MAG Art And Eastman Theatre Architecture

New RPO Book Relates MAG Art and Architecture to that in the Eastman Theatre

By Betsy Brayer

A new book, The Eastman Theater: Fulfilling George Eastman’s Dream, scheduled to be published in fall 2010 by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, has several chapters describing the art and architecture of the Eastman Theater. A surprise discovery is how much of it relates to the art and architecture of the Memorial Art Gallery. A few examples follow:

Architects and designers: Lawrence Grant White of McKim, Mead & White and Gordon & Kaelber of Rochester were the architects of the theater, 1919-1922. White became architect of the Gallery’s Fountain Court addition, 1926, possibly because his wife was from Geneseo and White rode to the hounds there with James Sibley Watson and his step-son, James G. Averell.

Gordon & Kaelber were the architects of Cutler Union, dedicated in 1933, and its successor firm, Northrup Kaelber & Kopf, was the architect of MAG’s 1968 addition. Francis H. Bacon designed the furnishings and furniture and E. F. Caldwell of New York designed and constructed the light fixtures for both the Eastman Theatre and Cutler Union. White had the theater murals installed at balcony level, so that from the main auditorium they could be viewed as stained glass windows in the clerestory of a cathedral. The Fountain Court has semi-circular windows in its clerestory.

Zenitherm walls: White used a composite called Zenitherm, made of corncobs simulating stone for the walls of both Fountain Court and theater. As part of the acoustical renovation of the theater, 2004-2010, the Zenitherm walls were coated to prevent the absorption of sound. However, the installation of a Baroque organ in the Fountain Court indicates that Zenitherm is not bad for all sounds.

Art and Artists: Ezra Winter, who designed the theater ceiling and painted four of its murals, also designed and painted the Fountain Court ceiling (and a small, no longer extant, auditorium in what today is storage).

The Entombment

White installed an allegorical painting of “voluptuous female figures” by Baroque artist Luca Giordano in the balcony of the theater, possibly from the collection of his father, the notorious but incredibly talented Stanford White. A few years ago the Gallery acquired The Entombment, a religious painting by Giordano for the Fountain Court.

The fountain that gives the room its name is a copy of one in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. For the theater balcony White installed a copy of a fountain by Giovanni de Bologna of Florence featuring a cherub toying with a dolphin.

Signs of the Zodiac were painted on the ceiling of the vestibule of MAG’s original building in 1913. Carved and gilded Zodiac symbols were mounted on the ceiling of the theater, with White making sure they were installed in the right order, as can be seen in Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

The wide second-floor corridor between theater and music was originally an art promenade for changing exhibitions of MAG art chosen by director George Herdle. Among the permanent works was a portrait of George Eastman by artist Louis Betts that was lit from above. According to a janitor who never believed it was coincidental, the light burned out at the moment of Eastman’s death. Today, the space is called the Cominsky Promenade and is the home of an impressive collection of portraits of former Eastman faculty members, from the earliest years of the school to the present day.

Interlude

Interlude, painted by Maxfield Parrish for the theater landing, has been on long-term loan at the Gallery. Former docents Jim and Rosemary Mackenzie claimed that Parrish used the three young daughters of Libanus Todd as models for Interlude. The Todd family also housed Ezra Winter while he painted four Rochester buildings.

Icons and Patrons:  St Cecelia, patroness of music, is the subject of Barry Faulkner’s most important mural, immediately to the right of the Eastman stage. It is also one of Walter Goodman’s mysterious objects in his Printseller’s Window in the Gallery collection.

The twelve wallpaper panels in the theater lobby and mezzanine, made for Napoleon at the end of the 18^th century, tell the story of Psyche and Cupid, a rare fairytale handed down from antiquity, and the progenitor of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. The use of classical mythological source material, iconography, and narrative by later artists and decorators has many complements in the Gallery collection, particularly the panel paintings in the recently-acquired Antwerp cabinet.

RPO and Gallery patron Charlotte Whitney Allen is present in both institutions. The MAG library is named for her and her art collection. Sculpture by Gaston Lachaise and a mobile by Alexander Calder are also stars of the MAG collection. A portrait of Allen, painted by Kathleen McEnery (Cunningham) hangs in the Eastman Theatre’s mezzanine lounge and also in the Charlotte Whitney Allen Library at MAG.