The sun., 1900-08-05

was finished during the first performance Of the
play. But delay l. ca'lssf wholly by the man.
ayers ownignoranoe Of the time it may be nee
The Magic Flute, ON the other hand. was ready
at the Metropolitan Opera House six months
before the work was sung, One more COM
plant heard frequently Is against the ina
blllty OF the several painters TO see their work
at a rehearsal under the lights that are 10 he
used. Scene painters say that they frequently
have no opportunity to Judge OF the effect ol
their work at a performance until play Il
produced and that they are for that rea-
son unab 10 TO Judge of what II i'll look like. Al
lowance Is made. OF course. for the illumination.
The mellovpess and soitness OF scenery
painted in England Is sometimes said to he due
to the methods OF the foreign painters. who
make, no allowance for the stage lights, but
in the daylight. 1t ~ certain that English
scenery shown here exhibits certain excel
lencies that our own painters have not shown.
But that ha7 been attributed generally TO the
Of our theatres. The failures In this impor-
tant feature Of stage management here are
commonly attributed not so much to the lack
of apparatus rs TO the insufficient care taken
by the usually ineSpert persons in charge Of
this feature of most New York productions.
II is rarely thought worth while for some un-
this branch Of stage manaRement here.
One Of the present tendencies in scene paint
ing l. 10 do away with the borders or flies"
have have al already disappeared from nj Interior scenes
and a regular canvas ceiling IL now used IN
them. Several years ago a street scene with
the tons Of the houses Invisible above the
proscenium arch. but without the customary
borders was shown and II proved 20 be a remark
able gain In It's sense OF space and In the realism
Of the effect II created The samo plan has been
as successfully tried with forest scenes. Scene
painters are at present trying further expert
ments In this direction and that will doubtless
be the tendency OF their future labors In
teriors have been much improved during re-
cent years In their increased resemblance To
real homes In which persons nigh, live. But
the stage manager frequently spolls all the
efforts that the scene painters may make in
this direction.
The scene painter has 10 possess a certain
scientific knowledge OF the laws Of perspective
and 1t is said that this has enabled many of
them to become inventors, Daguerre, in
fle also invented with Bouton the dorama.
Welby Pucin. who did so much toward reviving
taste in Gothic ecclesiastical architecture, was
also scene painter in his early days and Prof.
Morse knew something of the ar, before ho
invented his system of telegraphy. j. @.
Low was q scene painter and SO was Joseph
Turner who used to design mechanical stage
effects before he invented his propeller. Philip
de I.outherburg, who IL considered tho father
Of English scene painting, introduced the prac-
tlce of placing scene obliquely In Garrick's
time and his talents won him recognition from
the Royal Academy. IL was in Italy in the
eighteenth century that the old convention
abolished Before tho time Of Call, noted
Italian scene painter, not part Of a forest
was shown II that was the scene demanded
but the whole Of il with the sky above and
every feature that could be introduced TO give
the effect OF the entire scene Since that tme
way that has led TO its present complete
ness