Behind every great work of art lies a set of mysteries.
Who painted it? What was the grand inspiration?
How much is it worth? Is it stolen, or would someone want to steal it?
These questions are at the heart of this year’s Pageant of the Masters, which starts Wednesday in Laguna Beach.
The theme of the 81st annual presentation of tableaux vivants, or “living pictures,” is “The Art Detective.” Pageant Director Diane Challis Davy came up with the motif about three years ago but wasn’t able to implement it until now.
“This art detective theme has been on the back burner for several years,” said Davy, who is directing her 19th consecutive Pageant of the Masters. “It is really quite coincidental that there’s so much in the news these days about World War II art, and lost and stolen art. So our show will open with scenes of art that disappeared, and art that went into hiding during World War II.”
Davy says her initial inspiration came from TV shows like “The History Detectives” and “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS and BBC documentary series “Connections” created by science historian James Burke. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes also served a key influence.
The detective theme broadened to include art heists such as the notorious 1990 theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Three Rembrandt van Rijn paintings, a Johannes Vermeer and five drawings by Edgar Degas were stolen in what is considered the costliest art theft in history. Some estimate the total value of the works to be around $500 million.
This year’s pageant also features great discoveries of ancient art (such as the Elgin Marbles and Tutankhamun’s 14th century B.C. sentinels), whodunit mysteries and images from film noir.
The theme “struck me as a great approach to the show, to emphasize storytelling in new and interesting ways, really looking at artworks as clues,” said Dan Duling, scriptwriter of the pageant since 1981. “It brings up the questions: Who does art really belong to? Don’t we have an obligation to the rest of the world to really preserve great pieces of art? This show gives me opportunity to really make that case.”
AN EXTENDED FAMILY
For those unfamiliar with the Pageant of the Masters, it’s not quite like anything else out there. Every summer, a crew of about 50 staff members and 450 volunteers re-create artworks in life size. Some of them are well known, while others are more obscure. The volunteers, wearing costumes, makeup and headpieces, mimic the poses of figures in the works motionlessly for 90 seconds as a narrator provides the story and an orchestra performs. This year’s narrator is Richard Doyle, who is returning for his fourth season.
The end result – presented under the stars in the Irvine Bowl amphitheater – is a combination of theater, performance art and art history lesson.
The volunteers range in age from 4 to their 80s and hail from all parts of Orange County and Southern California, including Riverside, San Diego and Los Angeles counties.
“I really like being onstage,” said Faith Vanzant, 15, a student at Dana Hills High School and a volunteer who appears in the Vermeer painting “The Concert,” an oil on canvas from about 1664. “I’ve always liked to entertain people since I was really young.”
Vanzant, a Dana Point resident, has participated in the pageant since she was 4.
“It’s something fun to do during the summer,” she said. “I like volunteering here. It’s like we’re all a family.”
That’s a common refrain among volunteers and staff who work year after year to pull the pageant together.
“Kids love it as much as adults love it,” said Sherri Martin of Irvine, a makeup volunteer for 17 years. “We’ve had three and four generations who have stayed with the pageant. We do it because of the friendships that you make, and because it’s fun, but it is a lot of work. The people you meet are absolutely amazing. It’s a wonderful experience.”
FROM CANVAS TO STAGE
This year’s program will include works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Emanuel Leutze (“Washington Crossing the Delaware,” 1851), John Singer Sargent, David Hockney, Benvenuto Cellini, Édouard Manet and Sandro Botticelli.
The narrative will cover the fascinating story of the creation, abandonment and rediscovery of “The Death of Cleopatra,” a historic marble sculpture created in 1876 by Edmonia Lewis, a woman of African and Native American descent.
“The Art Detective” will also include a tribute to classic film noir films and movie posters, and a nod to writers from the noir crime genre, including Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.
Even the renegade – and truly undercover – graffiti artist Banksy will make a “guest appearance,” according to director Davy.
As in previous years, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper” (1495-98) will close the show. Since 1936, the tableau of Jesus and his disciples sharing a final, emotional meal has concluded the pageant, with only two exceptions – 1999 and 2011.
Even that famous da Vinci mural has a story of mystery and miracles behind it. During World War II, the Milan church where it is housed was bombed nearly to shreds, yet a group of monks preserved the mural with boards, scaffolding and sandbags.
“So much artwork was saved by many, many people,” Davy said. “This year, we have a focus on storytelling. That makes it a little bit different than last year. It was more of a showy, frivolous show last year. This time, we’ll impart some very good information, in addition to it being entertaining.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-6026 or rchang@ocregister.com
