Sketching Trip – Page 4 – Drypigment.net

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 525 – Thomas G. Moses and “By-Paths in the Mountains”

Part 525: Thomas G. Moses and “By-Paths in the Mountains”

Yesterday, I examined the artistic career of Charles Graham. During 1879, Graham went on a sketching trip to gather information for Rebecca Harding Davis’ article series “By-paths in the Mountains.” Her three papers were published Harper’s Magazine during 1880; they described a fictional trip in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.

Rebecca Harding Davis, author of “By-Paths in the Mountains” for Harper’s Magazine in 1880

In 1927, Thomas G. Moses submitted several tales about stories past sketching trips under the heading “Tom Moses’ Trips.” One series described Moses’ sketching trip to West Virginia during 1885. His trip followed the same path as Graham’s. Moses first met Graham I 1874 when they were both working at Hooley’s theater in Chicago; Moses was gilding the opera boxes while Graham painted the drop curtain.

Article “By-Paths in the Mountains” in Harper’s Magazine with list of illustrations, 1880.

The “Green-Mountain Freeman” reported “The experience of Charles Graham, one of Harper Brothers’ artists, who has just returned from a sketching tour in the south strongly illustrates the lawless antagonism which every northerner may expect to encounter who attempts to live there. Mr. Graham started out in August to make sketches for the illustration of a series of articles by Miss Rebecca Harding Davis, which are to appear in Harper’s Magazine, and returned to New York a few days ago. As a northerner he was looked upon with extreme suspicion, and his movements were so closely watched as to impede seriously the progress of his work. It was even pretended that he was mistaken for a revenue officer, and he was once shot at by moonshiners”(Montpelier, Vermont, 29 Oct. 1879, page 2).

Illustration by Charles Graham for “Bi-paths in the Mountains” by Rebecca Harding Davis. Harper’s Magazine Vol. 61, N. 362, pages 167-185.

“The Macon Republican” reported that ‘By-Paths in the Mountains’ was “beautifully illustrated by seventeen drawings by Charles Graham and Miss Jessie Curtis” (Macon, Missouri, 8 July 1880, page 1). Curtis’ contributions were mainly depictions of local residents, whereas Graham illustrated the landscape. “By-Paths in the Mountains” explored the landscape and history of West Virginia through the eyes of its fictional adventurers. Scenes included the falls of Blackwater and Dobbins House. Her fictional travelers traversed in the same country that Thomas G. Moses, John H. Young and Henry C. Tryon would explore on a sketching trip five years later in 1885. Moses’ tales of this West Virginia journey was published in the Palette & Chisel newsletter during 1828. Moses’ article borrowed from Davis’ publication.

Here is one example in Davis’ 1880 article: “The wilderness upon whose edge our travellers had just entered, runs back for hundreds of miles, and is as yet literally unexplored by civilized people. There is a house name Koesson’s somewhere on it, where a German by that name, with four other families, settled fifty years ago. They never appear in the settlement, live upon game and a few pigs, dress in skins, and according to Jerry, have all property in common. “They took nyther law nor decency nor God in thar with them,” said the shrewed hunter, “an I reckon they haven’t found any to speak of since.” An energetic explorer of this range of mountains, from Pittsburg succeeded in the summer of 1878 in taking a boat and launching it to then Blackwater. It was the first that had ever insulted that untamed little savage of a stream. He proposes to venture in it this summer up into the heart of Ca-na’an, and to unearth this barbarous tribe.”

Here is the same information presented in Moses’ article years later: “The wilderness runs back from the river hundreds of miles and is, as yet, literally unexplored by civilized people, according to the word of our landlord Davis. There is a house named Koesson’s somewhere in the wilderness, where a German of the name, together with four other families, settled fifty years ago. They never appeared in the settlement, lived upon game and a few pigs, dressed in skins and had all property in common. “They took nyther law, decency nor God in that wilderness,” said the landlord, and I reckon they haven’t found any to speak of since. An energetic explorer of this range of mountains, from Pittsburg, succeeded, in the summer of 1878, in taking a boat and launching it in Blackwater. It was the first one that had ever insulted that untamed little savage of a stream. He proposes to finish his work by venturing into the heart of Canaan, as the natives call the wilderness, and unearth this barbarous tribe.”

There are more other similarities between Rebecca Davis’ 1880 article and the article written by Thomas G. Moses. It may have been Moses’ writing about Graham in “Stage Scenery” that prompted him to discover the old article.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 516 – Palette and Chisel Club, the Camp Tradition Draws Members to Fox Lake

Part 516: Palette and Chisel Club, the Camp Tradition Draws Members to Fox Lake

Palette and Chisel club house in Fox Lake, Illinois

The Palette and Chisel camp at Fox Lake, Illinois, was a scenic retreat for members of to escape the daily grind of Chicago. The town was incorporated on Dec. 15, 1906, and certified by the state on April 3, 1907. Located on the south shore of Pistakee Lake, Nippersink Lake, and Fox Lake, the three connected water bodies formed the Chain O’Lakes system. Early in the 20^th century, there were only a few hundred inhabitants who were residents of Fox Lake and lived in the area year round. However, during the summer months the population could reach thousands, as area hotels and cottages filled to their capacity.

