Friday, February 1, 2019

Theatrical Maquettes by Marcel Jambon

Marcel Jambon, Set design model for Giuseppe Verdi's Otello, 1895
Marcel Jambon (1848–1908) was a French scenic designer who built maquettes to plan his theatrical sets.

Marcel Jambon, set design for Tristan and Isolde
A wooden frame supported painted backdrops.

Seeing the sets in 3D allowed him to check the viewing angles and the lighting options of a given set design.

Ariane: built model of act V / by Marcel Jambon
Scenic designers often have a variety of skills in drawing, painting, sculpting, and lighting, and they work closely with the other people in the production, including the director, lighting designer, choreographer, and costume designer.
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Wikipedia on Scenic Design

2 comments:

Pierre Fontaine said...

These stage models really appeal to me. I've been a fan of toy theaters for a long time (I've built my fair share) and have purchased a number of books on Theater Set design to have photographic records of the stage models. Using a limited space to tell a story, whether its a play, musical or opera with paint, canvas and light is truly magical.

Sketching Artist said...

Thank you for this post. Stage design is so interesting to me. But also, making dioramas. I had taken a Beginning Stagecraft class in my 50s and was so enthralled with it all. Had I been aware of Set Design as a career in my 20s, my life would certainly have taken a different path. Whether career driven or hobbyist, creating stage models is a good practice for any artist wanting to understand the 3 dimensional world of art, light, composition, etc. I appreciate the detail in the paintings of the samples you provided.