HISTORY OF THE MASK & WIG CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA For 108 years, the Mask & Wig Club of the University of Pennsylvania has written and produced its own unique theatrical comedy, ever changing to stay in tune with the currents of American society. Since its inception well over 100 years ago, the Club has produced nearly 220 different and original shows, including Annual Productions, Undergraduate shows, smokers and "preliminaries." As a cultural barometer, the Mask & Wig Club is unique, and surprisingly, fairly accurate. Leafing through old programs, one sees a parade of America winding through the diggings of the Panama Canal (Uncle Sam's Ditch), breezing past a group of militant suffragetts (Baa Baa Black Sheep), staggering through the Depression (Out of the Blues), and catching the commuter train into a newly-suburbanized nation (Paoli Local). More recent productions have celebrated Hollywood (Film Flam), while also looking at city life in the eighties by a new generation of Americans rediscovering the Penn Center end of the Paoli local (Urban and Soda). Founded during the winter of 1888-89, at a time when the University of Pennsylvania was relocating from Center City to West Philadelphia, the founding fathers of the Mask & Wig Club were amongst the city's most prominent families. Included among them were Clayton Fotterall McMichael--grandson of one of Philadelphia's most influential mayors, James Hartley Merrick--grandson of the first President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Albert Bartram Kelley--son of "Pig Iron" Kelley, one of the most powerful Radical Republicans in the Reconstruction Congress, and Tom McKean--whose mother was Elizabeth Wharton and father was a Director of the Reading Railroad, the Insurance Company of North America, Fidelity Insurance and PSFS (America's oldest savings bank). What made the Mask & Wig CLub unique, and not just another amateur group, was the establishment at the onset of a hierarchy--an organization which would include a Graduate Club and thus provide ongoing oversight to encourage the success and succession of the productions. In fact, the Mask & Wig Club was the first undergraduate group able to unite the whole of the University of Pennsylvnia behind a single project. As time moved forward, everyone from the Director of Athletics to the Provost would look back at the Mask & Wig Club's first production Lurline as the first manifestation of a great solidification of the faculty and student body. Every fraternity and class in the College was represented! This had never before happened at Pennsylvania. In looking back on the first production, McMichael stated in 1907 that while "Lurline was crude, Ben Franklin was not." This should not be seen as a charcter assessment, but a comment on production values. Ben Franklin, Jr. ran for two nights and was reprised the following academic year for an additional two performances, but gave way for the next three nights to Ms. Columbia, which was a rousing critical success. Real critics, from real city newspapers which in that age in Philadelphia were used to reviewing the Booths, Salvini, Edwin Forrest and Henry Irving, noted that the Club produced "a standard that permits comparison with any successful musical comedy of the season." This show (3rd annual production) likewise had the distinction of being the first to be presented outside Philadelphia--with great success in Washington, D.C. and New York. By 1892, the Club was incorporated with a charter from the City of Philadelphia. With the help of Wilson Eyre (one of Philadelphia's preeminent architects at the turn of the century) in 1894, the Club purchased property at 310 South Quince Street and permitted him to adapt the old carriage house and dissecting room for Jefferson Medical College into a Gothic fairy tale of Bohemian escapism. Eyre collaborated with a recent graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts whose own artistic sense was given to the contrast between barbarism and the nobility of a legendary past. Together, Eyre along with Maxfield Parrish worked to create the extremely unique setting known today as the Mask & Wig Clubhouse, and which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. In addition to Parrish's first major commission, the Old King Cole mural which he created for the Club, Parrish started the annual tradition of applying caricatures of the Club's members to the walls in the Grille Room. While originally conceived as "purely fanciful grotesques without regard to the personality of the individual named," over time they have come to represent physically and comically the member in the costume and attitude of one of his greater performances. After 108 years, hundreds of caricatures now adorn the walls of the Grille Room. True to the original casting call "Justice to the stage, credit to the University", the Mask & Wig Club has done just that and more. Between 