Interview with Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg!

 Interview with Phillippe Jacques de Loutherbourg

1.      You grew up in a peaceful time right before you became famous during the “Revolution Era”. Where were you born and what was life like? 
     Well, I was born in Alsace, France on 31^st October, 1740. At the time, my father was a miniaturist painter and engraver for the Court of Darmstadt so with a father working for the aristocracy, our lifestyle was quite good compared to what most citizens inherited from birth. I also had plenty of exposure to the arts which I became knowledgeable and literate which I am thankful for. (Rodgers, 2001)

However, my life turned a tide for further excitement when I and my parents moved to France when I was 15. From there, I begin to be taught by famous artists and have arts displayed at salons! If it wasn’t for my lucky well-ranked class in society, I doubt I would have ever gotten in the arts!

2.                        Can you give a bit of background? What made you interested in art?

 Well, I am surprised you asked that! I thought you would know who I am, haha! Well, although I was born in France, I truly love Great Britain. I had a good childhood and I was inspired by my father who was a miniature artist and I was trained under him. I traveled around Europe and was also trained in Paris. I was accepted in the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and won much praise.

I eventually went to England and worked at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane where I was hired there by David Garrick. He owned the theater and experimented with scenic backgrounds and lighting. I became known for creating a new form of theater called Eidophusikon. I got a great deal of attention-which I liked. Because of my art and made innovations in theater, I was made a member of the British Royal Academy. This made me even more interested in creating new things.(Dening, 1997)

3.      How did you get involved in the arts? What roles did mentors play?

Well, my family moved to Paris in 1755 and I decided to work with the painter Carle Van Loo who was a rector of the Royal Academy. I also studied engraving with Jean-Georges Wille. This helped fuel my interest for chemistry and technology which I say definitely helped my painting and my knowledge in the theater. Even when I was studying with Wille, I begin to work in the studio of François Joseph Casanova and I exhibited my very first paintings in his salon in 1763! From there, I begin to expand my artistic career and regularly display my paintings at exhibits and salons (Chilvers 2004).

Suddenly, I was nominated to “Painter of the King” in 1766 to the  Royal Academy! That next year, I became a full member of the Royal Academy, but I caused quite a surprise to people since I was three years from the minimum age of 30 to be able to be a member! My mentors helped me to meet other mentors.

4.      What field of the arts did you specialize in? What was it like?
     Well, like many artists, I had more than one type of art in my career. I did paintings first. Many are now in the Tate Modern as well as other museums, including in the United States.  I loved painting large natural scenes. I became interested in theater design.  I did a lot of scenic experimentation with lighting, backgrounds, and making the scene more realistic to the audience.

In my scenic career, I helped change Drury Lane’s (the nickname for Theatre Royal) theater so that those god-awful seats stopped getting in the way of the actors on the stage itself and instead have the stage be the focus for the scene in the production. In order to solve lighting on the stage, I had to remove the chandeliers directly on the stage to make the setting of the story more realistic. I also made a new form of theater called Eidophusikon which had different layers to a wide background which was about six feet wide and eight feet deep. I used experience making realistic realism paintings of hills, mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, and also shipwrecks and naval battles , to make scenes more natural and real. Theater was very basic and not very realistic before me. (Baugh, 2007)

5.      How did the major cultural, economic and political situations of the time impact your work? -

To be quite honest, even though there were major political changes coming around in the world, I hardly cared for them. I was one who had lot of self-pride and wanted to focus on my artistic career and show my imagination to the world.  I was lucky.

At the time, France still was constructed on an ancient regime so my family technically were commoners, but my father working for the aristocracy completely let me have my artistic career. So I would say that is the greatest influence of my works. The public’s interest in plays helped too. David Garrick was already well known, so when I went to work for him, I was lucky to be paid well. Audiences went to the theater and wanted to see my work and learn of far away places, like in Robinson Crusoe. (Joppien 1979))

6.  What were the major accomplishments and messages in your art?

You must understand that even though I worked in theater design, I still had a true love for painting. I did work with backgrounds for productions but I wanted to do something more with it. Not just some plain background wall in the back, but I wanted the background to be the real setting, to be part of the stage. I wanted the audience to be able to feel like they are there, not just watching an empty stage with actors. So, I decide to make a complete new form of theater called “Eidophusikon”. For example, let’s say I wanted to do a ship wreck. So, I had layers of water behind each other with a layer of rocks and in the very back, a ship. Those layers would be controlled by switch and trolleys going back and forth, as well as  up and down. When I displayed it at a small theater in a house, a critic named Horace Walpole was so taken by how realistic it was that he almost jumped out of his seat terrified! (Korrnhaber, 2015) Haha! Nobody had ever seen anything like it. It could move and had layers and looked real. It made theater a new amazing experience.

7. What were the key opportunities you had that led to turning points in your life and art?

After I moved to Paris, France with my family, I was tutored by François Casanova, Carle van Loo, Jean-Georges Wille, and I showed my first artwork at a salon, which I named “Landscape with Figures and Animals”. Not only did my abilities help me get noticed by them,  but also by  a famous enlightenment figure named Denis Diderot! After my fame growing in more salons of more paintings, I became a full member of the Royal Academy which was an exclusive art institution in France but I caused quite a surprise since I was three years away from the minimum age to become a member.