Thomas G. Moses first visiting Fox Lake camp in 1907. I discovered an undated copy of a newspaper article about the camp at the Harry Ransom Center; this was during my research visit in 2016. The article was simply titled “The Camp Tradition Draws Members to Fox Lake,” and describes the appeal of the location so well. Here is the article in its entirety

“When the green gits in the trees” and the birds begin their annual house-planning campaign, Palette and Chisel Club members naturally experience sundry tugs and nudges which they ascribe to the lure of the camp. That time is now and we bow to its influence.

Andy why has the Club Camp such a hold on the affections of our members? Not, surely, because there are no other places for out door sketching. It is equally convenient for most members to visit the hundreds of other small lakes within easy distance of this city, or the Desplaines and Fox rivers of the Dune Country of northern Indiana. The Forest Preserves, the Chicago river and harbor, our older streets and buildings are even closer at hand.

No, it is not the convenience nor the suitability of the Club Camp that gives it a hold on us. It is the tradition it embodies and makes real.

For three decades a camp in the vicinity of Fox Lake has been a recognized Club institution. The actual location has changed several times. Sometimes it has been close to the water, sometimes near the top of the low hills which surround the lake. The present site was elected by Tom Moses and the late Dave Adam, and their choice was immediately ratified by the erection of a more pretentious camp building that we have ever before aspired to own.

At the time there were no other buildings in the neighborhood. In every direction one could gaze without interference upon nature undefiled. Now, to be sure, many resort cottages more or less adorn the surrounding hills, but they are neither numerous nor close enough to interpret work or pleasure at the Camp.

Those, however, who no longer feel contented to paint on the camp grounds can still make the Camp their headquarters while sketching in the vicinity. There are many desirable scenes within ease walking distance, and no one will deny that it is more inspiring to seek them out in company with fellow workers that to wander alone from some commercial beanery where there is no feeling of companionship or similarity of aims and tastes.

It is, in fact, this very companionship which constitutes the lure of the Camp. It is the companionship which keeps alive the Camp tradition. It stands high among the things which make our Club worth while. Let us all join hands in fostering and profiting by it.

C.H.C.”

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 514 – Victor Higgins and the Sketching Trip to Oldenburg, Indiana, 1910

Part 514: Victor Higgins and the Sketching Trip to Oldenburg, Indiana, 1910

In past posts I have examined scenic artists who traveled across the country to gather material and hone their artistic skills! Thomas G. Moses recorded and submitted descriptions of many nineteenth-century sketching trips to the Palette and Chisel Club Newsletter during the 1920s. The “Brookville Democrat” published an article in 1910 about Victor Higgins and a group of artists who traveled to Oldenburg, Indiana, for a sketching trip. The article was “Artists From Chicago Spend Two Weeks at Oldenburg Making Sketches” (Brookville, Indiana, 6 Oct. 1910, page 1). Seven Palette and Chisel Club members visited east-central Indiana for four weeks during 1910. They stayed two weeks in the primarily German village of Oldenburg, one of the oldest communities in the state.

The seven artists in a painting from 1910. It now part of the M. Christine Schwartz Collection. Here is the link for the online image at the Schwartz Collection: https://schwartzcollection.com/artist/members-of-the-palette-and-chisel-club/

The artists secured lodging at the Gibson Hotel, run by Joseph Merchen. At the end of their trip, the hotel displayed 130 landscapes that were painted during their stay. One of these paintings, however, portrayed the group playing a game of pool. Each artist was painted with his palette overhead, depicting how he arranged his colors. Each portrait was attributed to a specific member of the group. The Oldenburg painting collection was again exhibited again at the Pallette & Chisel Club upon their return. The Chicago exhibit did not include the group painting, as it was a gift to Oldenburg community. The trip was described in a local newspaper:

“Seven artists of the Palette and Chisel Club spent two weeks of hard work at Oldenburg and vicinity. The Palette and Chisel Club was founded fifteen years ago when the advanced students of the Art Institute of Chicago felt the need of a club in which each could “ride his own hobby,” apart from school and yet be organized. In their meeting they relate their experiences gained from private work and observation, and thus mutually help each other. Although the organization began with but a few members, it has steadily increased and now boasts of a hundred members. It includes members from some of the best art schools of this country as well as abroad.

