Edward Gordon Craig Biography Edward

Edward Gordon Craig

Biography

Edward Gordon Craig was born on 16th January, 1872 in Hertfordshire, England. He was the illegitimate son of actress Ellen Terry and the architect Edward Gordon. His mother's profession gave him a natural entry into the world of theater and he spent a good part of his childhood in the backstage of Lyceum Theater where his mother played a leading role as the wife of Sir Henry Irving.

During this period, he learned a lot about theater and stage architecture and designs. He was also immensely interested in graphics and he began to explore the different ways by which stage designs could be made more realistic. His close association with some of the leading actors, directors and producers of that period gave him a clear edge over others and propelled him into the world of theater with relative ease. Though he acted in a few roles in Lyceum Theater, his interest was on the architecture side of it. In 1893, he met James Pryde and William Nicholson who were into engravings and printing books. This duo "assisted Craig to develop his skills in woodblock engraving and in 1898, he published the first issue of his art journal the Page, which had contributions from some of the leading contributors to other art journals of the period such as Will Rothenstein and Max Beerbohm." (Craig and Chamberlain, 2008, p.viii). He continued to publish it until 1901.

He also helped Pryde with his work and in this process met the composer Martin Shaw. This was probably the most significant turning point in his life. Shaw and Craig founded the Purcell Operatic Society and Craig designed and developed his first play, Dido and Aeneas. This was an instant success and soon Craig became well-known in the art circle. His continued efforts won him the Order of British Empire (a national honor) and in 1958, he became the Champion of Honour.

He married May Gibson in 1893 and had four children with her. He also had two children with Elena Meo and one daughter with Isadora Duncan. He died in 1996 at Venice and he was 94 years old.

Innovations in Scenery

His most prominent contribution to the world of art has been the sweeping changes to stage backdrops and the representation of scenery. He wanted the stage backgrounds to be neutral and aesthetic and this was a big shift from the traditional way of depicting and illumination the stage. He introduced three important changes in the stage design. His first change came in terms of lighting. Traditionally, all stage backgrounds only used foot lights and Craig introduced the idea of lighting the stage from the top. This opened a whole new world and artists could do wonders with lights and shadows. He could represent colors in different shades using the right placing and wattage and this gave more life to the images in the background.

His second contribution was the integration of actors with the design of the backdrop. He designed clever backdrops that made it realistic and gave viewers the perception that the actors is actually moving through the backdrop. He harmoniously combined movements in space and the color and lighting of the backdrops to give a realistic effect. His third contribution is the use of fixed flats that made it possible to have indoor as well as outdoor stages. He even filed a patent for this technical change in 1910.

What others think of him

Many people had mixed opinion about Craig because he was a brilliant artist and designer and also an extremely difficult person to work with. He wanted complete art control for an production and this was unacceptable to many directors and producers, This is one the biggest reason for his demise from the art scene.

On the most famous men, W.B. Yeats said, "the only admirable stage scene of our time, for Mr. Gordon Craig has discovered how to decorate a play with sever, beautiful, simple effects of colour, that leave the imagination free to follow all the suggestions of the play. Realistic scenery takes the imagination captive and is at best bad landscape painting, but Mr. Gordon Craig's scenery is a new and distinct art. The staging of Dido and Aeneas and of the Masque of Love will some day, I am persuaded, be remembered among the most important events of our time." (Craig and Chamberlain, 2008, p. ix).