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Last posting of 1864 “Die Baustyle” on Greek and Roman Architecture!

Almost done with posting figures from this book. I just love capitals! They are a great opportunity to study light and shadow with a little brown paper, charcoal and chalk. Only one more post to go from this book!

A few more images from his copy.

Continuing to share the images referred to by Andrew Geis (b. 1887/8-?) for scenic art.

Here are some more source’s from Geis’ Architecture book.

Andrew Geis was a Chicago-based scenic artist during the early twentieth century.  He parents were German immigrants (August and Anna Geis), coming to America in 1880 and 1883, respectively. Andrew had two siblings: Rose and Theodore.  Andrew appears in the 1900 census, 1910 census, 1920 census and the 1927 Scenic Artist Ball program (Chicago).  He has four interior designs (paintings) in the University of Minnesota Libraries Performing Arts Archives.  Geis’ design book and a book on architecture are in the private collection of Wendy Waszut-Barrett.

Having never encountered this book before and being extremely limited with my knowledge of the German language, I did a little digging. If you are looking for this publication online, the closest version that I encountered is “Die Baustyle und die Säulen-Ordnungen. Griechischer und römischer.”

Geis’ copy was written by Dr. Leo Bergmann, edited by Carl Busch, and is a second edition copy from 1864 (published in Leipzig by Otto Spamer). Originally published in 1854, this eight volume set contained 162 illustrations.  There are some beautiful illustrations and I will share a few today.  This book is currently in my possession, so should note “Private collection of Wendy Waszut-Barrett” if you decide to share my images.

Here are two more images depicting information from purple stamps.  It looks like the book was once sold from a book shop in Vienna (Wien). To date, I have not successfully tracked down the names stamped on the book below. Any help would be appreciate from those in the European or Scandinavian countries if this is a familiar name to you!

I will share more images from the book tomorrow!

Here is another printed image from the source book of Andrew Geis.  It immediately brought to mind the desert scene for the A.A.O.N.M.S. Shrine (Ancient Arabic Order of the Noble Mystic Shrine) at the Grand Forks Masonic Center.

The following paragraph is to place this scenery in context, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the Masonic orders.  If you are a mason, go directly to the pictures. The Shrine was created as a social organization intended as a place to rest after a Mason’s arduous study in either the Scottish Rite or York Rite. When a Mason entered freemasonry, he completed the first three degrees (1-Entered Apprentice, 2-Fellow Craft, and 3-Master Mason) in a Blue Lodge.  Typically, Blue Lodges are in small buildings labelled “Masonic Temple” if they are not part of a larger facility. By the way, the color “blue” is not associated with the building or wall color.  If anything, it suggested the celestial constellations on the lodge ceiling.

After becoming a Master Mason, he could join a variety of Masonic Orders and organizations including, but not limited to, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and/or York Rite.  These were intended as avenues for additional study and philosophical exploration.  After working and studying these “high degree” systems, he had the option to relax in the A.A.O.N.M.S.  At the time, there was a short cut for those who wanted to immediately enter a social group – the Grotto.  Referred to as the “poor man’s Shrine,” any Master Mason could join the M.O.V.P.E.R. Grotto (Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm).  That scenery is a topic for another time as it is fascinating in it’s own right!

A few years ago, the need to be a Scottish Rite or York Rite member prior to joining the Shrine was abandoned.  This decision was made for a whole variety of reasons, none of which I will even get into today.  My personal belief is that it was a mistake of grand proportions.  But I digress…

Going back to the Shrine scenery, here is a source from Geis’ book and similar painted details from Grand Forks, ND. Enjoy.

Here is the full composition for the backdrop.

Here is the cut drop in front of the backdrop and with the backing piece for the tent.

Stage right label for the scene.

And finally, here is an old amateur patch for a rip!  Note the Middle Easter figure!

One of the most interesting Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry stage sets that I have ever encountered is in my home town of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  It is for the thirty-first degree and was designed by the Twin City Scenic Company for the Minneapolis Scottish Rite.

The Minneapolis Scottish Rite building was once church.  When they transformed the space for Masonic uses, the altar became  the stage.  There is also use a lodge space for ceremonials that is used for certain degrees and is referred to as the Red Room (named for the color of the carpet).  This beautiful space used to be the area that I converted into a paint studio whenever I had a large project and is now the home of Lodge No. 19.

Like the theatre space. there is a horseshoe balcony surrounds three sides of the auditorium.  The central floor in both rooms do not have fixed seating in the center.  In the Red Room there is a small recessed area for the stage.  There used to be a roll drop that hung above this area, depicting the rebuilding of King Solomon’s Temple.

The Egyptian setting scenery by Twin Cities Scenic Co. for the Lodge room transforms the entire space.  Flats (scenic walls) are place against the walls under the balcony.  A scrim ceiling obscures the ceiling, yet members seated in the balcony areas are able to view the activities on the floor below.

The pictures below are depicted with a photographic flash so you could see some of the colors and painted details.