Joseph Clare (1846–1917) was an English scenic designer and painter of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre stated that during his lifetime "[Clare] gained the reputation of possibly the finest set designer in America, with his settings admired for their elegance and proper sense of period."[1]

Life and career

Born in England in 1846, Joseph Clare apprenticed as a scenic designer at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool.[1] He then worked for five years as a resident scenic designer at the Theatre Royal, Portsmouth where he had particular success designing sets for several stage adaptations of novels by Charles Dickens.[2] During his first year at that theatre in 1865, he met and befriended Dickens; maintaining a close relationship with the author until Dickens's death in 1870.[3]

In 1871 Clare was brought to the United States by the theatre impresario Lester Wallack, and was a resident scenic designer at Broadway's Wallack's Theatre until the company disbanded in 1887.[1] In 1894 he designed the sets for the Broadway premiere of Victorien Sardou's Gismonda at the Fifth Avenue Theatre.[4]

Clare died on June 3, 1917 at the age of 71 in Central Islip, New York.[5]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Bordman, p. 131
  2. ↑ "Obituaries: Joseph Clare". Billboard. June 16, 1917. p. 74.
  3. ↑ "Joseph Clare". The Sun. June 5, 1917. p. 7.
  4. ↑ "Sardou's "Gismonda" Produced". The New York Times. November 1, 1894.
  5. ↑ "Obituary: Joseph Clare". Norwich Bulletin. June 5, 1917. p. 1.

Bibliography

  • Bordman, Gerald Martin (1987). "Clare, Joseph". The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press.
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