Those members that visited our county follow different lines of work. Mr. H. L. Engle is an expert in the restoration of old masterpieces. Mr. O. E. Hake is one of the faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago. He is a designer and illuminator for the leading editors and authors. Mr. J. E. Phillips is a noted commercial artist. Mr. R. I. Ingerle is a noted member and officer of the Chicago Society of Artists and a member of the Western Society. Mr. August Petrytl is a designer and illustrator. Mr. L. O. Griffith follows the same line of work. Mr. Victor Higgins is proficient in painting theatrical stage scenes.

The Palette and Chisel Club send some of its members out every year to make their own choice. Some of the men who were here have traveled abroad and through the west and southwest of our country. This year through the influence of Mr. Higgins, we were honored with their visit.

During their stay here they have made one-hundred-thirty landscape sketches. Most of their work was exhibited at the Gibson House, where they had their headquarters, on Friday evening. The artists expressed surprise when told that there had been no other artists here before now to make paintings of the beautiful scenery that nature has so liberally scattered in these parts. They say that there is material enough here for years of work, and they will try to come back again in the near future.”

First of all, the artists are listed for their professions; Higgins is noted as a scenic artist in 1910. Secondly, it was Higgins who suggested the area. Finally, by 1910, the year of the sketching trip, the membership of the Palette & Chisel Club had grown to one hundred members, a significant number. The seven artists from the sketching trip also represented in the M. Christine Schwartz Collection (https://schwartzcollection.com/). This Collection is a privately owned collection, consisting of paintings by mid-nineteenth- to the mid-twentieth-century Chicago artists. Included are landscapes, portraits, city views, still lifes, and figural works in a variety of academic and modernist styles. The Oldenburg group painting is now part of the Schwartz Collection.

The seven artists who journeyed to Oldenburg are quite fascinating when examined as a whole. What an exciting and interesting trip in 1910. Here is a brief description of the artists who accompanied Higgins on the sketching trip:

L. Engle was, Harry Leon Engle (1870-1968). Engle was listed in the American Art Directory of 1907-1908 as the president of the Palette & Chisel Club. A well-respected and talented landscape painter, he wrote articles about the contemporary art scene in Chicago and organized the Chicago Galleries Association. Engle later became director of the association. Engle was a Palette & Chisel gold medal winner in 1923.

Painting by Harry Leon Engle (1870-1968)

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August Petrytl (1867-1937). Petrytl designed numerous illustrations for books and even designed a green spade tarot deck in 1921. Known for his painting of historical figures, Petrytl was president of the Palette & Chisel Club in 1906. His portrait by Joseph Kleitch hung on a dining room at the Palette and Chisel club.

August Petrytl (1867-1937) sketch by Louis Kleitch

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Louis Oscar Griffith (1875-1956). Griffith was born in Greencastle, Indiana, and moved to Texas during his youth. He attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and the Chicago Art Institute, later moving to Chicago to work as a commercial illustrator. He was noted for his skills in oil painting, watercolors, woodblocks and etching. He was the Palette and Chisel Club gold medal winner in 1921.

Painting by Louis Oscar Griffith (1875-1956)

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Otto Eugene Hake (1876-1965) was born in Ulm, Germany and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. After apprenticing with a wood carver in St. Louis, Hake traveled to Chicago in 1892. In Chicago, Hake worked as an engraver and illustrator for the Binner-Wells Company. He fought in the Spanish-American War of 1898, later earning American citizenship at the age of twenty-one. Hake entered the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905 and received his first mural commission for a public high school that year. He worked as an illustrator and designer, but was best known for his murals. Hake became the president of the Palette & Chisel Club by 1910. He was also the editor of the Palette & Chisel Club journal, called “The Cow Bell.” He traveled abroad in 1912 to study at the Académie Colarossi in Paris and at the Debschitz Academy in Munich. He was the Palette and Chisel gold medal winner in 1935.

Portrait of Otto Eugene Hake (1876-1965) by Oscar Gross

Painting by Otto Eugene Hake (1876-1965)

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Rudolph F. Ingerle (1879-1950) was the son of Moravian parents, born in Vienna. His immigrated to the United States as a child, eventually settling in Chicago around 1891. Ingerle studied music before becoming an artist. He was a student at Smith’s Art Academy, the Art Institute of Chicago, and a private pupil Walter Dean Goldbeck. Ingerle joined Carl Krafft and several St. Louis artists to found the Society of Ozark Painters. He later focused on the Blue Ridge and the Cumberland Mountains during the 1920s. He and Hake went on trips to the Great Smoky Mountains where he became well-known in the region. Ingerle was a founding member of the North Shore Art League in 1924 and served as its first president. He was also the president of the Chicago Society of Artists, and a member of the Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors. In 1920 Ingerle won a gold medal from the Bohemian Art Club of Chicago. He was the Palette and Chisel gold medal winner in 1929.

