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Lou Wall Moore (née Lula Belle Wall; c. 1860–1924) nicknamed "Princess Lou", was an American sculptor, stage actress, costume designer, dancer, and socialite from Chicago.[1][2][3] She was known for early modern dance interpretations of ancient Greek dance, as well as appearing in Grecian plays, and for portraying Salome.[2][4][5] Her sculptures were primarily busts, done in an ancient Greek style.

Moore (c. 1908) in "The Dance of the Seasons" representing winter
Moore (c. 1908) in "The Dance of the Seasons" representing winter

Early life and education

Lou Wall Moore was born c. 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri,[6] to parents Frances Elizabeth (née Calvert) and Captain Nicholas Wall. Her father was a riverboat captain and a noted steam boatsmen.[7] Her family had moved to Montana Territory around the time she was born, and they remained there until 1876.

Moore attended the Lexington Baptist Female College (around 1878; now part of Wentworth Military Academy and College) in Lexington, Missouri.[8] She continued her education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (around 1901), and studied sculpture under Lorado Taft.[9][2]

As sculptor

Moore was particularly focused on creating bust portraits, statuettes, and reliefs.[2] She often sculpted in a Greek-style.[2] Some of her notable bust sculptures included noted pianist, Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler; professor at Northwestern University, James Taft Hatfield; cellist, Paul Kefer; Chauncey Blair's daughters; civil engineer, Ralph Modjeski's son; and stage performer, Valeria Alicia English.[2]

In 1903, Moore served as the vice president of the Art Students League of Chicago.[10] She won an award at the Saint Louis Exposition for her sculpture.[2]

As performer and costume designer

In 1910, Moore was invited to dance in the White House before President Theodore Roosevelt.[11] Around June 1910, Moore had joined the Sylvan Players, and prior to that she had danced with the Ben Greet Players.[2][12]

In June to July 1910, she appeared wearing in tights in a performance of "Les Romanesque" in Bloomington, Illinois; it made front page news in the Chicago Tribune, and caused a "religious war" within the Bloomington community when the Deacon of the Methodist church spoke against her performance.[2][13][14]

Moore appeared in the cast of many productions at the Chicago Little Theatre, many of which were Grecian plays.[11][15] She designed the costumes for The Trojan Women in 1913 held at the Chicago Little Theatre.[16]

She was a co-founder alongside poet Maxwell Bodenheim of “The Shop,” a bohemian social club in Chicago.[17]

Personal life and death

For many years she lived at 5476 Ridgewood Court in Chicago, Illinois.[2] She was married to Albert Wasson Moore in 1880; the marriage ended when he died on February 21, 1915.[18]

She died after battling pneumonia on March 13, 1924, in her home on Ridgewood Court,[11] she was around age 60. She is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

See also

References

  1. ^ Parry, Albert (2013-06-17). Garrets and Pretenders: Bohemian Life in America from Poe to Kerouac. Courier Corporation. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-486-29046-1.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Who Was Right: The Dancer or the Deacon?". Chicago Tribune. June 26, 1910 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Society Woman Who Will Dance at Suffrage Entertainment and University Girl Participants in Play". The Inter Ocean. March 29, 1910. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Fabens, Hannah E. (1908). "Lou Wall Moore's Interpretation of Ancient Dances". Burr McIntosh Monthly. Vol. 15–17. Burr McIntosh Publishing Company. pp. 334–336.
  5. ^ "The Rehabilitation of Terpsichore". Current Literature. Vol. 45. Current Literature Publishing Company. 1908. pp. 86–90.
  6. ^ "Lula Belle Wall". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  7. ^ Robison, Ken (April 6, 2022). "Steamboat Bertrand's sinking made ripples in Montana". Helena Independent Record. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  8. ^ "Baptist Female College". The Lexington Intelligencer. September 21, 1878. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "The School". Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago (1907-1951). 7 (1): 11–13. 1913. ISSN 1935-6595. JSTOR 4120102.
  10. ^ Catalogue Annual Exhibition of the Art Students League of Chicago; The Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Works of the Art Students League. March 5, 1903.
  11. ^ a b c "Mrs. Lou Wall Moore Dies; Was Actress, Designer, Too". Chicago Tribune. March 14, 1924. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Russian Music with Acting". The New York Times. November 17, 1908. p. 9. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Lou Wall Moore to Dance". Chicago Tribune. June 27, 1910. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Dancer Who Shocked Deacons Says Her Act Was Harmless and Modest". The Times. June 7, 1910. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Hartel, Herbert R. (2011). "Raymond Jonson and the Chicago Little Theatre, 1912-1917: The Influence of the Simple Stage Aesthetic on An American Modernist Painter". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 104 (3): 199–222. doi:10.2307/41228547. ISSN 1522-1067. JSTOR 41228547. S2CID 140950268.
  16. ^ "Trojan Women (1913) | APGRD". Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD). University of Oxford. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  17. ^ Geigner, Megan E.; Hecht, Stuart J.; Mahmoud, Jasmine Jamillah (2021-07-15). Makeshift Chicago Stages: A Century of Theater and Performance. Northwestern University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-8101-4383-8.
  18. ^ "Obituary for Albert W. Moore". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 23, 1915. Retrieved 2023-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Wall_Moore