Creating an Image
Self-fashioning of theatre actresses at Leidseplein around 1900
Master Thesis Dhr. Dr. Jan Lazardzig Dhr. Dr. Rob van der Zalm (second reader)
Master Theatre Studies Universiteit van Amsterdam
18th of May 2015 F.D.C. Arnold 6038778, frederique.arnold@hotmail.com, 0640098267
Content
1. Introduction 3
1.1 Background information & motivation 4
1.2 Theoretical perspective & methodology 7
1.3 Main question 8
2. Self-fashioning at Leidseplein 10
2.1 Leidseplein 10
2.1.1Theatrical public sphere 11
2.1.2 Stadsschouwburg 12 2.1.3 Fotostudio Merkelbach 13 2.2 Producing a portrait 14 2.2.1 Carte de visite 16 2.2.2 Photographic portrait 18 2.3 Building a reputation 19 2.3.1 A social rise 20
2.3.2 Female theatre personae 21
3. Case Studies - Choosing a persona 25
3.1 A theatre archive 25
3.2 Portraying Margaretha or Badeloch 26
3.2.1 Theo Mann-Bouwmeester (1850-1939) 29 3.2.2 Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg (1876-1976) 37 3.2.3 Rika Hopper (1877-1964) 44 4. Conclusion 51 Bibliography 54 Appendix 62
1. Introduction
‘Na mijn eerste repetitie op het Plein ging ik ’s-middags naar den fotograaf. Ik wilde een herinnering hebben aan dit oogenblik, waarop ik mij zoo in-gelukkig gevoelde. Een foto, die ik later altijd zou kunnen bekijken, tot me zelf zeggend: “zoo zag ik er toen uit”…’ 1
Dutch actress Theo Mann-Bouwmeester (1850-1939) initially had her photograph taken for private reasons, recording a memorable moment. Although the actress was most probably photographed in her daily clothing , the photograph shows a theatrical setting through which she reaffirmed her 2
status as a professional actress. In dialogue with the photograph, Mann-Bouwmeester used image creation which helped her to built a theatrical reputation. This approach shows the creation of images was essential within the career of a theatre actress in the 1900’s. The goal of this research is to unfold the complexity of the creation of images as a social, visual, and in particular as a cultural process. I set out to explore the visual culture around 1900 in Amsterdam, with regard to photography and self-fashioning, a term which describes the process of constructing one's identity and public persona by adhering to a set of specified socially acceptable standards . I focus more 3
specifically on the relation between the process of creating images and the building of a reputation to eventually become a successful, well-known theatre persona. Creating an Image includes both the technological side of creating an image, taking a photograph (or painting a portrait), as well as the social and professional aspect, including the building of a reputation as a respectable citizen and as a theatre persona through images. The second part of this research focuses on case studies concerning three actresses, who performed at the Stadsschouwburg, a theatre located at the centre of the bourgeois entertainment: Leidseplein. Within their theatrical career, these actresses have taken several photographs in their costumes. In this research I look in particular at their photographic image as the character ‘Margaretha’, from Alexandre Dumas Fils’s Margaretha Gauthier , and as 4
Mann-Bouwmeester, T (in cooperation with A.M. De Jong). Mijn Leven, 1850-1930. Amsterdam: Boekerij ‚De 1
Voortganck’ N.V., 1930: 139.
‘After my first rehearsal at Leidseplein I went to the photographer in the afternoon. I wanted to have a remembrance of this moment, on which I felt intensely happy. A photograph, which I could always look at later, saying to myself: “this is what I looked liked back then”…’
Mann-Bouwmeester, T. Mijn jeugd- en toneelherinneringen. Amsterdam: Van Holkema & Warendorf, 1916: 68-69. 2
Self-fashioning: a term introduced by S. Greenblatt in 1980. He argues that, during the Renaissance, the upper class 3
practiced self-fashioning through portraits, in which the socially acceptable standards for the nobility were represented. Greenblatt, S. Renaissance self-fashioning: from More to Shakespeare. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1980.
Dumas Fils, A. La Dame aux Camélias. Paris: 1848 (novel). Adapted as a play by Dumas in 1852: ‘Margaretha 4
Gauthier’ or ‘Camille’.
This drama tells the story of Margaretha Gauthier, a young courtisane in Paris in the mid-1800’s. She falls in love with Armand Duval, who ultimately becomes her lover. However, due to influences of Armand’s father, Margaretha leaves Armand to save his reputation and eventually dies from tuberculosis, painfully and alone.
‘Badeloch’, from Joost van den Vondel’s Gijsbrecht van Amstel . 5
1.1 Background information & motivation
In the nineteenth century theatre, opera, ballet, and pantomime were very popular. From 1800 onwards more permanent theatres made of stone were built and started to house theatre companies, which mostly performed French melodramas . As a result of the industrialization and a rapid growth 6
in population in Amsterdam, from 200.000 in 1830 to 500.000 in 1900, there was an increasing need for culture and entertainment, which consequently created the Nes, which housed the Salon des Variétés, as a popular centre for entertainment . Besides the Nes, theatre districts like the 7
Rembrandtplein and the Amstel, and the Plantage, housing the Hollandsche Schouwburg, were created in the second half of the nineteenth century. A lot of well-known theatre artists started their career performing in small theatres or on street fairs, but eventually were asked to perform in the large theatres: the Schouwburg. One of these larger theatres was located at Leidseplein and housed the ‚Koninklijke Vereniging Het Nederlandsch Tooneel’ (K.V.H.N.T.). Within this study, I speak of 8
Leidseplein as a square which contains both a geographical and symbolical value. Nowadays it is located at the centre of Amsterdam, but in the previous century Leidseplein was still on the outskirts. Around 1900, this square was the center for upperclass entertainment and allowed carriages to be driven in front of Hirsch & Cie , which included Fotostudio Merkelbach at the top 9
floor from 1913 , the Amsterdam American Hotel , and the Stadsschouwburg . The 10 11 12
Stadsschouwburg has owned a portrait collection, shown inside the theatre, from 1899 onwards . 13
This collection includes the most important theatre artists, immortalized in a painting, a sculpture, or a photographic portrait, which makes the Stadsschouwburg an institution to collect and archive culture as well. In short, the geographical location of Leidseplein was strengthened by its
Vondel, J. Gijsbreght van Aemstel. Amsterdam: 1638. 5
This drama tells the story of the downfall of Amsterdam, conquered by surrounding villages, around 1300. Gijsbrecht, the lord of Amsterdam, together with his wife Badeloch and their children, has to leave the city and live in exile elsewhere. However, before the family leaves Amsterdam, Angel Rafael appears and reassures them the city will once rise out of its ashes and be successful again.
Logger, B, i.a.. Theaters in Nederland sinds de zeventiende eeuw. Amsterdam: Theater Instituut Nederland i.a., 2007: 6
41-42.
Vree, F. van, i.a.. De Hollandsche Schouwburg. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2013: 15. 7
Albach, B. Duizend jaar toneel in Nederland. Bussum: C.A.J. van Dishoeck, 1965: 62-68. 8
Vree 2013: 13-16.
Hirsch & Cie was a department store (modehuis) opened in 1882. The building was renovated and opened again in 9
1912, including Fotostudio Merkelbach from 1913 onwards.
