Kentucky,” “Cumberland ’61,” “The Player,” “Pousee Café,” “Woman in Black,” “Under the City Lamps,” “Le Voyage de Susette,” “The Diamond Breaker,” “Monongahela,” “Trip to the Moon,” “Naval Cadet,” “Roaring Dick,” “La Falotte,” “Fallen Among Thieves,” “Polar Star,” “For the Crown,” “Lion Tamer,” “Across the Potomac,” “Power of Gold,” “Wang,” “Hamlet,” “Sidewalks of New York,” In addition, Mr. Young has painted many of the best drop curtains in the country, and as a water color artist he stands in the foremost rank. Nearly every exhibition of note is contributed to by him, and his work command a high price among discriminating purchasers.”
Part 151: John Z. Wood and the Twin City Scenic Company Collection
John Z. Wood traveled extensively for work after the financial travesty caused by his stepson Horace C. Tuttle in 1896. After painting for the Winnipeg Theatre, Wood journey to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and painted scenery for a variety of venues. I often wondered what drew Wood to Minneapolis. It might have been the connections that another Rochester Art Club founder, Harvey Ellis, had to the area. Ellis settled in the St. Paul, Minnesota, during 1886 and worked throughout the region for seven years before returning to Rochester. Some of Ellis’ designs include the Mabel Tainter Memorial Building in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and Pillsbury Hall, at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis (East Bank).
It was in Minneapolis that Wood worked for the Twin City Scenic Company. His designs for drop curtains are currently part of the Twin City Scenic Co. collection in the Performing Arts Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries. The backs of some designs include the name Robert J. Mork, a salesman for the Twin City Scenic Co. A few of Wood’s paintings also have competitive scenic studio stamps and markings on the backs, such as the Great Western Stage Equipment Co.
John Z. Wood design with Twin City Scenic Co. stamp and “Mork,” the name of a salesman. Twin City Scenic Co. Collection (PA43), Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
John Z. Wood design with “Mork,” the name of a salesman. Twin City Scenic Co. Collection (PA43), Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
I keep referring to the scenery collections at the University of Minnesota and should explain its significance. Here is the link for the collections: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/scenicsearch
Here is what the scenery collection search page. To do a search for John Z. Wood, type his name in the keywords box.
This is one of the examples from the scenery collection search on John Z. Wood that will pop up during a search.
If it were not for Lance Brockman’s passion to pass on historical painting techniques and acquire these collections to preserve a disappearing heritage, I would be doing something else entirely today.
From 1989-1991, I processed two scenery collections (Great Western Stage Equipment Co. collection and the Holak collection) while attending the University of Minnesota as an undergraduate student. A decade later, I help design, write the text, and assign all of the metadata for the online scenery collection database while completing my graduate work. All the while, I replicated the painting techniques for both small-scale renderings and full-scale scenery, mainly on my own time. My introduction to this material at the age of nineteen shifted my focus from performance to scenic art and design. I was immediately hooked on this aesthetic and the scenic artists who painted visual spectacle for popular entertainment venues – especially Scottish Rite theatres.
Lance Brockman was instrumental in acquiring the Twin City Scenic Collection for the University of Minnesota as an educational tool for theatre students, artists and all others interested in this theatrical heritage. Portions of the Twin City Scenic Co. collection were displayed in a museum exhibit and catalogue titled “The Twin City Scenic Collection: Popular Entertainment 1895-1929.” The exhibit ran from April 5 – June 14, 1987 and was curated by Brockman at the University Art Museum, located in Northrup Auditorium on the east bank of the Minneapolis campus. Ironically, this was the year that I started my college career, so I never saw the exhibit!
The catalogue that accompanied the show was dedicated to John R. Rothgeb. He had passed away in December of 1986, just four months prior to the opening of the exhibit. Rothgeb was a theatre professor at the University of Texas (Austin) who first linked the significance of Scottish Rite collections with theatre history. He contacted many Scottish Rite Valleys throughout the country inquiring about their scenery collections. Rothgeb’s scholarly contributions are monumental and worth study in their own right. Much of his research is located in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. He was particularly interested in Thomas G. Moses and the Sosman & Landis Studio. This was one of major reasons that prompted my trip to Texas last fall after the Scottish Rite photo shoot in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Twin City Scenic exhibit catalogue was dedicated to Rothgeb. Brockman wrote, “He will be missed, but the groundwork that he established will provide the necessary foundation ultimately to preserve for future generations both an integral link with nineteenth-century heritage of American theatre and an understanding of “the romantic tradition of painted scenery.”
