Percy Anderson (designer)

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Percy Anderson (22 March 1851 – 30 October 1928) was an English stage designer and painter, best known for his work for the

Edwardian musical comedies
.

Life and career

Anderson design for The Gondoliers, 1917

Anderson was born on 22 March 1851 at

King John, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and two plays by Stephen Phillips, Herod and Ulysses.[3] He designed the costumes for Henry James's ill-fated theatrical effort, Guy Domville; The Times was not impressed by either the play or the costumes.[4]

Among Anderson's other successes were

Edwardian musical comedies for George Edwardes, such as the hit musicals The Geisha (1896), A Greek Slave (1898) and San Toy (1899), and The Duchess of Dantzic (1903).[5] The Royal Opera House commissioned Anderson to design costumes in 1900.[6] Anderson's designs were also used in a number of Broadway productions.[7]

Anderson had private means, and for a time roomed with

Morton Fullerton. He was part of a circle of rich, artistic homosexual men, who included Lord Ronald Gower, the courtier Alec Yorke and Hamilton Aïdé.[8] In the 1910s, Anderson was closely associated with the young novelist Hugh Walpole.[9]

The Times, in its obituary notice, said that Anderson "escaped from the pedantry of his predecessors and paved the way in the most interesting manner" for a new generation of designers such as

National Portrait Gallery, the Louvre, and the British Museum.[3][10] He illustrated the 1907 book, Costume: Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical.[11]

Anderson died in King's College Hospital, London, in 1928, aged 77.[3]

Notes

Anderson's costume for King Gama in Princess Ida, 1921
  1. ^ Gänzl, p. 40
  2. ^ Coffin, pp. 25–27 and 34–39
  3. ^ a b c d "Mr. Percy Anderson". The Times. London. 31 October 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ "St. James's Theatre". The Times. London. 7 January 1895. p. 13. Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Recklies, Karen Adele. "Fashion Behind the Footlights: The Influence of Stage Costumes on Women's Fashions in England from 1878–1914", Ohio State University, 1982, pp. 86–88. Retrieved 2 September 2021
  6. ^ "Biography of Milka Ternina describing Anderson costumes designed for her" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  7. ^ Percy Anderson at the IBDB database
  8. ^ Mainwaring, pp. 43 and 78
  9. ^ Hart-Davis, p. 79
  10. ^ Portrait of Winifred Dickinson by Anderson Archived 2013-04-20 at archive.today
  11. ^ Costume: Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, compiled by Mrs. Eliza Davis Aria. (1907) New York: The Macmillan Company.

References

External links
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