Groeneboer, J. In het licht van de fotograaf. Een overzicht van de Nederlandse theaterfotografie tot 1940. 10
Amsterdam: Nederlands Theater Instituut, International Theatre & Film Books, 1991: 91. The Amsterdam American Hotel was opened in 1900 and renovated in 1927/28. 11
The Stadsschouwburg at Leidseplein was openend in 1774, but burned down in 1890. It was opened again in 1894, 12
made from stone, and is still used today in 2015.
Stekelenburg, L. De portrettencollectie van de Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam : 'het toont in kleen begrip al 's 13
symbolical aspect, since it gave status and created cultural value when entering one of its three great buildings. It implied and confirmed your part in bourgeois society.
Within this research, I discuss theatre artists around 1900 in general and consequently focus on three actresses in particular. Due to this exclusion in my case studies, gender needs a more detailed consideration within this introduction. I started this thesis according to the hypothesis that the entertainment culture around 1900 was dominated by men and the male gaze, which forced actresses to depend on their own personality, their persona, and the required self-fashioning to become a professional theatre actress. I chose not to discuss male actors since it was normal for men to work during the nineteenth century, whilst women in bourgeois society were supposed to stay inside the house, except when they were in the company of a man. However, at the end of the nineteenth century ladies wanted to make themselves useful, besides taking care of the children at home . Despite that the role for a woman within society was already changing, it was still difficult 14
for actresses to conquer their place within society as a respectable lady whilst simultaneously becoming a theatre persona. As a general remark, the male dominance in the entertainment culture was not the only motivation for actresses to use self-fashioning. I assume this was a process in which male dominance and the personality of the actress both took part and in a way strengthened each other. Moreover, self-fashioning was most probably used as a means to reaffirm and maintain their newly achieved status. In the 1900’s, femininity was rephrased by actresses through theatre photography, but was also reaffirmed by being depicted in theatrical dresses emphasizing their female characteristics. It is likely this was a vicious circle in which very slowly small changes regarding the position of women in the bourgeois society were realised.
Around 1900, theatre artists in general created images that depicted them in their most important dramatic roles to help built their reputation and become a theatre persona. According to Yael Zarhy-Levo, becoming a well known persona is a result of someone’s theatrical reputation, which is not only shaped by the theatre star him- or herself . A theatrical reputation is achieved by 15
a mediation process which takes place between several instances like critics, academics, media, institutions, funding agencies, and governmental decisions . Zarhy-Levo’s definition translates to 16
my research in such a way that I consider the contributing roles of other participants, besides the actresses themselves, when arguing female theatre personae were created at Leidseplein in the previous century.
De IJzeren Eeuw: Vrouwen Voorwaarts. NTR & VPRO: Friday First of May 2015, 21.07u (44minutes). <http:// 14
www.npo.nl/de-ijzeren-eeuw/01-05-2015/VPWON_1226674>.
Zarhy-Levo, Y. The Making of Theatrical Reputations. Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2008: 2. 15
Zarhy-Levo 2008: 2. 16
The period I discuss within this research starts with the opening of the new Stadsschouwburg at Leidseplein in 1894, and ends with the Dutch Theatre Strike in 1920. As a result of this strike, a special committee was assigned: the ‘Nederlandsche Tooneelkunstenaars Vereeniging’ (NTKV). This committee discussed with the ‘Bond van Schouwburgdirecteuren’ salary raise, better pensions, and a better regulation for sejours when performing outside Amsterdam . This strike was picked up 17
by theatre artists in the rest of the Netherlands which led to a national theatre strike. The NTKV did not win this strike, resulting in the municipality of Amsterdam claiming the building at Leidseplein and assigning one permanent theatre company for the Stadsschouwburg . This event in 1920 forms 18
the end of my research. However, within this period the world faced the atrocities of the First World War (1914-1918), in which the Netherlands remained politically neutral. This world effecting event created an opportunity for a new form of entertainment to gain popularity: the cinema . 19
Furthermore, the war created a new social class: the nouveaux riches. They earned their money from food shortages, had more spare time, and spent their income, amongst other things, on the cinema, which helped to accelerate the opening of more cinemas in the Netherlands . Nevertheless, 20
this new entertainment form only gained popularity from 1914 onwards. Due to this fact, I have excluded the effects of the cinema, and movie actresses in particular, on the popularity of the theatre actresses performing at Leidseplein.
One hundred years ago the process of image creation and building a reputation was different than it is in the twenty-first century. Today the created images of theatre personae, like Halina Reijn or Chris Nietveld, both actresses performing regularly at the Stadsschouwburg at Leidseplein with Toneelgroep Amsterdam , are far more reaching due to the 24-hour access to the world wide web. 21
It allows everyone at any time to look up pictures of (theatre) personae. Around 1900, this 24-hour access did not exist, which forced actresses to be very critical towards the way they presented themselves. I chose to look at actresses Theo Mann-Bouwmeester, Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg (1876-1976), and Rika Hopper (1877-1964), as they have had to be attentive and assertive in the creation of their images, within the male dominated scene present at the centre for the Dutch bourgeois entertainment. This research is interesting nowadays, since it articulates the entertainment
Vree 2013: 31. 17
Albach 1969: 6. 18
Velden van der, A, Judith Thissen. ‚Spectacles of Conspicuous Consumption: Picture Palaces, War Profiteers and the 19
Social Dynamics of Moviegoing in the Netherlands, 1914-1922.’ Film History, 2010, Vol.22(4): 453-454. Velden van der 2010: 453-454.
20
The ‘Koninklijke Vereniging Het Nederlandsch Toneel’ could be mentioned as predecessor of Toneelgroep 21
Amsterdam, since both companies are characterized as prominent and leading within the Dutch theatre-scene, performing both at the Stadsschouwburg at Leidseplein, as permanent ‘house-company’, and the rest of the Netherlands.
scene in Amsterdam around 1900 in which the bourgeois society was continuously busy with their image, status, and reputation. Analysing three actresses, who wanted to become part of this group and who used images to do so, shows the value of photography as a medium to create and reaffirm a status in a society regulated by ranks and its accompanied rules involving differences among men and women.
Initially I chose to discuss three actresses who all were photographed as Badeloch, the leading lady in Vondel’s Gijsbrecht. Around 1900, this historical drama was part of a performance tradition at Leidseplein and was performed annually on the first of January since 1638 . However, I 22
did not find a suitable photograph of Theo Mann-Bouwmeester, on which she was photographed alone and which most likely helped the actress to built and/or strengthen her reputation. Therefore, I included an extra dramatic role: Dumas Fils’s ‘Margaretha’. Mann-Bouwmeester was photographed in her Margaretha costume around 1900. This image is very usable since it articulates a way of self-fashioning by the actress, which is also valid for the two photographs of Royaards-Sandberg and Hopper in their Badeloch costumes. Both Margaretha and Badeloch were leading dramatic roles which attribute to the professional and qualitative value of the actresses within the theatre scene around 1900 in Amsterdam.
1. 2 Theoretical perspective & methodology
When speaking of images I refer to Hans Belting’s theory on images . Belting combines three 23
closely interconnected aspects: image, medium, and body. He points out that images can not exist by themselves, because they “happen” . An image takes place via transmission and perception, but 24
can only become possible when the image is transmitted by a medium. In this approach, media form a missing link between the image and the body. Belting argues that images live in our body and in our dreams . The body is important since it is able to perceive, project, and remember an image. In 25
the course of this study I apply Belting’s triad of image-medium-body on the analysis of images 26
portraying actresses, used for self-fashioning and representation, around 1900.