Painting by Rudolph F. Ingerle (1879-1950)

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John E. Phillips (1848- ?) I have uncovered very little information about Phillips, other than his birthdate and prints of a few paintings. He was the president of the Palette and Chisel Club in 1916.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 503 – Thomas G. Moses and Henry C. Tryon

Part 503: Thomas G. Moses and Henry C. Tryon

In 1905, Thomas G. Moses recorded that he painted a Grand Canyon curtain for Duluth and used a print of Thomas Moran for the source. Although the Santa Fe Railroad had offered transportation to the Grand Canyon to complete sketches on site, Moses did not have the time to spare.

As I have previously discussed, it was the works of Thomas Moran and some of his contemporaries who influenced the painted aesthetic for popular entertainment on the stage and scenic illusion, if not by their own artworks, then by the works of their students. Moses’ connection to Moran was not simply through his reverence for the artist, but also Henry C. Tryon, a student of Moran’s and fellow scenic artist. Tryon was another Sosman & Landis artist who worked alongside Moses and went on sketching trips with him during the 1880s. Tryon was brought on at Sosman & Landis as Lem Graham’s replacement, after Graham left for Kansas City to start his own scenic studio – Kanas City Scenic Co. Moses wrote: “[Tryon] enthused Young and I more than anyone ever had. He was a pupil of Thos. Moran and James and William Hart and was very clever, but awfully eccentric.”

Moses wrote about his sketching trip to West Virginia in 1885 with Tryon, publishing a series of articles for the Palette & Chisel newsletter where Moses described his journey and traveling companions, especially the “eccentric” Henry C. Tryon. In one section, he described how Tryon became the student of Thomas Moran (1837-1926). In 1885, Moses wrote, “I certainly enjoyed talking on any subject with Tryon. He was very strong on politics, which did not particularly interest me. He was very interesting when it came to anything on art. He had been a pupil of Thomas Moran. Tryon told this story: He had bothered Moran for some time trying to induce Moran to take him on as a pupil. Moran was too much of a gentleman to throw Tryon out of his studio, so he finally took an old canvas, slapped on a lot of color with a palette knife, handed it to Tryon and said: “Take that home, make a picture out of the accidentals and bring it back in a week.” Moran felt that Tryon would throw the canvas away and not come back. The week-end found Tryon back and Moran was so well pleased with the result that he took Tryon on as a pupil, which was very beneficial to Tryon who followed Moran’s style of work even into his scenic painting, as well as his oil. He enjoyed telling this story; he surely must have made a good picture of Moran’s accidentals.” Tryon also worked as a scenic artist at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago, painting alongside Lou Malmsha, one of the great scenic artists of Chicago during the late-nineteenth century.

As I was looking for information pertaining to the drop curtain that Moses’ painted in Duluth, I encountered the Grand Canyon drop curtain that Walter W. Burridge painted for the Grand Opera House in Chicago during 1902. I also encountered another reference to Henry C. Tryon and a description of his character in a book that was recently written by Donna L. Poulton. In “Reuben Kirkham, Pioneer Artist” Poulton writes about Kirkham’s work with Alfred Lambourne (1850-1926). They painted stage scenery in Salt Lake City at the Lehi Music Hall in 1871. In Lambourne’s reminiscences about the theater, he mentions Henry C. Tryon as his final mentor. Poulton includes Lambourne’s description of Henry C. Tryon, “that erratic genius, that Bohemian of Bohemians.” Lambourne recorded, “…I worked with Tryon about seven weeks. Not on the paint gallery of the Salt Lake theatre, but in one of our southern towns, where we had taken a contract, jointly, for furnishing a set of stock scenery. Those seven weeks were among the most exciting, and from the art standpoint, most profitable of my life. Tryon arrived in Salt Lake City, after a long and successful season of scene-painting in Chicago, and at the Tabor Grand, in Denver. Who, that knew the man, could ever forget that walk, that shock of unkempt red hair, that shrewd ingratiating smile and fun, the enthusiasm, or flash of anger in those steel gray Irish eyes. How distinctly I remember the low suppressed tones of his voice and the sparkle in the same eyes, as he once confronted me and uttered these words: “I have never yet met a man whose combativeness I could not overcome with my own.” However that may have been, we became fast friends and without surrender on either side.”

Henry C. Tryon wrote a tribute to his good friend and fellow scenic artist, Louis Malmsha (1863-1882). Tryon worked with Malmsha at Wood’s Theatre in Cincinnati and later with him at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago. In 1882, Tryon published a tribute to Malmsha heralding him as “the greatest scenic painter in the world.” It appeared in the “Salt Lake City Herald” on October 22, 1882. (see past installment #123). Of Malmsha, he wrote, “As an humble follower, ardent admirer, friend, and confrere of this dead artist I felt it my duty to render tribute and homage to his transcendent genius. He was “the best in the profession.” Every artist who has seen his work has without qualification given him this position as a matter of simple fact. I have seen samples from the hands of the best scenic artists in England, France, and Italy, and from what I have seen and learned. I am convinced that Mr. Malmsha was the greatest scenic painter in the world.” This allows us to trace a scenic art lineage of respect and admiration.