As part of the dedication page, Brockman included two paragraphs from Rothgeb’s unfinished essay. It is well worth including in its entirety here, as his sentiment is even more significant at this particular point in time:
“The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in American are rich in theatrical history, but little remains of the romantic tradition of painted scenery. As each year passed, there are fewer who can recall the beauty and delight evoked by a finely executed painted drop. For the very nature of scenery implies its fugitive quality. One interesting aspect of this painterly tradition, the ad curtain is nearly gone and forgotten, for even those who remember seeing them in theatres have their memories dimmed. Theatrical history today tends to look upon turn-of-the-century through the eyes of the reformers of the “new Stagecraft” such as Hiram Moderwell: “We now rarely see and old-fashioned ‘drop’ scene, and have almost forgotten how absurd it looks.” [H. Moderwell, “Theatre of Today” (New York: John Lane Company, 1914), 21]. Today the ad curtain is occasionally used in revivals of melodramas so that the audience can hiss at the villain, smile at the scenery, and feed self-satisfied with the sophistication of the 1980s. The theatre of 1880, however, was vital almost beyond our imagination, consisting of perhaps 2,000 working theatres across the country with an audience made up of nearly every citizen. As a part of the scenic tradition of this period, the phenomenon of the ad curtain interestingly illustrates the commercial course of our cultural evolution. – John R. Rothgeb.”
Despite his success in fine art and some early theatre designs, Wood’s career hit a major obstacle in 1896 that resulted in a substantial financial loss. This event was like let the instigator that prompted Wood to seek employment at theaters. At that time, scenic artists could be considered a very lucrative profession. The substantial amount that one could make producing a variety of painted scenes was indicated in the lists of business transactions listed in Thomas Moses’ typed manuscript. You just needed to be fast and talented.
A newspaper article popped up in one of my online searches for John Z. Wood. In it, he was listed as the stepfather of Horace C. Tuttle (b. 1863). A sad story unfolded, describing family betrayal and subsequent financial ruin. Here is the article in its entirety from the “Democrat and Chronicle” (Rochester, NY) 30 July 1896, page 9:
“Bad Predicament of a Young Man. Horace C. Tuttle Spent the Money of His Parents. His Arrest Followed. The Man Represented to Them That He Wanted the Money to Engage in Business in New York – Taken on a Minor Charge. Horace C. Tuttle, a young man well known in the city, was arrested at Batavia last Monday on a charge of skipping a board bill. Young Tuttle’s home at No. 17 Chestnut Street with his stepfather, John Z. Wood, who is an artist with a studio in the Reynold’s Arcade.
Interior image of Reynold’s Arcade.
1876 drawing of Reynolds Arcade exterior.
Tuttle’s sudden downfall has excited no end of comment in this city, as it was the general impression here that he was prospering in business. He was a member of the Yokefellow’s class of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church and was at one time prominently identified with the Y.M.C.A. After graduating at the Free Academy he went to work in Miller’s piano store on State Street. He became dissatisfied at his small salary and the hard work he had to do and made up his mind to do business on a larger scale. He accordingly unfolded to his stepfather and his mother the outlines of a plan that he said would make him speedily rich. He told his parents that he had been engaged as a traveling salesman with Newby & Evans, piano dealers in New York city, and that of course it would take some money to get started. The cash was forthcoming and the young man departed for New York in high glee.
Philadelphia advertisement for Newby & Evans.
Once in the metropolis the young man’s mind began to work upon larger lines. He would make himself a member of the firm and get his foster parent to furnish more money. In proof of his assertion young Tuttle sent to his stepfather a letter written by John C. Johnson, stating that Horace was undoubtedly a man of unusual ability and was certain to make his mark in the piano business. If they could get hold of the money it would be an excellent scheme to furnish him with the necessary funds to make himself a member of the firm Newby & Evans.
On the strength of the letter from Mr. Johnson, represented by young Tuttle to be the vice-president of the company, and by virtue of the importunities of the young man himself. Mr. Wood was induced to send along about $4,000 in money to make his stepson a member of the firm. Tuttle visited home occasionally, and was always expensively dressed and invariably had lots of money. This, his parents thought, he had made as a result of his investment.
Newby & Evans vintage envelope.
About two months ago, as Tuttle had not visited home for some time, Mrs. Wood became alarmed at his long absence and wired Mr. Johnson, asking him where her son was. The answer came back from the firm Newby & Evans, but Mr. Johnson’s name was not at the bottom of the telegram. It said that there was no such man as “John C. Johnson” in the employ of the company and that they did not know any such person. Mr. Wood then called on Mr. Miller, the State street piano dealer, to find out something about Newby & Evans company. Mr. Miller did not know anything about them. Mr. Wood was shocked beyond measure. His stepson had represented to him that Mr. Miller was one of the leading officers in the company.
Other matters such as notes that were not met and board bills that had not been settled soon came to the notice of the unhappy couple and their eyes were soon opened to the fact that instead of investing the money the young man had been living on it and had spent most of the $4,000 that had been given him. Mr. and Mrs. Wood can ill afford to lose this amount and they are almost crushed by the news of the disgrace.”
The equivalent of $4,000 lots in 1896 is over $110,000.00 today!