To create a clear image of the actresses I discuss as case studies, I use the memoirs of two actresses in my analysis: Mann-Bouwmeester’s extensive autobiography and Royaards-Sandberg’s
Albach, B. Drie Eeuwen ‚Gijsbreght van Aemstel’. Kroniek van de jaarlijksche opvoeringen. Amsterdam: N.V. 22
Noord-Hollandsche Uitgeversmaatschappij, 1937: XIII-XIV.
Belting, H. An Anthropology of Images. Picture, Medium, Body (translation Thomas Dunlap). Princeton: Princeton 23
University Press, 2014 (first edition 2001).
Belting, H. ‘Image, Medium, Body: A New Approach to Iconology.’ Critical Inquiry, 2005, Vol.31(2): 302-319. Belting 2005: 302. 24 Belting 2005: 305. 25 Belting 2014: 15. 26
memoirs . Within the Theater Instituut Nederland (TIN) many personal archives have been saved, 27
including ‘personalia mappen’ of the actresses in which I have found scrapbooks of Rika Hopper herself, personal birth certificates of Mann-Bouwmeester, and many newspaper articles of which the paper is old and likely to break when not handled with care. Unfortunately Royaards-Sandberg’s personalia folder is not very extensive and difficult to read. Her folder includes the manuscript of her memoir, written on several kinds of paper, in different colors, and not structurally written on lines. Through this source, the TIN archive has allowed me to create an image of the personal characteristics of the actresses. Moreover, it gives an overview of the articles published in newspapers around 1900 on the performances of the actresses in general, and specifically their performances of Margaretha and Badeloch. From 1910 onwards, newspaper articles were more regularly published with photographs, since they had to keep up with the illustrated magazines that already accompanied their texts with photographs . This offered the possibility for the articles 28
about theatre artists to be accompanied by a photograph of the artist in a specific role.
In the previous centuries, theatre archives were usually created and maintained by actors themselves, their families, or theatre fanatics, who were struck by a collecting attitude. Negatives of photographs were only saved by the photographer when he expected a repeat-order. When no orders were made, the glass plates were sold to a company which cleaned them and made them ready for new use. Especially during the First World War, resources were rare and due to this, glass negatives were recycled and consequently most archives disappeared. This lack of source material has created an uncertainty while researching the photographs of the three actresses. However, the archival material I did find is very valuable since I use it in a double way; I gain information from the material available about the actresses and moreover, I collect information from the medium in which it is preserved. Therefore, the information gained from archival work has a great value for succeeding with this research. 29
1.4 Research question
The main question within this master thesis is: In which way did the self-fashioning of theatre actresses - understood as a mutual process of image creation and the building of a reputation - take place at Leidseplein around 1900? Within this period I focus on 1899, 1912, and 1917, since these
Mann-Bouwmeester 1916. 27
Mann-Bouwmeester 1930.
Royaards-Sandberg, J. Herinneringen. Baarn: Erven Thomas Rap, 1979.
Steen, P. van der. ’Een belediging voor de intelligente lezer. Sluitertijd, van Daguerreotype naar Fotografie, 1885.’ 28
Trouw, de Verdieping, Wednesday the 22nd of April 2015: 6-7. Groeneboer 1991: 9-12.
are the years Theo Mann-Bouwmeester, Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg, and Rika Hopper performed leading parts, like Margaretha and Badeloch, in the Stadsschouwburg on Leidseplein. Before analysing these images, I look at the entertainment scene at Leidseplein around 1900, including both the private and the public realm, and at the technical process of creating an image, taking the ‘carte de visite’ and the photographic portrait as imagery examples. Furthermore, I discuss the building of a theatrical reputation and, in particular, female theatre personae around 1900. Consequently, I introduce the emancipation process for theatre artists at the beginning of the twentieth century in relation to ‘Margaretha Gauthier’ and ‘Gijsbrecht van Amstel’, and as a tool within the building of a reputation. In the third chapter, which includes my case studies, I analyse the images of three actresses as Margaretha or Badeloch on three different levels: a technological level, a social level and on a professional level. Within this thesis I argue that at the beginning of the twentieth century, self-fashioning by Dutch theatre actresses was a result of the interaction between the three levels of image creation and eventually helped to built a theatrical reputation. This process of building a reputation includes not only the efforts of the actress herself, but involves the interaction between several participants, like theatre managements, photographs, the photographer and his status, and the performed role and accompanied costume.
2. Self-fashioning at Leidseplein
‘Al honderd jaar wordt het Leidseplein in Amsterdam gedomineerd door drie grote gebouwen, de Stadsschouwburg, het American Hotel en er recht tegenover het Hirschgebouw.’ 30
2.1 Leidseplein
According to sociologist Richard Sennett, in urban areas in the nineteenth century people had different ways of showing their emotions in the ‘public’ realm than in the ‘private’ realm . He 31
argues that the private allows people to share feelings and create an intimacy, which is not possible in the public realm. Art historian Vanessa Schwartz and artist Jeannene Przyblyski point out in their nineteenth century visual culture-reader that a heightened sense of ‘privacy’ was present within the nineteenth century, which sharpened the definition of public life and strengthened an ideological barrier between ‘public’ and ‘private’ . Consequently a sort of ‘social consensus’, regarding what 32
behaviors and activities were intended for public sight, what might be seen, and what should remain unseen, was crucial in the regulation of a society, across its classes and accompanied differences. This social consensus translates to Leidseplein around 1900 in such a way that the bourgeois society regulated this square, using the Stadsschouwburg, the American Hotel, and the Hirsch & Cie building to create their own exclusive ‘public’ outside on Leidseplein, and ‘private’ realm inside the three buildings. 33
European cities in the nineteenth century became the crystallization of the spectacle of modern life. According to Schwartz and Przybylski this spectacle of modern life rearranged the concept of the public and private realm and consequently blurred the ideological border between these two realms. As a result, the regulation of a social consensus can become disrupted and this most often happens in the city . At the end of the nineteenth century, Sennett argues that this 34
disruption was caused by the process of secularization and industrial capitalism , both 35
consequences of modern life. This affected city spaces, their design and their planning as well. Schwartz and Przybylski argue that as a result of urbanization, cities represent the visual expression of social values . The distinction Schwartz and Przybylski make is valid on Leidseplein since the 36
Veen, A. van, i.a.. Fotostudio Merkelbach: Portretten 1913-1969. Den Haag: Komma, 2013: 6. 30
‘For over more than one hundred years, Leidseplein in Amsterdam has been dominated by three major buildings, the Stadsschouwburg, the American Hotel and, across from it, the Hirschbuilding.’