Tryon was born in Chicago in 1847. At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the army in a regiment attached to the Second Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, serving until the close of the Civil War. He later became a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Design, intending to become a landscape painter, studying with both Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and William M. Hart (1823-1894). Tryon worked with Malmsha at Wood’s Theatre in Cincinnati and later with him at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago. In the early 1880s. Tryon had moved to Salt Lake City where he became active as a scenic artist, well known for his drop curtain at the Salt Lake Theatre entitled, “The Return of a Victorius Fleet.” He also produced 25 sets of scenery for the Salt Lake Theatre.

In 1883, the “Salt Lake Daily” published, “The improvements which have been in progress at the Salt Lake Theatre during the past nine or ten months, under the direction of Henry C. Tryon, the noted scenic artist, have attracted a great deal of attention from theatrical men generally” (July 22, 1883, Vol. XIV, No. 41). The author of the article then asked Mr. Mayer, “By the way, what do you think of Tryon as an artist?” Mayer’s response, “Tryon? We he has a national reputation. The fact that he is engaged to paint the scenes is a guarantee that the scenes outfit will be on par with any theatre in the United States. He is none of your fellows who depend on village theatre for a livelihood; his services are in demand all the time and the only thing that beats my penetration is that so expensive an artist could be obtained to come to Salt Lake. The scenes already painted are the equal of anything in stock in the country.”

And yes, Tryon was a Scottish Rite Mason too. For his Masonic affiliation, see past installments #199-201.

To be continued…

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: A Visit to the Tabor House in Leadville, Colorado on June 18, 2018

A Visit to the Tabor House in Leadville, Co. June 18, 2018

We left Denver at 7am and headed to Leadville, Colorado. I had a 10am appointment with the executive director of the Tabor Opera House. Normally a two-hour trip, we planned on an extra hour for sightseeing, stopping several times along the way for “scenic overlooks” and “points of interest.” As we left Denver, overcast skies turned into puffy clouds scattered across brilliant blue skies.

One of our stops was in the town of Frisco. The name rang a bell and I soon realized that it was because Thomas G. Moses mentioned the town during his 1884 sketching trip to Colorado. This was his trip with tree other scenic artists to see the mountains.

The town of Frisco, Colorado, where Thomas G. Moses visited in 1884.

Frisco is situated on the shores of Lake Dillon, seventy miles west of Denver. Henry Recen founded the town after a mining boom in the 1870s and soon boasted two railroads, many businesses, hotels, and saloons. The town was the center of mining activity because of the railroads and a stagecoach stop, serving as the gateway to the towns and mines in Ten Mile Canyon. It later became the sleepy little town that Moses encountered during his 1884 sketching trip. Of Frisco, Moses wrote, “We soon came to a little cemetery. One rough head-board had the following epitaph, printed with black letters: ‘Here lies the body of John Sands. A Frisco miner, an honest man and an old timer.’ No dates nor age. Near by was the small town of Frisco, which at one time was a prosperous mining town of about three thousand inhabitants. The mines gave out, no one stayed, and homes and stores were left to the elements. As we struck the main street we looked about, but we couldn’t see a living thing, excepting a few chickens which convinced us, however, that someone must have stayed. The feeling we had among the deserted homes and stores was rater uncanny. The buildings had been hastily built; all very rough, and very few of them had been painted. The signboards were a hot, badly spelled and very typical of a frontier mining town; a regular mushroom town – it grew over night.”

After enjoying the bustling town, getting the contact for the city historian and walking about the marina, we headed to the Tabor Opera House in Leadville for our 10am meeting. I had asked Ziska Childs to join me on this particular adventure and we spent the morning looking at historic scenery produced by Kansas City Scenic Company. The drops are suspended by a hemp system – no counterweights or sand bags. As at the Brown Grand Opera House in Concordia, Kansas, the drops are raised and lowered by an individual pulling the full weight on the three ropes that are connected to the drop’s top batten. I was fortunate to help at one point and able to examine the pin rail and rigging. While assisting with one line, I was delighted to discover that the original paint frame that was still suspended from one of the lines. No, we didn’t lower it. I was told that it takes three men to handle the lines when either raising or lowering it!

Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado

The Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado

Wood scene with backdrop, two legs and a foliage border.

The four historic scenes at the Tabor Opera House include a drop curtain, a garden drop, a landscape and a street scene by Kansas City Scenic.

Front drop curtain at he Tabor Opera House

Detail of drop curtain at he Tabor Opera House

“Kansas City Scenic Co.” on bottom right corner of the front curtain in the Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO.

Pin rail above the stage to raise and lower drops.