1908-1910 the Club donated the funds for the construction of the Mask & Wig Dormitory in the University Quadrangle--part of the gradest dormitory project ever undertaken by an American University (36th & Spruce Streets), as a memorial to Clayton Fotterall McMichael. Other gifts to the University have inclued the silver Penn Relays trophy, salaries for Penn Administrators, gifts to the musical clubs, shells for the rowing crew, the endowment of the Chair of Dramatic Studies, the establishment of the Mask & Wig Foundation (which brought top playwrights to Penn in the 20s as writing lecturers), as well as the construction of a house for the provost (the Club's third major architectural achievement). Above and beyond donations to the University, the Club raised funds through a benefit performace of Shylock and Co., Bankers in 1906 for relief of victims of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire; and later donated funds to the Ambulance Corps of World War I (purchase of the Mask & Wig Ambulance) for front-line attention of the wounded on the Somme. In keeping with the full spirit of the first call, Clubmembers provided much of the University's leadership in this century. Founders McMichael and Merrick became Secretary and Provost respectively; in 1930 Thomas Soverign Gates became the University's first President; Paul Hartenstein and Louis Day were Directors of Houston Hall; Charles Fretz and Michel Huber were the former President of the General Alumni Society; and Steve Goff, the current Director of the Annenberg Center. In addition, many of the University's Trustees, past and present, can recall their nervous auditions for Mask & Wig. By the 1920s and 30s, the Club could easily boast an international reputation and came to be known as the finest organization of its kind in the country. Under the leadership of Charles Gilpin, the shows began to use original music. It was no longer the Europeans who were producing the best musical theatre, popular music of the post-War Jazz Age came largely from home-grown theatricals. Mask & Wig became part of the scene with the publication of the music and lyrics of its shows. A Sale and a Sailor, as written by Albert G. Miller with music provided by Clay Boland became the springboard from which Boland would write entire scores for the Club. As the Club moved into the late 30s and 40s, Boland's music became so popular that Mask & Wig tunes were in national demand by the top orchestras including Tommy Dorsey, Kay Kaiser, and Sammy Kaye. As radio rapidly became of age, it was the sweet ballads of Boland that became the standard love songs of a generation of Americans, and include the classic Gypsy In My Soul. In fact, the shows of the 40s--including Paoli Local for which the Pennsylvania Railraod donated its own salaried conductors in full uniform to tear tickets at the door, Red Points and Blue, Hep to the Beat and Chris Crosses were among the most stylish and witty ever produced by the Club. It was during this time that Bobby Troup penned another Mask & Wig classic: Daddy. By 1960, the Club radically changed tradition and relocated its annual production to its Clubhouse on South Quince Street. Under daring leadership, the show broke with tradition by updating its burlesque tradition and instituting the intimate dinner comedy revue now familiar with the Club's audiences. A breath of fresh air was provided by Steve DeBaun who authored a series of quick, punchy sketches that parodied everyday contemporary life before the creation of Saturday Night Live. While this tradition continues to this day, during the last decade the undergraduate members of the Club have taken the lead in writing much of the material for the Club's Annual Production. While the Club has come to see the Clubhouse on Quince Street as its true home; performance theatre, rehearsal space, business office, and social hall; the Club remains forever dedicated to the Univesity as it continues to be a loyal servant, to which it has been for many years. However, as times change, so do circumstances. It is with a certain degree of sadness that the Mask & Wig Club offers for sale its historic and important art treasures created for it by Maxfield Parrish. While the crown jewels of the Mask & Wig Club's artistic treasures, their value has become such that the Club does not feel that they can be properly protected at its historic Clubhouse. In addition, in order for the Club to continue its mission of service to the University, an endowment must be created in order to guarantee the continuation of the Club's raison d'etre--the Annual Production. It is hoped that the sale of these assets will provide for the indefinite continuation of the Club's unique artistic artform. In this way, unbeknowst to them, the Club's founders provided the means by which the Club may sustain itself for posterity. PROPERTY FROM THE MASK & WIG CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (LOTS 169-172)