Sennett, R. The fall of public man. London: Faber and Faber, 1986: xvi. 31
Schwartz, V., Jeannene M. Przyblyski. The nineteenth-century visual culture reader. London: Routledge, 2004: 339. 32 Sennett 1986: xvi-xxi, 4-6. 33 Schwartz 2004: 339-340. Sennett 1986: xxi. 34 Sennett 1986: xvii. 35 Schwartz 2004: 165. 36
three bourgeois buildings were valuable for creating social values on this square, rearranging the social consensus. Moreover, with showing photographs as stills in the windows of Hirsch, depicting theatre artists made by Merkelbach , photographic images which were initially created for private 37
reasons became visible to the greater public. Besides the department stores like Hirsch, photographs depicting theatre artists were shown in the windows of theatres, like the Stadsschouwburg . This 38
sort of image creation translates to Leidseplein in such a way that it disrupted the social consensus. This disruption was most probably initiated by photographs depicting theatre artists dressed in their costumes, which were not private photographs showing a person in his or her daily, personal clothing, and helped to built a reputation as a theatre persona. In this way, the disruption of the social consensus at Leidseplein was most probably the result of the actresses’s photographs and their possibly notorious visibility on stage at the Stadsschouwburg. 39
2.1.1 Theatrical public sphere
Throughout history, theatre has helped to create a public sphere. Christopher Balme discusses the relation of the public sphere and theatre , arguing that this theatrical public sphere is always 40
focused on theatre as an institution between the shifting borders of the private and public . Balme 41
starts his book with philosopher Jürgen Habermas’s argument about the public sphere in the eighteenth century . According to Habermas this sphere was manifested by media of 42
communication, which staged practices of celebrities, and was as much linked to the private as it was to the public . Furthermore, he argues that within this public sphere, a ‘bourgeois public 43
sphere’ was created, which constituted the bourgeoisie as an ascendant social class. However, this constitution went into decline in the nineteenth century, due to the working of a market place, in which all citizens engaged in debate on public issues on equal terms . Within this public sphere, the 44
bourgeoisie wanted to create a symbolical value for their social class and moreover, aimed at building a reputation. However, according to sociologist Chris Jenks, ‘a space has to be conceptualized in order to be understood’ and consequently different parts of a city carry different 45
and multiple meanings. These meanings, formed by one’s sight, cluster in a way that urban areas
Groeneboer 1991: 91. 37 Veen 2013: 52-53. 38 Sennett 1986: xvi-xxi, 4-6. 39
Balme, C. The Theatrical Public Sphere. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 40
Balme 2014: 23-24. 41
Habermas, J (translated Thomas Burger e.a.). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a 42
category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989 (first edition 1962).
Balme, C. The Theatrical Public Sphere. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014: 23. 43
Schwartz 2004: 339. 44
Jenks, C. ‘Flâneur’. Visual Culture. London: Routledge, 1995: 144. 45
always become recognizable . Jenks’s argument translates to Leidseplein around 1900 in such a 46
way that this square for bourgeois entertainment was architectonically decorated, and conceptualized by the Stadsschouwburg, the Hirsch & Cie building, and the American Hotel. These buildings allowed a bourgeois culture to come into existence, which was consequently appropriated by this specific group. Leidseplein became a specific site in which this ascendant social class was active. Around 1900, it is likely that the bourgeoisie needed this square, socially and visually, to maintain entertainment for the upperclass in particular and distance themselves from the more burlesque way of theatre in the Nes for the middle class. Leidseplein was a theatrical public sphere which contained symbolical value for the bourgeoisie, according to its three buildings, and helped to built and maintain a reputation as an ascendant social, cultural educated, class.
2.1.2 Stadsschouwburg
The Stadsschouwburg, opened in 1894, forms one of the main focus points within my research since images were created and archived, from 1899 onwards , at this place. The Schouwburg, 47
which includes a two-sided theatre , was designed by Van Gendt and brothers Springer , financed 48 49
by wealthy Amsterdam citizens , and is still used today. It is two-sided in such a way that it 50
includes a stage and auditorium, in which dramas are performed, as well as an extra room around the performance space, which allows the audience to become an ‘actor’ as well. This second theatrical aspect is shaped by a rotunda, halls and corridors, stairs, and especially by the stylish foyers, which make the activity of seeing and being seen simultaneously possible. Through this the Stadsschouwburg achieves a double sense of ‘acting’. Cultural historian Freek Schmidt argues that the Stadsschouwburg, besides its aesthetical, architectonic historical, and technical value as a monument of representative architecture, has become an icon of the late nineteenth century bourgeois culture and its associated rituals in the Netherlands . Moreover, he elaborates that the 51
Stadsschouwburg, and its portrait collection of theatre artists, should be seen as a memorial for theatre history in the Netherlands . 52
When the new Stadsschouwburg was opened in 1894, new rules regarding the audience’s clothing and behavior were established. In the former wooden theatre, located at Leidseplein as
Jenks 1995: 145. 46
Stekelenburg 1996: 8. 47
Schmidt, F. De Beschrijving Leidseplein 26, Stadsschouwburg. Amsterdam: Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie 48
(bMA), March 2003, Objectnummer 46503: 29. Stekelenburg 1996: 259. 49 Logger 2007: 152. 50 Schmidt 2003: 31. 51 Schmidt 2003: 31, 33. 52
well, the audience was allowed to eat during the performances. In the intermission refreshments were sold and smoking was permitted. However, from 1894 onwards, drinks were only sold in the foyer and special ‘koffiekamers’ were assigned for smoking. In the former Stadsschouwburg, names of important citizens were called out loud within the auditorium when their carriages had arrived in front of the Stadsschouwburg and were ready for departure. This formality changed in 1894 and names were called at the rotunda. Theatre historian Ben Albach points out that with the opening of the new Stadsschouwburg the days of homely and domestic entertainment in the former more provincial Stadsschouwburg, where every citizen felt at home, were definitely over . This change 53
was enhanced by the gentlemen with beards and high hats, and the pompous ladies dressed in silk and satin, and wearing shining jewelry, who were visiting the first performance on the first of September 1894. Moreover, the new way of illuminating the stage by electricity emphasized the Stadsschouwburg as a theatre palace with mundane splendor and an opera-like setting. The Dutch capital aimed at becoming a world renowned city and this idea was strengthened by the splendor of the Stadsschouwburg. Besides the Stadsschouwburg, around 1900 Amsterdam housed other mundane buildings like the Central Station, the Rijksmuseum and the Concertgebouw. 54
2.1.3 Fotostudio Merkelbach
On Leidseplein, opposite of the Stadsschouwburg, the Hirsch & Cie building was located and from April 1913 it housed Fotostudio Merkelbach on the top floor. Customers came to this photo studio to have a more personal photograph taken, in contrast to the endless stream of photographs that were cheaply made and all looked the same at the average studio at the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam . Located at Leidseplein, the American Hotel and the Stadsschouwburg made sure 55
enough potential customers found their way to Merkelbach. Although the photo studio had its own entrance, discrete and around the corner of Hirsch & Cie, its photographs were shown in the display windows of the department store. Usually Merkelbach’s customers were ladies and gentlemen who could also afford to buy their clothes on the other floors of the same building. Besides a good financial status, a customer who wanted to own a portrait made by Merkelbach had to be very patient. In an interview in 1920 the photographer argued that it was difficult to create a good portrait:
Albach 1937: 116. 53
Albach, B. Het huis op het plein : heden en verleden van de Amsterdamse stadsschouwburg. Amsterdam: Stadsdrukkerij, 1957: 17. Albach 1957: 11, 17-19. 54 Vree 2013: 15. Veen 2013: 10-12. 55
‘Een werkelijk goed portret te leveren is geen gemakkelijke taak! Eerste vereiste daarvan toch is, dat het de persoon weergeeft geheel overeenkomstig het wezen en karakter. De fotograaf moet dus trachten, bij zijn cliënt de eigenschappen te ontdekken die zijne (hare) persoonlijkheid karakteriseren.’ 56
Besides the bourgeoisie, Merkelbach had customers who performed at the Stadsschouwburg. Actors, ballet dancers, singers, and eventually movie stars visited his studio. These artists all 57
needed photographs, usually in their costumes. According to Alting van Geusau, theatre artists went to photo studios like Merkelbach mostly on their own initiative . 58 59
2.2 Producing a portrait
When analysing the production of a portrait, it is important to take into consideration the value of the medium in which a portrait is realised. In his essay on images the art historian Hans Belting points out that the medium is important, since it allows images to be transmitted to the receiver. A medium forms the missing link between the image and the receiving body because it channels the receiver’s perception . The medium I focus on in particular is photography. Its invention made 60
mechanical reproduction within a short amount of time possible. Walter Benjamin published an essay on the work of art in the time of mechanical reproduction . As a result of this technological 61
reproduction, art can be reproduced. According to Benjamin, this new invention alters the relationship of the mass to art . With the invention of photography, the hand within the process of 62
pictorial reproduction, was to be relieved from the principal characteristics of art. Moreover, since the eye perceives faster than the hand can draw, Benjamin argues that the reproduction process was so enormously speeded up in the nineteenth century that it was even able to keep up with the pace of speech, eventually allowing the film operator to create movies with sound. 63
In 1839, amidst a century characterized by a taste for consuming visual illusions as if they were real, photography was invented by the French painter Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) . The 64
invention of this medium offered the period an assumed defining image of a rationalized and
Surendonk, H. ‘Foto’s van mensen.’ NRC Handelsblad, 22th of January 1977: (page unknown). 56
In Veen 2013, records of photographs of movie actors and actresses are only saved from 1930s onwards. 57 Veen 2013: 52. 58 Veen 2013: 6-16. 59 Belting 2005: 305. 60 Belting 2014: 11.