There are other historic scenery pieces along the back wall that were too buried to uncovered. There area also older roll drops, wings, and profile pieces are stored in the attic for both this stage and the previous stage before the Elks altered the building in 1901. Unrolling a few backdrops will be part of my morning adventures today. The Executive director explained that the scenery has been rolled up for over a century. I am curious to see what the original 1879 scenery in the attic looks like from the original stage.

The existing fly drops above the Tabor Opera House stage were produced by Kansas City Scenic. Lemuel L. Graham (1845-1914), a previous employee of Sosman & Landis, as well as one-time business partner of Thomas G. Moses founded this studio. Moses left the Sosman & Landis studio during May 1882 to partner with Graham. That year Moses recorded that while they were working on the Redmond Opera House project in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Graham boarded at a hotel and fell in love with the head waitress, eventually marrying her. Moses wrote, “she proved to be a good wife and good mother.” Moses wrote that Graham “was a regular Shylock, a good fellow and a hard worker, but altogether too close to please me.”

The partnership of Moses & Graham only lasted a little over a year. In 1883 they returned to the Sosman & Landis studio. After Moses and Landis encountered each other while bidding on the same job, they rode the train back together for Chicago. Sosman met them at the station and the three discussed a possible return. Sosman & Landis wanted Moses and Graham back, they were each offered $45.00 a week. Moses wired Graham their proposal, but Graham was not so eager to accept and countered “$50.00 and extras.” The studio agreed and on May 1, 1883, Moses and Graham were both painting in the Sosman & Landis studios again. It lasted less than a year for Graham, however, and in 1884, he left Sosman & Landis to form Kansas City Scenic Co.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 431 – It was the Life

Part 431: It was the Life

Near the end of summer in 1902, Moses wrote, “Returning home all freshened up, the sketching “bug” was getting under my skin in fine shape, and I was anxious to do something in the picture line. My old artist friends that were so glad to welcome me to New York when I was on a salary, were not so well pleased now that I was in the contract market and holding six paint frames.”

It is quite remarkable when one considers the number of shows that Moses was contracted to paint for the 1902 season. They included “Miss Bob White.” “Robert Emmet” “Lights of Home,” “The Village Postmaster,” “Shadows of a Great City,” “Tennessee’s Partner,” “Man to Man,” “An American Gentleman,” “Charity Nurse,” “The Holy Sword,” “Tobe Hoxie” “Gay Mr. Goldstein,” “Winchester,” “Rip Van Winkle,” and “Egyptia” a big spectacle.

Moses wrote, “Many of these shows opened out of the city, and I was compelled to go with them. I never knew when I was going to be at home. One night I was to go to Jersey City, as I understood from the phone message. On my arrival there, I found the show was to open in Hoboken.

Postcard depicting Fifth Avenue in Hoboken

It was then quite late and I couldn’t get to Hoboken from Jersey City without a lot of trouble, so I went back to New York and got a boat to Hoboken. When I arrived it was too late for my scene as they were through rehearsing. I found my way back to New York, crossed over to the 3rd Avenue Elevated.

Third Avenue Elevated bridge depot in 1902

Went to 129th Street and got a car to Frodam where I had to change for Mt. Vernon. Just missed the car. Had to wait nearly an hour. I had two hours at home, then back to the city. “It was the life.”

Tomorrow I will start examining each of the shows that Moses worked on during 1902.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 430 – Thomas G. Moses in Catharine, New York

Part 430: Thomas G. Moses in Catharine, New York

Thomas G. Moses was able to spend several weeks on vacation with his wife and two youngest children during summer of 1902. It was also an opportunity to refocus on his fine art techniques for landscape painting. He sketched throughout the Town of Catharine in the upstate New York area.

Moses wrote, “I broke away from business long enough to take the family to Catharine, N. Y., where we enjoyed the farm life for several weeks. I found plenty of good spots to sketch and I made hay while the sun shone.”

1897 Map of Schuyler Country with the Town of Catherine.

Catharine, New York, was approximately 252 miles northwest of Moses’ home in Mount Vernon, New York. It was located less than two miles south of Odessa and approximately seven miles from the tip of Seneca Lake. In fact the town of Odessa was not incorporated until three years after Moses’ visit; it still remains a picturesque area for farming. The current address for the Town of Catharine is 106 Grant Road, Odessa, New York. Here is the website: http://www.townofcatharine.com/

Town of Odessa, New York, incorporated in 1905. The current Town of Catharine is less than two miles south of Odessa.

The Town of Catharine was formed in the year 1798 (originally named Catharines town) and was part of Tioga County. The original town had 26 families and approximately 89,407 acres of land. Currently, the town is governed by an elected Board of 5 Councilmen with one of the councilmen is elected as the Supervisor. The Town has it’s own traffic/civil/penal court with one elected justice and a court clerk.

