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Phillip William Goatcher (23 November 1851 – 8 October 1931), often spelled "Philip", signing his work "Phil. W. Goatcher", was an English-born theatre scene painter who had a considerable career in America and Australia. His American-born son James Goatcher followed in his father's footsteps in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, then both left for
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Western Australia, where they set up in business as painters and decorators. In later life James Goatcher was a highly regarded watercolor artist.


Phil W. Goatcher

Goatcher was born in London, a son of Phil Goatcher (died 22 December 1897), who may have been a scenic painter. After leaving school, he signed on as an apprentice on the sailing ship ''True Briton''.


Australia

''True Briton'' docked at Melbourne in 1866, and he had a brief reunion with his aunt and uncle Boxall in Ballarat, and despite their entreaties returned to the ship. He again made port in Melbourne a year later, aboard ''Dover Castle'' and this time decamped and returned to Ballarat where he found employment as an assistant to the scene painter
John Hennings John Hennings (6 July 1835 – 13 October 1898) was a German-born theatrical scene painter and theatre manager active in Melbourne, Australia, from the mid-1850s to the early 1890s. During a career of over thirty-five years Hennings worked as a ...
, who took a shine to the boy and gave him some lessons, both there and with H. M. Freyberger at the
Theatre Royal, Melbourne The Theatre Royal was one of the premier theatres for nearly 80 years in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 1855 to 1932. It was located at what is now 236 Bourke Street, once the heart of the city's theatre and entertainment distri ...
, of which Hennings was a co-lessee. Around 1868 he took off with one John L. Hall for the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
goldfields in New Zealand, but after failing to "strike it rich", took a job with
Charles Massey Charles Carleton Massey (1838–1905), most well known as C. C. Massey, was a British barrister, Christian mystic and psychical researcher. Massey was born at Hackwood Park, Basingstoke. He was the first president of the British Theosophical So ...
, painting scenes for the
Robert Heir Robert James Heir (10 February 1832 – 27 February 1868) was an actor in Australia, best known as the first husband of the great actress Fanny Cathcart. History Heir arrived in Melbourne by the George Marshall, and made his first appearance on ...
company at the Theatre Royal, Grahamstown (now
Onerahi Onerahi, for half a century known as Grahamtown, is a seaside suburb of Whangārei, New Zealand's northernmost city. It is the city's only seaside suburb. It is located 9 km south-east of the centre of Whangārei and is principally a penins ...
). He stayed with that company until they were back in Sydney, then joined an American ship as an ordinary seaman.


America

Goatcher left the ship at San Francisco, where he soon found work, then in 1870 was taken on at John McCullough's California Theatre, painting scenery with William Porter for several of
Wilson Barrett Wilson Barrett (born William Henry Barrett; 18 February 1846 – 22 July 1904) was an English manager, actor, and playwright. With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English theatregoers ever because of his suc ...
's productions. It was while working at the California that he first encountered
David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...
, J. C. Williamson and
Maggie Moore Maggie Moore (April 10, 1851 – March 15, 1926) was an American-Australian actress born as Margaret Virginia Sullivan. Moore met and married theatre impresario J. C. Williamson in the U.S. and became popular as an actress in their productio ...
. A year later he was on the road again, touring Central America and the West Indies, where he notably painted a drop-curtain for the Kingston Theatre in Jamaica. In 1871 he was in New York, painting under
Matt Morgan Matthew Thomas Morgan (born September 10, 1976) is an American politician and retired professional wrestler. He is the former mayor and current deputy mayor of the city of Longwood, Florida and is a former gladiator on ''American Gladiators''. ...
, one of America's great scenic artists. He moved on to the old St James' Theatre,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, where W. H. Leake had the lease. From 1873 to 1875 he was in England, for much of that time in partnership with W. B. Spong, then abruptly and without saying goodbye, left for America. For three years he was in Philadelphia, under contract to the Kiralfy brothers, decorating their newly-acquired Alhambra Palace Theatre, and scenery for William E. Sheridan at the Chestnut Street Theatre and in New York working at Abbey's Park Theatre. That was followed by ten years at
Wallack's Theatre Three New York City playhouses named Wallack's Theatre played an important part in the history of American theater as the successive homes of the stock company managed by actors James W. Wallack and his son, Lester Wallack. During its 35-year ...
in New York, when he did some of his best and most important work, ''
Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...
'' for the Potter-Bellew Company, and other productions for
Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...
,
Wilson Barrett Wilson Barrett (born William Henry Barrett; 18 February 1846 – 22 July 1904) was an English manager, actor, and playwright. With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English theatregoers ever because of his suc ...
and
Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...
. He was naturalized as a US citizen in 1882. During this period he met William Elton, who would go on to an eminent career in Australia. In 1886 he was a scenic artist for Jeannette Thurber's American Opera Company. He claimed to have painted the scenes for the first American production of ''
H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...
''. During the summer breaks, Goatcher produced under contract numerous drop-scenes painted to give the impression of a lustrous fabric, such as
satin A satin weave is a type of Textile, fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamen ...
, so effective that the deception was not seen until close up; they were used in various theatres across America. In 1888 he joined with John H. Young in Manhattan as Goatcher & Young, scenic designers, but despite lucrative contracts such as a ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'' production starring
Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...
, and a huge
cyclorama A cyclorama is a panoramic image on the inside of a cylindrical platform, designed to give viewers standing in the middle of the cylinder a 360° view, and also a building designed to show a panoramic image. The intended effect is to make view ...
depicting the
Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...
, the shop was a commercial failure. He left with his sons James and Philip jnr for London, where he was engaged by the
Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...
, then in July 1890 was given a three-year contract by J. C. Williamson to work for him in Australia.