Benjamin, W. The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media. London: 61
Harvard University Press, 2008 (first edition 1936). Benjamin 2008: 26. 62 Belting 2005: 302-305. 63 Belting 2014: 9-16. Benjamin 2008: 3-8.
Swedlund, C. Photography. A Handbook of History, Materials, and Processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart and 64
objective vision. Schwartz and Przyblyski point out that photography could combine different entertainment media in which vision was industrialized, commodified, and modernized . One of 65
these entertainment media was theatre, which was deeply affected by the invention of photography. Groeneboer writes in his book on Dutch theatre photography that before 1839 only drawers and painters were able to record actors and theatre scenes. After 1839, it took another ten to twenty years before theatre artists were able to afford their own portrait, since photography was still a new medium and very expensive. The oldest known Dutch theatre photograph dates from 1858 and was a portrait of Rosier Faassen (1833-1907) , a Dutch actor and playwright. From 1860 onwards, it 66
was more common for Dutch theatre artists to visit a photo studio to have their photograph taken in character and be immortalized themselves, and their work of art. The photographer created a series of painted backgrounds, inspired by the actual decor in the theatre or as a result of his own imagination. According to Groeneboer, when the drama and costume were chosen by the actor, the photographer picked a suitable background and dressed the set with proper attributes . In this way, 67
the actor or actress was photographed in a coherent, directed setting to create one clear message for its audience. It was not until 1885, with the invention of a better lens, that photographs could be taken on stage. This lens was more sensitive and allowed for magnesium to create enough lighting in a dark theatre. At the end of the nineteenth century another invention allowed for the opportunity of retouching the negatives of photographs . Photographers were able to eliminate imperfections, 68
make adjustments in lighting, or create a theatrical setting by hand after the photograph had been taken. Thanks to this development, complete theatrical decors could be painted on the negative and be printed together with the original photograph. This invention resulted in better photographs than the ones which were taken in the actual setting on stage in this period. 69
Photographs were just as important for the actors as they were for their employees; the theatre management. Theatre photographs mattered to both parties as they garnered publicity among the theatre-going audience. For a beginning theatre artist it was essential to be photographed in every role he/she was performing, so it could be send to the management of a theatre company where one wished to perform. These photographs were most likely used for self-fashioning as well as for showing others he/she had dedicated his/her life to the profession of acting. According to
Schwartz 2004: 71. 65 Groeneboer 1991: 16. 66 Groeneboer 1991: 28. 67 Groeneboer 1991: 28-29, 93. 68 Swedlund 1974: 11-12. Schwartz 2004: 71-72. 69 Groeneboer 1991: 13-18, 26-33. Veen 2013: 66. Swedlund 1974: 11-12.
Groeneboer, printed photographs were used by theatre artists to gain publicity, to get new roles, and to thank colleagues or fans . Alting van Geusau argues that theatre artists only went to photo 70
studios on special occasions like a jubilee, a premiere or a favorite role . Either way, being 71
photographed as a theatre artist must have been something special and memorable. A visit to a photo studio was likely taken very seriously by theatre artists, forcing them to chose a talented photographer, like Merkelbach, and be assertive in the direction of the photograph: choosing the role, accompanied costume, posture, gestures, and mimicry. However, theatre managements benefited from a good photograph as well, since they were able to use this for advertising the specific drama. 72
Sometimes theatre artists were photographed outside a specific theatrical role. Actresses were often depicted holding a fan , which was an attribute often associated with the profession of 73
acting. In contrast to a theatre photograph, on which painted backgrounds, theatrical attributes, and real costumes were used, a regular portrait was relatively simple. The person portrayed did not stand in a theatrical position, but was usually photographed in a sitting position, dressed in daily clothing and depicted with a symbolical attribute. In contrast to theatre photography, on which the artist focused somewhere outside of the photograph, the person portrayed on a portrait looked into the lens of the camera. According to Groeneboer, photographic portraits showed someone’s position in society, which was usually accomplished by using symbolical attributes telling something about someone’s personality and profession . 74 75
2.2.1 Carte de visite
Around 1860, when theatre photography had become more common in the Netherlands, there was a great interest in the ‘cartes de visite’ by politicians, singers, painters, and actors . These cards were 76
photographed business cards and gained international success. In the 1860’s, people all over Europe were collecting these ‘cartes de visite’ depicting famous people , an activity that fed the obsession 77
around a public persona. Collectors gave these cards away as gifts and looking at them became a popular pastime. Eventually this photographic trend allowed theatre artists to be photographed
Groeneboer 1991: 16. 70 Veen 2013: 58. 71 Groeneboer 1991: 16-18. 26-33, 58. 72 Veen 2013: 58-64. Groeneboer 1991: 28. 73 Groeneboer 1991: 28. 74 Swedlund 1974: 10. Groeneboer 1991: 26-33. 75 Veen 2013: 16-22. Groeneboer 1991: 14-15. 76 Groeneboer 1991: 15. 77
together in specific scenes, which were printed on one big card called a ‘carte-mosaïque’ and 78
spread by theatre directors within the theatre-scene. Although Merkelbach opened in 1913, more than fifty years after the invention, his customers could still buy ‘cartes de visite’. Merkelbach commissioned seven guilders fifty for two pictures of this smallest size (7 x 11 cm) and for its enlargements (50 x 60 cm) called the ‘Salon’, he asked 75 to 90 guilders, depending on the laboriousness of the print . The length of the popularity of the ‘cartes de visite’ becomes clear 79
within the accounts of Merkelbach’s list of photography possibilities in 1913. However, this availability at Merkelbach could also be evidence to the fact photographic trends came to the Netherlands always somewhat later than in the United States and other European countries like England and France . 80 81
In the TIN depot I found many ‘brief kaarten/cartes postales’ , which look much like the 82
‘cartes de visite’, depicting many different Dutch theatre artists, like Louis Bouwmeester . They 83
were made around 1900 in a specific dramatic setting, usually subscribed with the name of the drama and the scene portrayed in particular. The actress Rika Hopper collected ‘cartes’ herself in a self-put-together scrapbook, including cartes she received from her colleagues and cartes depicting her predecessors . However, it is not likely that this collection attitude reached all people. When 84
taking Merkelbach’s prices into consideration, one had to be able to afford at least three to four guilders to buy one carte. According to H. Wals, the average weekly wage for workmen in the Netherlands around 1900 was seventeen to twenty guilders . It was probably the only income an 85
average household got. Wals points out that women were not supposed to work and it strengthened the status of a family when the wife took responsibility for housekeeping and raising the children . 86
Therefore it is unlikely that an average workman was visiting Merkelbach to buy such an expensive collector’s item. However, Merkelbach’s prices were higher than the photo studios located at the Kalverstraat. Merkelbach articulated in an interview that photographic portraits asked for time and
Groeneboer 1991: 15. 78
Nowadays Merkelbach’s photographs would be sold for prices starting at 40 euros for the smallest size and ending at 79
470 euros for the biggest size. Veen 2013: 17-18. Swedlund 1974: 7-11. 80 Groeneboer 1991: 15, 41-43. 81 Swedlund 1974: 7-11. Veen 2013: 16-20.