Catharine, New York, that was later incorporated into the Town of Odessa in 1905.

The town of Catharine that Moses visited in 1902 was the second of two Catharine towns in Schuler County, New York, named after a local chieftess called “Queen Catharine.” The first town was the Seneca village of Queanettquaga that once encompassed the falls and area between the hills at the base of Seneca Lake. This area was informally known as Catharine’s Town and also known as Che-o-quock, Shughquago and Sheoquago.

“Queen” Catharine (1710-1804) was from the noted Montour family, from whom the first settlement and nearby Montour Falls derives its name. She was from French and Iroquois decent, a heritage that would prove to be her undoing after the Iroquois formed an alliance with the British. The first Catharine’s Town was destroyed on the orders of General George Washington during the Sullivan Expedition in 1779. It was one of more than 40 tribal villages destroyed across western New York in retaliation for raids in the eastern part of the province.

The Town of Montour, New York, was once part of Catharine, New York

The New York legislature created a second town of Catharine during the first elections in 1798. The town was originally organized as part of Chemung County, before the formation of Schuyler County. Catharine was divided to form the towns of Veteran and Catlin in 1825, and later the town of Montour. Moses would have journeyed by train from Mount Vernon to Watkins Glen, before traveling to the farm in the Town of Catherine.

Moses recounted an entertaining incident while sketching one day in Catharine; he wrote, “My white sketching umbrella was the cause of a runaway. A pair of horses were hauling a long wagon filled with empty milk cans. The horses started to run and the driver couldn’t hold them. The wagon jumped across the road before I could lower the umbrella. The wagon was down the hill, spilling the cans. I can hear them now.”

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 429 – Thomas G. Moses Family Outings to Starin’s Glen Island

Part 429: Moses Family Outings to Starin’s Glen Island

In 1901, Thomas G. Moses was making enough money to take some time off from work for sketching trips. This was also an exciting opportunity to make artistic strides while enjoying his family at home every evening. Of his preferred areas to sketch, Moses wrote, “Glen Island was another favorite place for us. On a hot day about four o’clock, I would run down to 21st Street Dock and take the boat around the Battery to Glen Island where the family would join me for a fine shore dinner. It was a short car ride from Glen Island to Mt. Vernon, so it was very convenient for the family to come and return by the way of New Rochelle. Occasionally, we would take a ride to Yonkers, then up to Newburgh or West Point on the beautiful Hudson River.”

Postcard of Glen Island where Thomas G. Moses and his family visited in 1901

Former US Congressman, John H. Starin, acquired and developed “Locust Island” just off the coast of New Rochelle. He renamed the island “Starin’s Glen Island” and built a very successful amusement park. Glen Island was a 105-acre island property, and one of five purchased by Starin in 1879. He converted the islands into a summer resort, connecting them with causeways and piers.

Steamships transported visitors from New York City to the park, with each island featuring a different international theme. Attractions included a zoo, a natural history museum, shooting galleries, a carousel, swings, picnic grounds, wine cellar, a clam bake area, German Castle, beer garden, Chinese pagoda, bathing beach, and a variety of musical entertainments. Glen Island Park opened in 1881, attracting thousands of people daily. It is estimated that more than a million visitors a year visited the amusement park by its sixth year of operation.

Starin’s steamboat excursions to Glen Island

The majority of visitors arrived by steamboats and ships. Starin operated a fleet of steamboats that brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to Glen Island each year. As the excursion steamers headed to Glen Island, they rounded Battery Park on the left and Governor’s Island on the right, with exquisite scenery in every direction. On the way to Glen Island passengers enjoyed views of Blackwell’s, Ward’s, Randall’s and Riker’s islands. Speeding up Long Island Sound, passenger’s passed College Point, Willett’s Point, and Fort Schuyler. It was not until the 1920s that a drawbridge connected Glen Island to New Rochelle.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 428 – Sketching at Seton Falls

Part 428: Sketching at Seton Falls

While living in Mt. Vernon, New York, Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934) had the opportunity to go on sketching trips with fellow scenic artists John H. Young (1858-1944) and Harry Vincent (1864-1931). Young and Moses met in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during 1876. Both began their artistic careers in fresco painting, transitioning to scenic art and design about the same time in Chicago during 1880; they both worked for Sosman & Landis.

From the beginning, Moses and Young took many sketching trips with other scenic artists all across the country from West Virginia to the Rocky Mountains. These trips with were for research to be used on future productions and to hone their artistic skills. By 1884, Moses and Young spent their Sundays at F. C. Bromely’s studio in Chicago painting in oil. Moses wrote, “We both made some progress. Bromely was quite dramatic in his work and we enjoyed it during the year.” John Hendricks Young was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1858 and was two years younger than Moses.

