In and out of the shadows - Ginger Rogers in "Lady in the Dark", 1944

 

Lady in the Dark is an elaborate Technicolor musical, produced by Paramount and directed by Mitchell Leisen. The screenplay was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from a 1941 musical of the same name by Moss Hart; Gertrude Lawrence played the leading role in the original stage version. In typical Hollywood fashion, when it came time to transfer the stage musical to the screen, nearly all of the original Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin songs were cut from the score. Only two fully remained, another was used as background music, and Rogers hummed a fourth, but never sang it.

The studio portraits, at least, are credited to A. L. "Whitey" Shafer.

With co-star Ray Milland.

Her hairstyle in the film - seen in the first image and this one - was considerably more elaborate than in the portraits.

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The film is probably most remembered now for the outrageously costly mink and sequined gown worn in the circus sequences; reportedly, it totaled some thirty-five thousand dollars - in 1944, wartime dollars. Raoul Pene du Bois is the credited as the film's costume designer and set decorator. Its director, Mitchell Leisen - formerly a set and costume designer, himself - supervised and contributed his creative ideas and suggestions, as well. Edith Head is credited for Rogers' modern day dress, but she also always claimed the mink dress as her own work. (Head is, of course, now notorious for having frequently and blithely taken credit for the work of others.) Pene du Bois, apparently with Leisen's suggestions, designed the gown in question. But when the skirt, the lining of which was originally set with paste stones, proved difficult to move in - much less dance - because of its great weight, an alternate version using sequins was crafted by Karinska; the famous theatrical costume designer would go uncredited. 

Le début de la fin - the coronation of Louis XVI at Reims, by Moreau le Jeune, circa 1779

 

Moreau le Jeune's large drawing in brown ink and ink wash was the final study in preparation for an engraving to commemorate the king's coronation at the Reims cathedral on 11 June 1775; the drawing, itself, was exhibited at the Salon on 1781. In the study, the king is to be seen seated at the exact center of the necessarily crowded composition as he places his right hand on the Gospels and reads his oath from a book held in his left hand, assisted by two bishops, while the Archbishop of Reims gestures toward him.

Marie Antoinette, her sisters-in-law, and ladies of the court.

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The resulting engraving.

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Other depictions of the coronation.

Another ink and ink wash study by Moreau le Jeune, 1779.

The setting and details in this depiction, its hand-colored version, and those in the following engraving do not correspond with the actual record of the event,
 giving the impression that the images may have been "recycled" from those of an earlier coronation, possibly that of Louis XV, and merely re-captioned. 

The annointing of Louis XVI at his coronation, by François Joseph Belanger, 1814. (This sketch dated after the Restoration.)

First rate genre - Après le bal, by Charles Baugniet, circa 1867

 

This is not the sort of painting to be given an enthusiastic mention - or any mention at all - in the annals of art history; among the several strikes against it with those who decide what is "important" art and what is not, it's just too pretty. Pretty and feminine. But if one can get past the misogyny and narrowness that colors the entirety of Western art history, there is much to admire in this little painting: the palette; the lighting - the way her head leans subtly into shadow, underscoring her having fallen asleep; and, most of all, the beautifully described and rendered surfaces and the exquisite detail. Such skill!

Dancing into the shadows - Lo Hesse in photographs by Franz Xaver Setzer, 1918 - 1925

 

Licht und Schatten. (Two images.)

 All photographs by Franz Xaver Setzer except where noted.

Last month I shared a post on the wonderful photographs of Franz Xaver Setzer. In gathering the images, I kept coming across his particularly interesting portraits of a dancer previously unknown to me, Lo Hesse, and decided she was so fabulous that she deserved a post of her own.

Tschaikiun. If it isn't obvious, she wore a mask in this role. (three images.)

In an "African" costume. (Two images.)

As Ahnfrau, 1924. (Three images.)

Circa 1925.

Gliederpuppe.

Sartorio. (Three images.)

Der blaue Walzer. (Two images.)

With Joachim von Seewitz. 

In a "French ballet." (Three images.) With Joachim von Seewitz.

Circa 1925.

Rubinstein-Walzer, 1918. (Three images.) With Joachim von Seewitz.

In "Venetian" costume. (Three images.)

 With Toni Birkmeyer.

Circa 1918.

Maskerade. (Three images.) With Joachim von Seewitz.

Tanzlied. (Two images.)

"Study: At the Spinet," circa 1918.

Humoreske, 1918. (Two images.)

In a "Spanish dance," circa 1921. (Four images.) With Joachim von Seewitz.

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Lo Hesse (née Charlotte Hesse; 6 August 1889, Berlin - 1983?), German dancer, actress, and model. Very little information about her seems to be available, even the date and location of her death. I've read that she married early and was widowed soon after, and that she studied music in Munich. What is certain is that she studied with and became the muse of the Munich graphic artist and stage designer Walter Schnackenberg. He encouraged her to dance and designed all of the unusual and extravagant costumes seen in these images. At his suggestion, in 1916 she paired with dancer Joachim von Seewitz; from their debut in Munich, they went on to great success, including an engagement at the Staatsoper Berlin. In 1919 the pair turned down an offer from the Vienna State Opera - made at the recommendation of composer Richard Strauss - instead embarking on a tour of South America. Von Seewitz later went on to a successful solo career but, even though she appears to have lived to the age of about ninety-four, after the middle of the 1920s, Hesse simply disappears. I can find no further mention of her on the internet, though some of her records are kept in the German Dance Archive Cologne.

"The artist at home." (Two images.)

Lo Hesse, wearing her Maskerade costume by Walter Schnackenberg, with the designer in his studio.
Photograph by Franz Grainer (Misspelled "Greiner.")

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Costume for Maskerade by Walter Schnackenberg.

Figurine by sculptor and porcelain ceramicist Constantin Solzer-Defanti for the Rosenthal company.

Figurine, a variation on Schnackenberg's Maskerade costume design, by Josef Kostial for the Goldscheider Porcelain Manufactory.

Photograph by Hanns Holdt.

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Costume for Tanzlied by Walter Schnackenberg.

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Costume for Sartorio by Walter Schnackenberg.

Figurine by Constantin Solzer-Defanti for Rosenthal.

Photograph by Franz Grainer.

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Costume for Tschaikiun by Walter Schnackenberg. (Two images.)

Figurine by Constantin Solzer-Defanti for Rosenthal.

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In 1921 Hesse and von Seewitz performed in a cigarette commercial entitled Der Traum des Torero. The two-minute-long silent film advertised the German Manoli company's "Diva" line of cigarettes. Hesse can be seen wearing the same "Spanish" costume worn in images above.