In English ‘brief kaarten’ are postcards. 82
Louis Bouwmeester (1842-1925) was a successful Dutch actor during the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth 83
century. He was the brother of Theo Mann-Bouwmeester and they performed together at the Stadsschouwburg at Leidseplein with the K.V.H.N.T..
Hopper, R. ‘Album’, date unknown. Source: TIN Depot (reference 200000382.000), Rika Hopper (1895-1961): 84
Inventory number 36.
Wals, H. Makers en stakers. Amsterdamse bouwvakarbeiders en hun bestaansstrategieen in het eerste kwart van de 85
twintigste eeuw (PhD thesis). Amsterdam: UvA-Dare, 2001: 111. Wals 2001: 103-104.
material which had their price . However, it is likely the collection attitude reached all ranks in 87
Dutch society as a result of the availability in different qualities and prices of ‘cartes’ and scrapbooks. Whether the bourgeois society was able to buy these ‘cartes’ as collector items, depicting theatre artists performing at Leidseplein and made by Merkelbach remains to be questioned since I did not find any records of these purchases. 88
2.2.2 Photographic Portrait
After the invention of photography in 1839 and the hype around photographed business cards in the 1860’s, there was a decline in popularity at the end on the nineteenth century . However, due to the 89
creation of a new social class, called the ‘nouveaux riches’ , the popularity of the photographic 90
portrait in general increased again around 1900. According to photojournalist Giséle Freund there 91
was a demand for goods in Western Europe at the beginning of the previous century as a result of the First World War. The demand for goods in the fighting European countries resulted in the production of greater quantities in the Netherlands, which led to obtaining political and economical power by the nouveaux riches. This new class owed its wealth to the war and made fortunes in coal, fish, meat and vegetables. The nouveaux riches were proud of their newly achieved social status and eager to show their wealth. The photographic portrait allowed individuals, including members of this new class, to visually affirm their social status to both themselves and the rest of the world whilst using symbolic attributes to indicate their profession. 92
According to Freund, the photographic portrait was the final stage in the trend towards mechanization in the nineteenth century, which started in 1839 . She recalls that the bourgeois 93
society, before the French Revolution in 1789, already manifested its profound need for self-glorification, using miniature portraits to emphasize individualism . This desire provoked the 94
development of new forms and techniques for portraits. Due to the vogue of the portrait, photography as a medium to portray individuals gained more popularity and quickly after its invention became accessible for a larger part of the population. It is likely this rise in accessibility,
Veen 2013: 16. 87 Groeneboer 1991: 14-15. 88 Veen 2013: 16-18. Groeneboer 1991: 41. 89
Van der Velden, A, Judith Thissen. ‚Spectacles of Conspicuous Consumption: Picture Palaces, War Profiteers and the 90
Social Dynamics of Moviegoing in the Netherlands, 1914-1922.’ Film History, 2010, Vol.22(4): 454-456. Freund, G. Photography and Society. London: Gordon Fraser, 1980.
91
Freund, G. ‘Precursors of the photographic portrait’. The nineteenth-century visual culture reader (edited by Vanessa 92
Schwartz a.o.). London: Routledge, 2004: 79-82. Groeneboer 1991: 28.
Van der Velden 2010: 454-456. Freund 2004: 79.
93
Freund 2004: 80. 94
accompanied by a change within the relations among the different classes in Dutch society, pressured the bourgeois society to find a new way for self-glorification and affirm their identity as an upperclass around 1900. However, as a result of the atrocities that accompanied the First World War, the affirmation of a Dutch identity in general had become difficult as well. 95
Ismee Tames points out in her essay ‘War on our Minds’ that Dutch opinion makers were 96
trying intensively to uphold a strong sense of Dutch identity between 1914 and 1918, since concepts like law and justice were lost in the fighting countries, by which the Netherlands was surrounded. The Dutch government focused mainly on pluralism and on the tolerance of fundamental differences, in comparison to the other fighting countries. International debate on neutrality reached a peak at the end of the war and led to conclude that countries who had remained neutral during the war were no longer moral arbiters, but non-belligerents. The Dutch were seen as a population who did not sacrifice and thus had no say within the debate on peace conditions. As a result of this conclusion, Tames argues that Dutch public debate showed features of a process of cultural self-mobilization, in which the Dutch population cried for national unity and the sustainment of national and cultural survival . In her essay Tames mostly writes about the political elite. However, it is 97
likely there was a cultural elite group as well, the bourgeoisie, whose affirmation of being powerful and representative Dutch citizens suits the process of cultural self-mobilization. In addition, around 1914-1918 the bourgeois society aimed even more at creating an image which reinforced their social class as the perfect embodiment of the Dutch identity. This image of the perfect citizen was articulated best on a cultural level at Leidseplein. 98
2.3 Building a reputation
In the previous century, the bourgeois society tried to create an image as the perfect embodiment of the Dutch identity. Theatre artists wanted to create an image for themselves as well, in particular as a successful theatre persona. However, a theatrical reputation can not be realised by the artist solely. Zarhy-Levo points out that when investigating someone’s reputation, one must consider the contributing roles of various participants . This approach shows that a reputation is result of the 99
interaction between various participants. Zarhy-Levo examines how artistic events, companies,
Freund 2004: 79-82. 95
Van der Velden 2010: 453-456.
Tames, I. ‘‘War on our Minds’ War, neutrality and identity in Dutch public debate during the First World War.’ First 96
World War Studies, 2012, Vol.3(2): 201-216. Tames 2012: 211.