Moses met Vincent when he worked with A. J. Rupert and Frank Peyraud to create the settings for William Haworth’s “A Flag of Truce” 1892. After the project was completed, Vincent joined Moses to work for him at Sosman & Landis’ new annex studio that same year. Located in the old Waverly Theatre, Moses recorded that his studio crew included A. J. Rupert, Frank Peyrand and Harry Vincent, besides a number of assistants and paint boys.

Of his New York sketching with Young and Vincent in 1901 Moses wrote, “Every Sunday this summer I went sketching near home, and it was very picturesque. John Young and Harry Vincent joined me quite often, as we all lived near the spot. Occasionally I would go to Seton Falls, a very rugged place. Ella and the children would get a carriage and drive over with a luncheon for me, and late in the afternoon, in the cool of the evening, we would take an extended drive, along Long Island Sound. We enjoyed it very much.”

Where the three was sketching is currently known as Seton Falls Park; an irregular 35-acre section of land between East 233^rd Street and parts of Marolla Place and Crawford, Seton and Pratt Avenues. This area now includes a woodland, wetland, and bird sanctuary named from the prominent waterfalls built in the park by the Seton family. In the 19th century, the Setons were instrumental in the political and social affairs of what was then the town of Eastchester. It was often called the “Grand Canyon” of the Bronx. Seton Falls Park was less than two miles away from Mount Vernon, where Moses and Ella were living at the time.

Rattlesnake brook trickles through Seton Park. The lack of rattlesnakes is credited to the settlers’ use of early pigs to decimate the snake population; pigs find snakes of all types a delicious treat. Today, the remnants of Rattlesnake Brook primarily remain encased in masonry as its winds through the Park.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 375 – Thomas G. Moses at La Jolla

Part 375: Thomas G. Moses at La Jolla

In 1899, Thomas G. Moses mentioned various sketching trips in the San Diego area, especially outings to La Jolla. He wrote, “The pounding of the surf at the caves of La Jolla had an intense interest for me, and I made several sketches of the cave and the well-known ‘Alligator Head Rock.’”

Alligator Head rock formation in La Jolla, a subject that Thomas G. Moses sketched in 1899.

Alligator head rock formation and the beaches at La Jolla, ca. 1899.

Spanish for “The Jewel,” La Jolla is a hilly seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. It is surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean and backed by the steep slopes of Mt. Soledad. Since the 1880s, the biggest draw for tourism is the rugged ocean bluffs, stunning rock formations, and sea life. La Jolla is currently home to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Stephen Birch Aquarium, the University of California – San Diego, the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, and La Jolla Playhouse.

La Jolla remained one of Moses’ favorite locations to sketch while visiting the West Coast. Almost three decades later in 1928, he wrote, “Arrived in Los Angeles on April 26^th, and immediately took another train for San Diego and La Jolla where I enjoyed a week of sketching, all of which is fully described in my travelogue.”

In 1929, Moses made a point to sketch at La Jolla again, writing, “I packed my sketching kit and made an early start for La Jolla, where I put in a good day sketching. I remained on the beach long after sunset and studied; making several pencil sketches. I had four days of sketching; going back to San Diego at night at the San Diego Hotel. I have thoroughly enjoyed the sketching – all of which I have put in my travelogue of this trip.” His travelogues are lost, but fortunately Moses mentioned some of his visits in his typed manuscript.

In 1931, Moses wrote, “July 11^th, we started for San Diego and La Jolla. Found very nice apartment, and celebrated the Madam’s 75^th birthday on the 12^th, by spending the day on the beach. I celebrated my 75^th birthday on the 21^st, on the beach also. We left for Los Angeles the next day, having a very pleasant trip. I also saw my old friend Tom Getz at the Ramona House.”

There are certain places you return, time and time again. Whether it is by sight, sound or smell, certain areas will continually beckon you. It may be the distant view from atop a mesa as you watch storm clouds gather, or it could be the smell of pine needles crunching underfoot as you walk an alpine trail. I wonder if it was the sound of water that captivated Moses, whether waves crashing against rocky shores or a babbling brook in a forest glen brought him back to the same location. In 1932, Moses wrote some thoughts about his love for water, called “The Brook.” He explained the magic of sketching and how it brought him peace. La Jolla was listed as one of Moses’ favorite sketching locations.

Others included the Kennebunkport and Ogunquit, Maine; Kingston and Ellenville, New York, on the edge of the Catskills; Woodstock and Mt. Washington in New Hampshire; Breckenridge, Colorado; Mt Shasta, California; Mt. Rainier, Washington; Chattanooga, Tennessee; the Buckwater River in West Virginia; the French Broad River in North Carolina; the docks near Oakland, California; and the beaches of La Jolla. By 1932, Moses recorded that his collection of sketches numbered 1200 (600 oil paintings ranging from 6” x 8” to 40” x 50” in size), 200 watercolor and tempura paintings, and 400 pencil sketches).

To be continued…