^ Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg: Eighteenth Century Romantic Artist and Scene Designer By LILLIAN ELVIRA PRESTON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNQL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA January, 1957 Thu vriteor d»8ir«8 to eocpreas apfovclation to Professor H. P. Constans fttr hie tlne> pstionee ai^ assistance cn this study, and also to Dr. L. Zinmeraan for his tranendous amount of editorial work. Special thanks to I^. «nd Itts* Goz^cn Bigeloir and to Mary King Humphrey fa: their kindness and assistance. Deepest gratitude goes to the writer's sister, Urs. Thelma Fiske, for it was her understanding, OTCoTuragement and financial assistance that made the time spent in study at the University of Flcarida possible. The writer also wishes to thank the following for assistance in locating material and plates used in this study: Dr. Richard Southern, Director of the British Centre of the International Theatre Institute, me, Genevieve Levallet-Haug of the Musees de Strasbourg, Dr. D. ?r. Sash of the Victoria and Albert liisexm, and the editors of the Apollo Magazine, Connoisseur, Burlingtai, and Theatre Notebook. TABLE OF OOmEmS Page AcxNOifuajQifiaas • u LIST OF PLATES iv INTRODUCTION v Chapter I. THE TRENDS AND THE TIMES 1 n. HGffiOT A!JD RLIETTE 7lt * i m. FRI1«CE OF SCEHE DESIGNERS HJi IV, A MAN OF KANI PARTS 257 7. CONCLUSION 280 BIBLIOGRAPHT 288 BIOGRAIHICAL ITEie 3O7 ill LIST OF PLATES Hate Page I. MLdsummer Afternoon vdth a Usthodist IVeacher . 93 II. Garrick in Richard III 96 in. Falls on the Rhine lilt IV. Cataract on the Lliigivy 117 V. Landscape irith Travellers 120 VI. Cataract on the Rhine 122 VII. Carisbrooke Castle 12li VIII. David Garrick in the Chance . 128 IX. The Christmas Tale 169 Z. The Qiristnas Tale (Sepia Sketch) . 171 XI. The Christmas Tale (Sepia Sketch) 173 XII. Peaks Hole, v/onders of Derlayshire 180 XIII. Kmsingtcn Gardens 195 XIV, Cliff and Beach Scoie 196 XV. Kative fishing Hut 197 XVI. Sketches for Richajrd III 21*9 XVn. Mountain Scenery (Designed for Eidophusikcn ) . 252 XVin. Priaaa Scene 252i XIX. PMlippe Jacques de Louth(»rbourg • 26l . INTRODUCTION . The pvirpose of this study was to gather together vihat could be discovered concerning Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg in order to present a sketch of one of the remarkable figures of eighteenth century- English art and stage decor , and by investigating his theatrical activities to present information which would fill in some gaps in the history of stage design during the late ei^teaith century in England. The first step taken in this study was to consider the trends of romanticism because the creative activity and influence of the painter and scene designer, Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, came during an age of romantic transition in English art and staging. It was an age in which the trend in life and art was away frm the aristo- cratic and classical and toward the bourgeois and sentimental. This romantic transition occurred in England during the middle and later years of the eighteenth centuiy, the period in which Loutherbourg made his contributicajs The second step was to investigate the romantic trends in the art of the period since Qiglish art was in a plastic state and received impressions and influences fipom many sources. Loutherbourg was able to play a major role in bringing the romantic tradition to English art because his mastery of dramatic presentation, which he had learned in ccxitinental art studies, was thoroughly opposed to the classical serenity of the dominant school of English landscape painters. It was his influence which helped to develop the growing taste for "th« sublime" in painting and the more emotional "picturesque" style. To Complete the study of the romantic background of this artist ' s period of activity it was necessary to investigate the theatrical conditions. The drama itself has been gone over quickly by most historians, irtio believed that it offers little for serious study outside the works of Goldsmith and Sheridan. These literary historians have not considered the inter-relationship of staging and drama. They only casually mention that, in this period, melodrama developed and that the great panoramic spectacles arose. The poet's art had been eclipsed by that of the carpenter and scene painter. It Has in this connection that Loutherbourg left his deepest mark for he was an innovator and yet, after his arrival, there was an increasing sensitiveness to the possibilities of a better co-ordinated mise en scene . The third step in this study was to investigate the work of this artist as a painter and then as a stage designer. The major emphasis has been on his v.ork in the theatre but he was equally successful as an easel painter. He professed to