97
Freund 2004: 79-82. 98
Tames 2012: 210-211. Van der Velden 2010: 453-456.
Zarhy-Levo 2008: 2. 99
works, and writers are constructed by critics, academics, media, institutions, funding agencies, and governmental decisions . Within this thesis, I focus in particular on the role of the image within 100
the process of building a theatrical reputation. The image, according to Belting, is more than a product of perception, since “…it is created as the result of personal or collective knowledge and intention…” . We comprehend the world in images and we live with them. Belting points out that 101
we connect our internal images with the physical production of external pictures, which we stage in the social realm . Belting’s definition of the image translates to this study in such a way that the 102
image should be articulated as a vivid participant within the process of building a reputation and not merely as a mechanical product.
According to the art historian W.J.T. Mitchell, the desire of an image is shifted towards the producers or consumers of images, treating the image as an expression of the artist’s desire . 103
However, Mitchell argues that the image itself has a desire and wants something as well. Media theorist Marshall McLuhan points out that ‘the medium is the message’ , not emphasizing the 104
image but the medium via which the image is transmitted. The content of any medium is always another medium. McLuhan shows that the content of writing is speech and the content of print is the written word . This definition is valid within this thesis when analysing a photographic image, 105
depicting a theatre artist in a specific role, in which the content could be a drama performed on stage. McLuhan's definition includes not just the image, but also the medium. Belting points out that the image and the medium are two sides of the same coin . In this way, when analysing the 106
several participants responsible for building a theatrical reputation, both the image and the medium should be included and analysed together. Moreover, translating Zarhy-Levo’s definition to Leidseplein around 1900, theatre artists performing at the Stadsschouwburg were depending on several participants to built a theatrical reputation. Examples of these participants are theatre managements, the status of the photographer, photo studios in general, social regulations, the performed dramas, and in particular, the image and its accompanied medium.
2.3.1 A social rise
In the 1880’s, characterized as the age of elevation , employers within the theatre scene in the 107
Zarhy-Levo 2008: 2. 100 Belting 2014: 9. 101 Belting 2014: 9. 102
Mitchell, W. What do pictures want? The lives and loves of images. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2005: 103
28
McLuhan, M. Understanding media (second edition). London: Routledge, 2001: 23. 104 McLuhan 2001: 23-24. 105 Belting 2014: 10. 106 Groeneboer 1991: 43-44. 107
Netherlands strived for improving the quality of the profession of acting and its social conditions. Their achievements led to a rise on the social ladder for theatre artists. The image of immoral and unsocial human beings began to change and actors and actresses were started to be characterized as respectable citizens. Around 1900, the emancipation of the craft of acting had seriously begun in Amsterdam in 1872 with the opening of the first Toneelschool in Amsterdam and the entitlement 108
by Dutch King William III for Het Nederlandsch Tooneel as ‘Royal Company’ in 1882 . This 109
Royal predict created a new sort of actors, who were regarded to be real ladies and gentlemen. Every once in a while they were honored by a visit of the King, and after 1890 by the Queen(-regent) at the Stadsschouwburg . The emancipation process continued and both social and 110
financial conditions, especially for those who performed at the Stadsschouwburg with the K.V.H.N.T., were improved. In 1906 an ‘Ondersteuningskas’ came into existence to secure a living for older actors and actresses in Amsterdam, who were no longer performing and needed financial support:
‘Op den 28 December des jaars 1906 is door leden van den Raad van Beheer der Koninklijke Vereeniging “Het Nederlandsch Tooneel”, artikel 13bis der Statuten toegevoegd; met als doel de verkrijging van ouderdomsverzekeringen voor hare artisten en beambten te vergemakkelijken, stort de Koninklijke Vereeniging jaarlijks in een te vormen ‘Ondersteuningskas’ een bedrag gelijk aan 2,5 % der salarissen van die artisten en beambten die lid zijn van bedoelde Onderstandskas.’ 111
The craft of acting was professionalized and allowed actors to retire without worrying about their financial situation in the future. This new status led to financial support and, moreover, to a new ambition by theatre artists to be photographed. It is likely that around 1900 as a result of this social shift, creating an image as a respectable and well-dressed Dutch citizen who is able to visit the three bourgeois buildings at Leidseplein, became part of being a theatre artist. Besides showing your theatrical successes and personality, a new social status was used as a participant in the process of achieving a reputation.
2.3.2 Female theatre personae
The result of a successful theatrical reputation is the creation of a female theatre persona. I articulate this persona as someone who is known by the theatre-going audience as a professional and successful actress, celebrated for her theatrical interpretations and performing leading roles.
Stekelenburg 1996: 9. 108 Albach 1965: 69. 109 Albach 1965: 75. 110
TIN Depot (reference 200000493.100), Mann-Bouwmeester, T (1850-1939): a new addition to the statutes of the 111
Moreover, a female theatre persona is characterised as a grande dame and is mostly complemented for the way she is dressed. However, to become a theatre persona, one must built a reputation, which can not be completed by the actress herself as it is a result of the interaction between several participants . Around 1900, for actresses these participants were likely the roles actresses 112
performed, the theatre company they belonged to, the photographic images they created, the status of the photographer as an artist, theatre managements whose goal was to garner publicity, their status within society, and their own persona, including their personality and style of acting. To make all participants successful and moreover, able to interrelate at building a theatrical reputation, actresses were depending on several aspects. For example, a photograph is bound to a specific period and thereby ‘is a function of the flow of the time’ . The meaning of a photograph is likely 113
to change within time since it is assigned to a particular phase of practical and material life. Moreover, Dutch actresses were depending heavily on their self-assertiveness when creating a good photograph. They were responsible for bringing their costume, creating hair and make-up, choosing a position and accompanied facial expression, and visiting a talented photographer, in possession of suitable backgrounds, attributes and photographic possibilities. When actresses, in collaboration with the photographer, had realised a good image it likely was used in the illustrated press and by theatre managements as well. Since photographic images can oscillate not only during their own era but also throughout history , the quality of the image and photograph itself was important. 114
According to Groeneboer, theatre artists around 1900 were usually photographed in lively and with variational poses , since they were accustomed to using strong facial expressions and 115
body language on stage. In this same period regular photographs were taken from one solely camera point, which did not allow typical features of the person portrayed to be distinguished. Therefore, it is likely the lively poses of actresses attributed to the creation of photographic recordings of authentic individuals, in a specific dramatic role, and helped to realise an unforgettable image. 116
Such images were used by theatre managements to garner publicity. However, when the Stadsschouwburg opened in 1894, publicity was still very new. Mann-Bouwmeester writes in her first autobiography that it took a while before photographs were used for magazines and 117
newspapers . Groeneboer argues that the first photographs were already published in magazines at 118
Zarhy-Levo 2008: 2. 112
Kracauer, S. ‘Photography (1927)’. The nineteenth-century visual culture reader (edited by Vanessa Schwartz i.a.). 113 London: Routledge, 2004: 61. Zarhy-Levo 2008: 14. 114 Groeneboer 1991: 22. 115 Belting 2005: 312. 116 Kracauer 2004: 60-63. Mann-Bouwmeester 1916: 116. 117 Mann-Bouwmeester 1916: 122-123. 118
the end of the eighties in the nineteenth century. Consequently, managements of theatres and theatre companies started to use photographs depicting their ensemble for advertisements . From 119
1904/1905 onwards, program booklets in the Netherlands were published accompanied by photographs of the leading theatre artists and scene photographs . According to Elligens, publicity 120
photographs were also exhibited as ‘stills’ in the windows of theatres in this same period . At the 121
beginning of the twentieth century illustrated cultural magazines, printed every two weeks or once a month, slowly started to publish their articles accompanied by (theatre) photographs. In newspapers, theatre photographs were only published on special occasions, like a theatrical jubilee . Either way, it is likely that it took a while before photographs depicting theatre artists 122
were used for publicity reasons regularly in the previous century. It was not a trend picked up by every theatre management and theatre company immediately. Due to the price of printing techniques, it was only from the 1910’s onwards that theatre photographs were published in newspapers and could be seen regularly by the newspaper-audience, including the potential theatre audience . Whether theatre actresses were always responsible for producing images in their most 123
important roles is questionable, since theatre managements needed photographs from 1904 onwards for their program booklets and to place in the windows of the theatre as well. According to Groeneboer, theatre artists themselves made sure their photographs were given to people which were valuable within their career: colleagues, fans, theatre managements, and in particular the illustrated press . 124 125
Around 1900, it was difficult for working women to earn their place within (bourgeois) society. According to photography curator Hans Roosenboom , it was socially unaccepted when a 126
woman was working. He argues that photographers usually married brides without any profession, since a working woman had less prestige than a woman who stayed at home. Consequently, Wals points out that women were taking care of the children and were responsible for housekeeping. It is likely this encouraged actresses even more to be successful within their profession, since they were forced to accept a lower prestige in social circumstances at a private level. According to Wals, it
Groeneboer 1991: 58. 119
Zalm, R. van der. Ibsen op de planken : een ensceneringsgeschiedenis van het werk van Henrik Ibsen in Nederland 120
1880-1995. Amsterdam: International Theatre & Film Books, 1999: 138-139.