Australia again

His first commission on returning to Australia was as assistant to John Brunton on ''
The Gondoliers ''The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria'' is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances (at that time t ...
'' at the
Princess Theatre, Melbourne The Princess Theatre, originally Princess's Theatre, is a 1452-seat theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886 to a design by noted Melbourne architect William Pitt, it is the oldest surviving entertain ...
for Williamson and
Arthur Garner Arthur Garner (8 February 1851) was a theatrical entrepreneur, active in Australia. He was part of the partnership often dubbed "the Triumvirate" at the time, Williamson, Garner, & Musgrove, between 1881 and 1890. Background Garner was born i ...
in October 1890, followed by Buchanan and
Sims Sims, sims or SIMS may refer to: Games * ''The Sims'', a life simulation video game series ** ''The Sims'' (video game), the first installment, released in 2000 ** ''The Sims 2'', the second installment, released in 2004 ** ''The Sims 3'', the ...
' ''The English Rose'' at the Theatre Royal. Other triumphs in this period were the pantomimes ''The Merry Monarch'' in 1891, ''Beauty and the Beast'' with George Gordon in 1893, also ''Around the World in Sixty Days'' esand ''Cinderella and the Little Glass Slipper'' at the Lyceum Theatre, Sydney in 1894. Topping them all was ''Djin Djin, the Japanese Bogie-man'', with scenery from Goatcher, George and Jack Gordon, and W. B. Spong for Christmas 1895. In 1895 he was commissioned to decorate the interior of George Adams's new
Palace Theatre, Sydney The Palace Theatre was a theatre located at 259–261 Pitt Street in the Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CB ...
, and took on the dual responsibilities of lessee and director. His plans fell through, however, and he was forced to declare insolvency, and returned to the paintpot and brush. In 1898 he won a commission to decorate the
Singer Sewing Machine Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Man ...
showroom in Sydney’s
Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-19th-century building located at 429–481 George Street, Sydney, George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. D ...
, using Wunderlich zinc ceiling tiles to create an Oriental atmosphere. Five years later he would decorate the Singer company's Melbourne showrooms in the Block Arcade, and in 1907 decorated the smoking room of the Menzies Hotel, Melbourne, with motifs of progress and modernization. In 1902 he was engaged to supervise decoration of the new Her Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand.


Western Australia

Around 1903 Goatcher, with his wife Emma and younger son James, left for Western Australia in the hope that Perth's drier climate would be beneficial to his health, as he had been suffering from a chronic respiratory complaint, and in 1904 set up in business as "Phil W. Goatcher & Son, Art Decorators and General House Painters". He did, however, take on several scene painting commissions in the eastern states, notably ''The Chocolate Soldier'', which opened in Melbourne in August 1911 before transferring to Sydney in November, in time for his 60th birthday. He made an oil painting of
The Assumption The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...
at the Church of St John the Evangelist,
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
, and another in 1922, entitled "Come unto me all ye who labour" mural at the
Heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
All Saints' Anglican Church,
Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many type ...
, a variation on the
Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...
depicting the Virgin and Child being reverenced by the local Aboriginals, church dignitaries and miners.