two objects J to dis- play his skill as a scene designer by his masterful techniques with dioramic spectacular effects, and to demonstrate to the English people the beauties of their own country, .hile his art was essentially dramatic, his tremendous power, his invention, and his rather phencoie- nal speed of execution carried over into his scene painting. It was in this department that his genius was expressed and it was through his efforts that a new conception of the possibilities of stage design, stage lighting, and mechanical novelty were given to the public. The final step in this study ims to consider briefly the events in the life of this versatile man which might have affected his work as an artist and to consider the romantic qualities of his life and personality. In general, material for this study was obtained from eighteenth century newspapers and periodicals, trm autobiograpAiies, confessions, and memoirs of theatrical personalities of the time, and from existing paintings and scene designs. Loutherbourg was a man of considerable versatility and this quality has resulted in the fact that it was necessary to seek out information about him from memoirs and pamphlets of widely different kinds. The early life of the artist was traced through French sources, archives and records of I' Academe Royale ; his years in EJngland, throvigh the diaries and records of contemporary artists and the accounts of the Icndon Royal Academy. It seems, therefore, pertinent to investigate the influence of the scene designer if^o, for more than a decade, was without a rival on the English stage. This man's success as a designer influenced the stage decor urtiich, in turn, influenced the drama of the eighteenth centwy. Loutherboui^ was the first of a long line of scenic artists in the modem style who developed a form of mitigated realism and v/ho were to revolutionize the stagecraft of the EJiglish stage, substituting for mere glitter and magnificence, scenery which created a pleasing illusion for the play it illustrated, and scenic effects which became predominant parts of most performances. 11 CHAFIER I THE TRENDS AND THE TIMES Elements of the Raaanblc Spirit Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg was a ronantic spirit. In his life and in his work he enibodied most of the elanents vhlch have been used to define romanticism^ a movement which sought to evoke from the past a beauty that was wanting in the present; this movement developed a humanitarian interest and a nebulous identification with pathos and virtue. It allotted freedom of expression to the imagi- nation and fostered a concept of the free individual as opposed to the static conventions of the past. It was a movement iriiich influenced every form of English expression and life in the last half of the eighteenth century. In order to identify Loutherbourg with the elements of the romantic spirit it is necessary to consider certain of them under more specific headings: (1) The Revolutionary Spirit, (2) The Gothic Revival, (3) The Noble Savage, (U) Sentimentalism, {$) The Romantic- Realists, and (6) The Picturesque. Revolutionary Spirit The most characteristic attitude of romanticism was a revo- lutionary one. In general, it was revealed by the discontent for things as they were and a love of change. This discontwat manifested itself 1 t • not csily In politics and llteratiire, but also in art, music, costvunes, and manners.^ It is essential to note the true representation of the rcniantic tradition harbored a love of change for its cntn sake. In many ways, this led the eighteenth centtiry to look for something differ- ent, rather than something new, whether it was "to be fotxnd in the past, in foreign realms, in imaginative visiois, or in the fields of human life untouched oont«ag|)orary society."^ The search for something diffwreni was an endeatvor to break •way, going in several directions at once, from all that was the established form. The fl*eedcnn and lawlessness, the love of novelty, and the interest in experiments, as well as the desire for "strangeness added to beauty," were the result of a break from the classical respect for rules, convmitions, and models. The break was also revealed in the discontent for things that were; for instance, the new idealism and mysticism were both in strong contrast to the "realist's conscientious adherence to fact, "3 which was characteristic of the Augustan period in England, In another way, it can be said that the love of change was a reaction to the values of the preceding pwiod. At this time, it was a movanent away from the Augustan conventionalism j that is,- from neo- classicism. The theatre's revolt against the standards of the previous ^Agnes Addison, Romanticism and the Gothic Reviva~l (New York* Richard R. Sadth, 1938 >, p. 20. ^Allarttyce lacoll.