Elligens, A. Frits Geveke, de Nederlandse Fotografen Patroons Vereniging en de portretfotografie in Nederland 121
tussen beide wereldoorlogen. Rijksuniversiteit Leiden: unpublished doctoraalscriptie, January 1988: 99, 101. Groeneboer 1991: 65. 122 Steen 2015: 6. 123 Groeneboer 1991: 16. 124 Groeneboer 1991: 58, 65-66. 125 Mann-Bouwmeester 1916: 116-123.
Rooseboom, H. De schaduw van de fotograaf. Positie en status van een nieuw beroep: fotografie in Nederland, 126
was simply not done for men, even if they were unemployed, to do the housekeeping and look after the children . Women were, whether they worked and had a profession, always responsible for the 127
work which had to be done at home. However, most actresses were not willing to take these socially agreed domestic division seriously. For example, actress Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg writes in one of her lettres to her husband Willem Royaards “Geef mij mijn vrijheid, zooals ik jou de jouwe geef … Wil mij niet dwingen tot Moeder en huisvrouw evenminals ik jou tot Vader en kostwinner…” , wherein she asks for freedom and to refuse living according to the typical 128
husband-wife relationship, which dominated social life around 1900.
Despite of the social status of working women, the profession of acting in general had risen on the social ladder. However, social services for both actors and actresses was still not acceptable and insufficient at the beginning of the twentieth century . This insufficiency led to the 129
establishment of the NTV, assigned to take care of the pension scheme and a better contract regulation for actors and actresses . However, their changes were not approved by the federation 130
of theatre directors, who noticed financial pressure as well, and led to an infertile meeting in January 1920. After this meeting actors decided to start a national strike, which led to the cancellation of the yearly Gijsbrecht performance on the fourth of January. The dissatisfaction felt by theatre artists was very serious, since they dared to cancel an annual Gijsbrecht performance, and break radically with the performance tradition of Vondel’s drama . After the strike, the city council 131
decided the Stadsschouwburg was to be placed under the city’s exploitation. From the first of September 1920 onwards, the K.V.H.N.T. was no longer tenant of the Stadsschouwburg but appointed to be the permanent company to perform at Leidseplein. With the consequences of the notorious theatre strike in 1920 a new era within the Dutch theatre world began and the actresses who performed at the Stadsschouwburg were faced with a new theatre reality.
To conclude, although the profession of acting was socially and, to some degree, financially improved around 1900, it is likely actresses performing at Leidseplein still had to work their way through a male dominated society. To become a theatre persona, actresses had to be self-assertive in mediating the participants to built a reputation. They depended on their personality and way of self-fashioning. Furthermore, the status an actress had already achieved personally within society, most probably affected the tempo and level of succes within a theatrical career as well. 132
Wals 2001: 104. 127 Royaards-Sandberg 1979: 217. 128 Albach 1957: 32. 129 Vree 2013: 31-32. 130 Smits-Veldt 2001: 204. 131 Wals 2001: 103-104. 132 Watts 2004: 218-219.
3. Case Studies - Choosing a persona
‘De toneelwereld was een wereld op zichzelf. Je had er vorsten en vorstinnen. Het zou niet in je hoofd opkomen om op een repetitie naast een ‘eerste acteur (of actrice)’ te gaan zitten.’ 133
This quote written in her memoirs by the actress Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg points out that the theatre world in the Netherlands was hierarchical around 1900. Some actresses started as an ensemble member and remained at the bottom of this hierarchy their entire career. Others were assigned as ‘eerste actrice’ immediately or worked hard to prove their talent and achieved this title after several years. The actresses discussed within this last chapter were signed as First actresses at a certain point within their theatrical careers. Margaretha, the leading lady in Alexandre Dumas Fils’s Margaretha Gauthier, and Badeloch, the leading lady within Joost van den Vondel’s Gijsbrecht van Amstel, are both examples of leading parts a first actress performed and ensemble members could only dream of performing.
3.1 A theatre archive
Since 1899 the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam has owned a portrait collection depicting major Dutch theatre artists, including many ‘eerste actrices’, who performed at Leidseplein from 1800 onwards . The collection has a great cultural historical value and is a permanent homage to the 134
performing artist, whose craft is transitory. Nowadays it is managed by the Amsterdam Museum, but owes its existence to S.J. Bosberg Wilson, director of the Toneelschool in Amsterdam around 1900, who started a special association ‘tot Oprichting en Uitbreiding der Galerij der Nederlandsche Toneelkunstenaars die in de Stadsschouwburg zijn groot geweest’ . The collection was created 135
with a donation from the government, including paintings from the Rijksmuseum, and grew rapidly by donations made by fans, collectors, and by the actors themselves. It was initiated within a period the profession of acting was taken more seriously. Examples of this professionalization are the opening of the first Toneelschool in Amsterdam in 1874 and the Royal predict for ‘Het 136
Nederlandsch Tooneel’ in 1882 . According to Albach, this portrait collection is a dedication to all 137
who played, danced, and sung at the Stadsschouwburg. This dedication characterizes the
Royaards-Sandberg 1979: 58. 133
‘The world of theatre was a world on itself. There were princes and princesses. During a rehearsal it would definitely not cross your mind to sit next to a ‘First actor’ (or actress).’
Stekelenburg 1996: 8. 134 Stekelenburg 1996: 8. 135 Stekelenburg 1996: 9. 136 Albach 1965: 69. 137
