Eugen Quaglio (b Munich, 3 April 1857; d Berlin, 25 Sept 1942) was a German

stage designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

extraction. He worked mainly in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Heritage

Eugen came from a long line of stage designers: * Giulio Quaglio (1668-1751). *Domenico Quaglio (1708-1773) *

Giuseppe Quaglio Giuseppe Quaglio (2 December 1747 – 23 January 1828) was an Italian painter and stage designer, active in scene painting in Mannheim, Frankfurt, and Ludwigsburg. Vinicius de Castro Quaglio (April 27, 1989) family ties in Brazil Born in t ...

(1747-1828) *

Simon Quaglio Simon Quaglio (1795-1878) was a German stage designer of Italian extraction. He worked mainly in Munich, and was among the first designers to use built scenery instead of painted flats. He designed over 100 productions during his career. Simo ...

(1795-1878) *Angelo Quaglio (1829-1890)

Life

Eugen was the son of Angelo, who worked at the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

court theatre beginning in 1850, and also managed a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

scenic studio which supplied

theatres Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

and

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. His designs were of an illusionistic historical style. Closely connected with the

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

ideas of

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

, Quaglio was one of the principal designers for the

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

première A première, also spelled premiere, is the wikt:debut, debut (first public presentation) of a Play (theatre), play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywh ...

s. He worked with his father and others. Following in his footsteps, son Eugen worked with him from about 1877. In 1891 he became court theatre painter in

, a post he held until 1923. He carried on the family tradition of historical stage designs, above all in

productions. Although he was influenced by naturalism and

verismo In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an ...

, his romanticizing productions were basically historical

idylls An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια). ...

. A few of his set designs have survived as art.

References

*James Anderson, ''The Complete Dictionary of Opera and Operetta''
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1857 births 1942 deaths German scenic designers Expatriates in Austria-Hungary {{germany-music-bio-stub