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1961)

Old King Cole

Details

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1961)
Old King Cole
inscribed 'Painted for the Mask and Wig Club of the University of Pennsylvania By F. Maxfield Parrish 1895' in lower right
oil on canvas
44 x 132in. (111.7 x 335.2cm.)

Literature

J.B. Carrington, "The Work of Maxfield Parrish," The Book Buyer, vol. 16, April 1898, p. 221
H. Henderson, "The Artistic Home of the Mask and Wig Club," House and Garden, April 1904, pp. 168-174
H. St. Gaudens, "Maxfield Parrish," The Critic, vol. 46, June 1905, pp. 512-513
C. Brinton, "A Master of the Make-Believe," Century Magazine, vol. 84, July 1913, p. 349
The Art Guide to Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1925, p. 63
C. Ludwig, Maxfield Parrish, New York, 1973, pp. 14, 151-53, pl. 43
A. B. Percy, in Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1976, pp. 449-450
A. Gilbert, Maxfield Parrish: The Masterworks, Berkeley, California, 1992, pp. 16, 115-117, 119
L. Cutler, J. Goffman, and the American Illustrators Gallery, Maxfield Parrish, New York, 1993, p. 97

Exhibited

Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Brandywine River Museum, Maxfield Parrish: Master of the Make-Believe, June-September 1974, no. 2
Southhampton, New York, Parrish Art Museum, The Dream World of Maxfied Parrish, June-July 1975
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art, April-October 1976, no. 383

Lot Essay

Old King Cole was the first of twelve murals painted by Maxfield Parrish, one of America's greatest book and magazine illustrators of the twentieth century. In 1894, while finishing his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Parrish was selected by the Mask and Wig Club, the theater group of the University of Pennsylvania, to decorate part of the interior of their new clubhouse. The commission included not only the large mural above the bar (Old King Cole) but also the decorations for the entire grill room. What came to be called "The Parrish Room," this wonderful display of fantasy, humor and wit earned the artist immediate praise and critical acclaim, setting him on a path of continual success.

Established in 1889, the Mask and Wig Club is the second oldest undergraduate drama club in the country. In 1893 the club purchased an unused stable, formerly a church, for its new clubhouse and theater. The architect chosen to redesign the building was Wilson Eyre, who previously designed Northcote, the home of Parrish's father in Cornish, New Hampshire. Eyre, who shared Parrish's enthusiasm for the medieval ages, sought to preserve the existing Tyrolean flavor of the building while adapting it to its new function. (C. Ludwig, p. 151)

Reared by an artistic father who gained recognition for his etchings of New England scenery, Maxfield Parrish showed signs of interest in art and architecture at a very young age. In addition to the fine arts, Parrish was exposed to and embraced the worlds of music, literature and theater. After travelling with his parents through England, France and Italy between 1884-86, Parrish returned to America and entered Haverford College with the intention of becoming an architect, so impressed was he by the gothic and renaissance architecture of Europe.

At Haverford, residing with the young art critic Christian Brinton, Parrish adorned the walls of his and his friends' dormitory rooms, as well as his now famous chemistry notebook, with elaborate, spontaneous decorations. Having so relished these leisure time activities and having realized that a career in architecture demanded subservience to clients, he left Haverford and entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with the intention of becoming an artist. There Parrish studied under Thomas Anschutz and Robert Vonnoh from 1892-94. Anschutz introduced the artist to the world of photography and may have also inspired Parrish to experiment with unmixed colors--the basis of the technique of glazing which Parrish later mastered.

Sometime in the early 1890s, Parrish also studied at the Drexel Institute of Arts and Sciences under Howard Pyle, one of, if not, the greatest illustrators of the day. Pyle quickly recognized Parrish's unique and individual style and told him he was beyond his coursework. However, Parrish went away from Pyle's studio with an interest in historic subject matter and period costumes which feature prominently in much of Parrish's work, including Old King Cole.

