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Art General

Pictorial Illusionism

The Theatre of Steele MacKaye

by (author) J.A. Sokalski

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2007
Category
General, Entertainment & Performing Arts
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773532045
    Publish Date
    Apr 2007
    List Price
    $85.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773578081
    Publish Date
    Apr 2007
    List Price
    $65.00

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Description

Drawing together a wealth of primary sources, J.A. Sokalski examines the aims, inventions, and methods of the pictorial style that defined MacKaye's art. Sokalski shows how MacKaye's famous Madison Square Theatre, which featured a double stage reminiscent of an elevator, created whirling pictorial illusions for fashionable New York. He argues that MacKaye's infamous failure, the colossal Spectatorium theatre for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, was the most complete realization of this illusionary aesthetic. Sokalski also explores MacKaye's influence on Buffalo Bill Cody and how civil war cycloramas expanded his concept of pictorial space.

About the author

J.A. Sokalski is associate professor, theatre and film, McMaster University.

J.A. Sokalski's profile page