Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2009 - 48

Safety. Simplicity. Savings.
Every Standard Addresses a Problem.

Get up to Date and Stay up to Date
with a TSP Publications Subscription
A TSP Publications Subscription ensures that you always have the
current edition of a standard on hand and stay informed about new
documents and revisions under development.

Subscribe and receive:
* Electronic editions of all current standards, recommended
practices, and guidance documents
* Newly published documents and revisions
* Draft standards, as they become available for public review
* Standards Watch, the bimonthly newsletter that keeps you up
to date
Order your TSP Publications Subscription
and all other TSP Standards
at www.estafoundation.org
Phone: 212-244-1421 or Fax: 212-244-1502
46

theatre

design

technology

S U M M E R

2009

marquee for the movie Trader Horn at the Astor
Theatre and the signs for the Cotton Club, then
on 48th Street. Above all, there are people and
taxis, busses, cars, all rushing into the night in a
hurry to get home or possibly to the theatre.
Fitsch's work was shown in galleries across
the city starting with early exhibitions at the Fakir's Club and at the National Academy of design
in 1923. He was primarily represented by the
Morton Galleries where he exhibited either in
one-man shows or group shows through the late
1920s and into the early 1940s. Reviews of his
theatre prints were consistently positive. Critics
often praised his strong use of light and shadow
commenting how effectively he used those two
effects in his black and white images. His lithography was praised for its composition and detail. His paintings, while less successful than his
lithography in recording the detail of the stage,
were successful in capturing the vivid colors and
impressionistic light of the stage. Regardless of
the critical response, Eugene Fitsch's record of
these images could only have been done by one
who both worked in and loved the theatre. v
Patrick Atkinson is professor of theatre
at the University of Missouri-Columbia,
teaching computer graphics, scenic design
and painting. He has served USITT in every
sectional office and as chair of the national
publications committee.
Sources Cited
Adams, Clinton. 1983. American Lithographers
1900-1960, The Artists and their Printers.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Cape Cod Standard Times. 1963. "He left N.Y.C.
Theater World to Paint on Cape." May 19.
Cary, Elizabeth l. 1926. "Stage Scenes - Modern
Pictorial Sets for the Theatre, Opera and
Screen." New York Times, Nov. 28.
dane, Eva Maria. 1967. "brewster Artist Has
Outstanding Career in Stage Setting." Cape
Cod Summer Times, June 25.
Marquart, virginia Hagelstein. 1986. "The
American Artist's School: Radical Heritage
and Social Content Art." Archives of
American Art Journal 26, no. 4.
Will, Tom. 1969. "Eugene Fitsch-The Theater
and the Painter." The Cape Codder, July 17.
Additional images of Eugene Fitsch's artwork can be seen at http://EugeneFitsch.missouri.edu.

http://www.estafoundation.org http://www.EugeneFitsch.mis http://www.souri.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2009