Edison Drawn by 'World' Artist
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About Edison Drawn by 'World' Artist
J. Stuart Blackton, a cartoonist for the New York Evening World, stands at a board and draws a portrait of Thomas Edison, building the face in a few strokes. It is the one lightning sketch from that sitting that survives.
Cast & crew
More about Edison Drawn by 'World' Artist
Silent Era credits William Heise and James H. White, with a question mark, as director and cameraman. The sketch is thought to have been made on the roof at Raff & Gammon's West 28th Street office in July or August 1896. Blackton drew several sketches for the camera. This portrait of Edison is the one that remains. The strip is listed at 150 feet. Also called Blackton Sketching Edison and Inventor Edison Sketched by World Artist. The Museum of Modern Art holds a print.
Themes
Making
The camera stays on the board while Blackton's hand finishes Edison's face. There is no cut to the inventor himself.
Preservation
The Edison portrait is the surviving sketch from the sitting. The Museum of Modern Art holds a print. Silent Era lists it at 150 feet.
Notes
- Blackton performed the sketches in exchange for a Vitascope Company donation to the Evening World's Sick Babies' Fund.
- He and Albert E. Smith started Vitagraph in 1897, after this film had been shown.
- Alternate titles include Blackton Sketches, No. 1 and Blackton, the Evening World Cartoonist.
- Silent Era lists 150 feet and a surviving print at MoMA.
- Public domain.
Scenes
- Blackton's chalk builds Edison's portrait from a blank board.
