Drawing
1901 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Painted illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably <i>The Illustrated London News</i><i>.</i> It shows the italian singer Signor Francesco Tamagno (1850-1905) in the title role, with Signor Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) as Iago, in a production of Verdi's opera, <i>Otello, </i>at Covent Garden in 1901. The image has been signed by the artist, Allan Stewart (1865-1951), in the bottom right hand corner.
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February the 5th 1887 with the tenor Francesco Tomagno (1850-1905) in the role of Otello.
Allan Stewart (1865–1951) was a Scottish painter who built his reputation on romantic, historical and particularly military paintings as well as landscapes and portraits. Stewart served on the staff of the Illustrated London News for a number of years and in this capacity, went to South Africa as a 'special' artist during the Boer War.
This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914.
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February the 5th 1887 with the tenor Francesco Tomagno (1850-1905) in the role of Otello.
Allan Stewart (1865–1951) was a Scottish painter who built his reputation on romantic, historical and particularly military paintings as well as landscapes and portraits. Stewart served on the staff of the Illustrated London News for a number of years and in this capacity, went to South Africa as a 'special' artist during the Boer War.
This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | paint on board |
| Brief description | Painted illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably The Illustrated London News. It shows the italian singer Signor Tomagno in the title role with Signor Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) as Iago in a production of Verdi's opera, Otello, at Covent Garden in 1901. The image has been signed by the artist, Allan Stewart, in the bottom right hand corner. Given by Sir William Ingram in 1914. |
| Physical description | Painted illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably <i>The Illustrated London News</i><i>.</i> It shows the Italian singer Signor Tamagno in the title role with Signor Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) as Iago in a production of Verdi's opera, <i>Otello, </i>at Covent Garden in 1901. Both actors are shown in full length, Signor Tamagno is standing at the front, his right hand outstretched, his left gesturing to his chest. Behind him lurks Signor Scotti as Iago. Both are dressed in thigh length doublets and tights and are positioned in front of a translucent window style backdrop which gives on to a scene of a balcony and garden. The image has been signed by the artist, Allan Stewart, in the bottom right hand corner. |
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| Credit line | Given by Sir William Ingram |
| Object history | Sir William Ingram (27 October 1847 – 18 December 1924) was a Liberal politician who was elected to, and sat, in the House of Commons on three occassions between 1878 and 1895. He was also the Managing Director of The Illustrated London News from the late 1870s until 1900 and became the proprietor of a number of additional publications including The Sketch and The English Illustrated Magazine. The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper. Founded by Sir William Ingram’s father, Herbert Ingram, in 1842 the first edition was sold on 14th May 1842 at a cost of sixpence per copy. Building from an original circulation of 26,000 to in excess of 300,000 at its peak, The Illustrated London News remained in print until 2003 and commissioned illustrations from many of the leading artists of the late nineteenth century. Photographs were used alongside illustrations from the late 19th century onwards but illustrations were a major feature of paper until after the end of the First World War. |
| Historical context | This sketch was one of a group of prints and pencil and pen and ink sketches donated to the museum in 1914 by Sir William Ingram (1847–1924). Part of this collection was originally donated to the Prints and Drawings Department with the majority later passing to the Theatre and Performance Department. The full collection includes work by a variety of artists amongst whom are: A. J Finberg; Ralph Cleaver; F.V.Poole and Rossi Ashton. Though not all the publications for which they were created are identified the majority of the sketches were commissioned for, and appeared in, The Illustrated London News, The English Illustrated Magazine or The Sketch. Sir William Ingram became the proprietor of The Illustrated London News in the mid to late 1870s and remained in post until circa 1900 when he was succeeded by his he was succeeded by his son, Bruce Stirling Ingram (1877–1963). He also became the proprietor of The Sketch amongst other papers in which capacity he gave commissions to many leading artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. |
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| Summary | Painted illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably <i>The Illustrated London News</i><i>.</i> It shows the italian singer Signor Francesco Tamagno (1850-1905) in the title role, with Signor Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) as Iago, in a production of Verdi's opera, <i>Otello, </i>at Covent Garden in 1901. The image has been signed by the artist, Allan Stewart (1865-1951), in the bottom right hand corner. Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February the 5th 1887 with the tenor Francesco Tomagno (1850-1905) in the role of Otello. Allan Stewart (1865–1951) was a Scottish painter who built his reputation on romantic, historical and particularly military paintings as well as landscapes and portraits. Stewart served on the staff of the Illustrated London News for a number of years and in this capacity, went to South Africa as a 'special' artist during the Boer War. This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.385-2011 |
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| Record created | January 5, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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