That following year, I was nominated to the title of “Royal Painter” which I was honored to be nominated for such. But to seek my artistic talents in foreign countries, I moved to England in 1771 leaving my dear wife and children by. I then met David Garrick, owner of Drury Lane which was a theater through a mutual friend where I was hired as his chief stage designer! "(Harvey, 2012"

8. What hardships did you overcome in order to be an artist?

Well, well, well, that is quite a provoking question! Due to my father being a painter for the Court of Darmstadt, I grew up in a well-handled financial family and had smooth and easy opportunities to get involved in the arts. But I do admit, I have tried to be quiet about something that almost destroyed my career, but it is no use. My involvement into the occult was starting to hurt my reputation. I originally got into the occult movement when I transformed some rooms into a brilliant environment of Arabian fantasy at Fonthill Abbey for William Beckford, who help lead the construction of the Abbey. However, these Arabian folktales begin to grow my interest in the mysticism and alchemy of the occult movement. Therefore, I left England in 1787 with the scandalous theologian and controversial freemason, Count Cagliostro! However, this quickly ended horribly due to a duel following a disagreement I do not wish to speak of (McCalman, 2006).

But I did not give up. I went back to England with my wife in 1789 to offer faith-healing service. Faith-healing is the form of using your hands in certain movements to put healing and divine faith onto the person A ravenous mob actually attacked our house! People began to think I was crazy. I had to stop doing any healing in public in order to save my reputation. (Pratt, 1789)

9, WWhat personal stories illustrate how you’ve been successful?

            Oh, my, my. That is a very personal question. Despite my success in France and my many opportunities I could have done, I slowly got poisoned into the bad vices of human nature due to my thirst of wanting fame and rising up in the art world. I would rather not discuss it so much but I laundered money and there were sexual scandals and many bizarre beliefs of a mystical nature that was considered to be out of the norm.

            I had to leave France forever and start anew in Britain. I begin to combine my artistic interests together in the theater and open my mind more to what I imagined and be proud of what I did. I was able to combine painting, lights, movement and sounds (Stott, 2012).  I think all that really shows how successful I was.

10.How did your work impact the world of art?

Sadly, I do not believe my work impacted the world of art significantly as I hoped, but although I did do painting.  I believe my work in theater did the most. When I first came to Drury Lane, I reformed the theater. I begin to paint the backgrounds, I removed the chandeliers from the stage and the audience seating  there. I believe I changed the theater to not just a joyous spot to watch a drama or an opera, but I made the audience feel like they were witnessing the story and it was actually happening, not just some actor walking around and talking dramatically. My short-lived new theater form, Eidophusikon did make many people wonder.

People started to realize how important the setting was and it shouldn’t just be a background but truly dimensional and stood out on the stage that seem not only realistic to the audience but to the actors. For painting, I do not believe I made many strides there. But some people nowadays still admire my realism style of painting mountains and hills, and especially the roaring waves of the Atlantic Ocean, the disastrous shipwrecks, and the epic naval battles (Chilvers, 2004)

Bibliography

Baugh, Christopher. "Philippe De Loutherbourg: Technology-Driven Entertainment and Spectacle in the Late Eighteenth Century." Huntington Library Quarterly 70.2 (2007): 251-68. Web.

Chilvers, Ian. "Loutherbourg, Philippe Jacques de." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. : Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference. 2004. Date Accessed 8 Nov. 2015

Dening, Greg. ENDEAVOUR AND HOKULE'A: THE THEATRE OF RE-ENACTMENT HISTORIES (1997): n. pag. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

"Eidophusikon: A Physical Interactive with a Computer-enabled 3D Counterpart." EDMStudio. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Harvey, AD. "History Painting in England: Benjamin West, Philip James De Loutherbourg, J.M.W. Turner." Historian.113 (2012): 12. Print

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Joppien, Ru¨diger. Philippe Jacques De Loutherbourg, RA, 1740–1812. Exhibition catalog.     London: Greater London Council, 1973. MMM. “Phillipe Jacques De Loutherbourg’s Pantomime Omai, or, a Trip Round the World and the Artists of Captain Cook’s Voyages,” in Captain Cook and the South Pacific. Edited by T. C. Mitchell. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1979. 81–136.

Kornhaber, David. "Regarding the Eidophusikon: Spectacle, Scenography, and Culture in Eighteenth Century England." Theatre Arts Journal (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 3 Nov. 2015. <http://taj.tau.ac.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:regarding-the-eidophusikon-spectacle-scenography-and-culture-in-eighteenth-century-england&catid=2>.

"The Life and Work of Philippe De Loutherbourg." Iain McCalman. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Loutherbourg, Philippe Jacques. LOUTHERBOURG, PHILIPPE JACQUES (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

Loutherbourg, Phillipe Jacques De. "I Have Treated You as an Artist." Letter to Jonathan Fisher. 1782. Irish Architecture and Decorative Studies. Vol. 17. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 40-49. International Bibliography of Art. Web.

Loutherbourg, Philippe-Jacques de. At the large house, fronting Leicester-Street, Leicester-Square, this present Thursday, January 31, 1782, will be exhibited for the first time, Eidophusikon: being an intire new set of moving pictures, representing the following phonomena of nature, invented and painted by M de Loutherbourg. ...  [London],  [1782]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. University of Cincinnati Libraries. 8 Nov. 2015 

McCalman, Iain. "Spectres of Quackery: The Fragile Career of Philippe De Loutherbourg." Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society 3.3 (2006): 341-54. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

"Philip James De Loutherbourg, 'An Avalanche in the Alps' 1803." Tate. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

Pratt, Mary. A list of a few cures performed by Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg, of Hammersmith Terrace, without medicine. By a lover of the Lamb of God. M. P. Most respectfully dedicated to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury.  [London],  [1789]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. University of Cincinnati Libraries. 8 Nov. 2015 

Rodgers, David. "Loutherbourg, Philippe Jacques de." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. : Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference. 2003. Date Accessed 8 Nov. 2015.

Stott, Andrew. "Stage Light The Life of Artist and Scenographer Philippe Jacques De Loutherbourg, and the Role of the Occult in the History of Special Effects." Lapham's Quarterly. N.p., July 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.