During his student days, Parrish received many commissions for artwork from nearby institutions, such as Bryn Mawr College for which Parrish designed posters and program covers for theatrical productions. This early experience in the commercial art world paved the way for the extensive room design of the Mask and Wig Club. At twenty-four years old, Parrish approached this project with a vitality and enthusiasm which is echoed in the designs themselves. During the decoration of the proscenium arch, which depicts a male and female dressed in medieval costumes representing comedy and tragedy, Parrish wrote to his father,

It is great fun--and I have constantly to keep a check on myself. I get so excited and carried away with what I am doing that 'tis bad for one's nerves; but there is in it at times a fiendish
delight which partakes of all sorts of sensations, of what is
possible in art and in me and in everything. (quoted in C. Ludwig, p. 152)

In addition to the arch, Parrish decorated a wall covered with wooden pegs which hold beer mugs of the club members. Around several dozen pegs, the artist painted comical caricatures intertwined with names identifying the mug owners. For the club, he also designed the wall around the ticket window, a bulletin board, and four program covers. In these images, Parrish's unique and youthful imagination has animated a dark wooden room in a light-hearted and whimsical manner beyond compare.

The major and most accomplished portion of the entire project was the large mural above the bar titled Old King Cole. The richly colored mural complete with banderoles and shields is divided into three panels by structural wooden beams. The far right panel depicts the seated king "round of body, rosy of countenance, and with a smile and pose that no one could mistake as belonging to other than a very merry old soul indeed." The center panel depicts the three fiddlers "advancing with mincing step, each with bow in hand, their faces delightfully expressive of the true courtier's attitude." (J. Carrington, p. 221) The left panel is filled with a rotund cook who stands erect raising a large steaming bowl over an equally large belly. Through the arched windows of this opulent interior, a fairy-land landscape of castles, green meadows, and light fleecy clouds can be seen. This fantastical backdrop became a hallmark of Parrish's work.

The flat areas of rich color throughout the mural give the image a lively, theatrical quality. The striking checkerboard floor of three alternating colors, the rich surface patterning of the far walls and the undulating areas of red, green and gold of the three fiddlers combine to create an active play of form and color. The expressive facial and hand gestures of the figures heighten the sense of comedy and humor inherent in the famous tale.

The overall mural reveals much of Parrish's working methods as well as his natural artistic inclinations. Most significant is the architectonic sense of compostion. As his early education reveals, Parrish was initially interested in architecture and thus such a site-specific commission was well suited to his background. The personal selection of an architectural space within an already existing structure reiterates the artist's natural tendencies. In addition to this predilection towards architecture, the mural demonstrates Parrish's early, very graphic method. This flat, linear style clearly derives from his poster and cover designs which depended on strong contour lines and silhouettes for an effective design. To achieve these bold, clear outlines, Parrish used paper cut-outs in creating his composition. As Christian Brinton recalls, Parrish began using this technique while a student at Haverford.

The customary toys were not to his taste. They seem stiff,
soulless and inarticulate; so, armed with scissors and paste-pot, he proceeded to cut out and piece together a world of his own
making, a universe of ferocious giants and fabulous monsters
of the forest, of fairy princesses...It was a cosmos entirely of his own concoction. Every figure was carefully designed.
(C. Brinton, p. 340)

While facilitating the drawing process of a design, this tool simultaneously limited the range of designs the artist could use--notice the figures, as well as most of the additional "stage props," they are all either in profile or in full frontal position. However, this device lends the mural a simple, purely decorative quality characteristic of the graphic arts of the day.

Old King Cole enjoyed a favorable reception, so much so that the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts purchased the preparatory study for the mural in 1895 after it was exhibited at the Architectural League in New York where Harper's Weekly also took notice of its accomplishment. In the following passage from a 1904 article from House and Garden, Helen Henderson reiterates the positive response to this early work: "these are of special interest as being practically the first commercial output of a man at the pinnacle of professional success. The mural decorations show all the spirit of a con amore performance, indeed the remuneration was trifling in respect of the merit of the work." After this project, Parrish enjoyed a continual flow of commissions for book and magazine illustrations, calendars and prints, advertisements for products varying from chocolate to tires, as well as eleven more murals, including another Old King Cole commissioned for the Knickerbocker Club in 1906, now in the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. All of these subsequent works by Parrish reveal the wildly imaginative creations of a make-believe world that essentially stem from his earliest masterpiece Old King Cole at the Mask and Wig Club at the University of Philadelphia.