Boulder Town Hall "curtain"

Goatcher was noted for his ''
trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...
'' act-drops in various designs which gave the illusion of (for instance) exotic scenery behind rich and elaborate curtains. The purpose of an act-drop is to hide on-stage activity by scene shifters between acts, and for the more expensive productions would be new designs, freshly painted and possibly a different screen for each act. Being highly visible at times during times of no other activity, they were the subject of scrutiny and contributed significantly to the success of the play. Unlike other works of art, the paintwork on act-drops was considered disposable, and at the end of a show's season the canvas, if still serviceable, would be washed down (the paint used being water-soluble) and reused for the next production. A rare survival of this process is an act-drop painted by Goatcher in 1908, held at the Town Hall in the town of
Boulder, Western Australia Boulder is a suburb of Kalgoorlie in the Western Australian Goldfields, east of Perth. The Boulder (horse) Races were a significant event in early twentieth century goldfields region history. The town maintained its separation from Kalgoorl ...
. It was discovered in 1990 amongst a lot of discarded material by a local artist. Restoration began six years later and cost $250,000. Guided tours are held several times a week, and visitors may see the work lowered and raised by its original machinery (it has a timber frame). The carefully preserved hall is itself of further historic interest as the site of performances by
Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...
,
Eileen Joyce Eileen Alannah Joyce CMG (1908–1991) was an Australian pianist whose career spanned more than 30 years. She lived in England in her adult years. Her recordings made her popular in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly during World War II. At h ...
and
Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s to the 1980s. She possessed a voice ...
. A photograph of the "curtain" may be viewe
here
The Goatcher Auditorium at Wesley College in South Perth was named in his honour in 2008.


James Goatcher

James Goatcher (14 August 1879 – 29 July 1957) was born in Philadelphia, USA, to Phillip Goatcher and his wife Alice née Little (1857–1934). His parents separated around 1890 and James was one who elected to leave for Australia with his father. He studied painting under his father, also took classes in Sydney and the Melbourne Art Gallery, and in his student days he may have shared accommodation with the Lindsay brothers. He was apprenticed as scene painter for
J. C. Williamson's J. C. Williamson's, formerly Williamson, Garner, & Musgrove and Williamson and Musgrove, was an Australian theatrical management company and theatre owner. With its beginnings in the theatrical productions of J. C. Williamson and his p ...
, and was accepted as a member of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales. His father remarried and in December 1903 the family relocated to Perth, Western Australia, setting up in business as Goatcher & Son, decorators. He served a term as president of the Master Painters Society. He was a longtime member of the West Australian Society of Arts, and served a term as vice-president in 1952 but, being a tradesman, was not invited to join the Perth Society of Artists. In later years he was a prolific painter of watercolor paintings for which he held annual exhibitions at the Newspaper House gallery. They found a ready market by virtue of his conservative choice of subject, pleasing colors and skilful brushwork, though dismissed by critics for the same reasons. His watercolor ''Clouds over the Valley'' won a Claude Hotchin Art Prize in 1950. Hotchin was himself a great patron of West Australian artists, and purchased many of Goatcher's works, many finding their way to public institutions and regional art galleries.


Family

Philip Goatcher (1826 – 22 December 1897), sanitary inspector, married Mary Ann Betts (1825–1898) in 1846. *Elizabeth Catherine Goatcher (c. 1847 – 4 November 1930) married Ward *Mary Goatcher (24 June 1850 – ) married Hockey *Phillip William Goatcher (23 November 1851 – 8 October 1931) married Alice Little (1857–1934) in London in 1875. He left her in 1890, having failed to secure a divorce. :*Louisa Goatcher (1877– ) remained with her mother when father left in 1890. :*Phillip Walter Goatcher (c. 1877 – 27 October 1913), aka Phillip W. Goatcher jun., left the US with his father, married Minnie. He trained in London with the scenic artist William Telbin jnr (1846–1931), returning to Melbourne in 1910. He died at Waterfall Sanatorium, a tuberculosis hospital near Sydney. :*James Goatcher (14 August 1879 – 29 July 1957) left the US with his father, married Margaret Mary "Dolly" Healy ( – 14 April 1946), lived
Mount Lawley, Western Australia Mount Lawley is an inner northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The suburb is bounded by the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River to the east, Vincent Street, North Perth, Vincent, Harold and Pakenham Streets to the south, Central Av ...
::*Merle Goatcher (maybe 9 September 1918 – ) married Dr K. R. Miles, lived in Adelaide. ::*Phil Goatcher married Jennie, lived in Adelaide. :*Arthur Goatcher (1885– ) born in New York, remained with his mother when father left in 1890. :He married again on 15 July 1899, to Emma Stone (c. 1873 – 24 December 1913) and had twin sons, of whom one survived. They had a home at 20 Gordon Street, West Perth. :*Ernest Goatcher (c. April 1900 – 8 January 1901) :*Robert Goatcher (c. April 1900 – 1985) *Robert Goatcher (24 October 1853 – ) *James Goatcher (16 November 1857 – 8 March 1924) died in London *Jane Goatcher (14 March 1861 – ) married Pearse


Further reading

* * * An overview of scene painting * *


Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goatcher, Phillip 1851 births 1931 deaths English scenic designers Australian scenic designers British emigrants American scenic designers