TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS EXTENDS
BEHIND THE SCENES: THE ART OF THE HOLLYWOOD BACKDROP
THROUGH SUNDAY, APRIL 18
AND ADDS GUIDED VIRTUAL TOUR OPTION
Reservations for extended timed in-person admission tickets and virtual tour
available March 10
Austin, TX - Due to high demand for Behind the Scenes: The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, Texas
Performing Arts will extend the exhibit through Sunday, April 18. For individuals unable to attend in-
person, a guided virtual tour will be available beginning Wednesday, March 10 with resident expert and
curator Karen L. Maness, Scenic Art Supervisor for Texas Performing Arts. Experience never before
publicly displayed backdrops by artists who shaped cinematic history.
Health and safety guidelines including the requirement for everyone 2 years and older to wear a face
covering while visiting the exhibit remain in effect. Capacity for each timed entry slot is very limited and
the exhibition has been designed to promote social distancing. Full guidelines and information are
available at texasperformingarts.org.
The vast Bass Concert Hall Stage turns gallery as Texas Performing Arts presents Behind the Scenes: The
Art of the Hollywood Backdrop. Visit mid-century Hollywood via these Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio
assets without leaving Austin either through an up-close and in-person view or from the comfort of your
own home. This first-ever public viewing of twelve historic Golden Age of film backdrops looks into the
nearly lost art of hand-painted Hollywood motion picture scenic art. UT Austin now owns the largest
educational collection of Hollywood Motion Picture backdrops in the world. Reservations for timed
admission tickets are available now and guided virtual tour tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 10 at
texasperformingarts.org.
In 2012, the Art Directors Guild (ADG) Archives began to chronicle the unsung contributions of
Hollywood’s motion picture scenic artists. Working closely with the ADG, University of Texas at Austin
faculty members Karen Maness and Richard Isackes co-authored The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop,
published by Regan Arts (2016). The award-winning volume is the definitive behind-the-scenes history of
one of Hollywood’s most closely guarded cinematic secrets—painted backdrops and the scenic artists
who brought them to the big screen. In 2017 the ADG Archives Backdrop Recovery Project was launched
in partnership with J.C. Backings. This commitment resulted in rescuing 207 historic backings from
destruction and creating the world's most comprehensive archive of Hollywood scenic art history.
BEHIND THE SCENES: THE ART OF THE HOLLYWOOD BACKDROP
Tip on a Dead Jockey (MGM 1957), Madrid rooftop panorama - 18’-9” x 12’
National Velvet (MGM 1944), exterior of small cottage - Opaque Technicolor 13’-11” x 9’-4”
Young Bess (MGM 1953), exterior view of Westminster Abbey in the 1950’s - 40’ x 20’-2”
Young Bess (MGM 1953), exterior of Hampton Court in the 1550s - 35’ x 15’-6”
Two Weeks in Another Town (MGM 1962), interior of a hotel lobby in Rome, Italy, in the 1960s -
Translucent 30’ x 19’-10”
National Velvet (MGM 1944), exterior of the small town of Sewels in Sussex, England in the late 1920s -
Translucent 39’ x 32’
The Prodigal (MGM 1955), a view of a pagan idol inside a temple in Damascus in 70 BC - Opaque
Technicolor 22’-2” x 16’
The Prodigal (MGM 1955), exterior temple courtyard and tents in the Gardens of Pleasure of Damascus
in 70 BC - Opaque Technicolor 24’ x 22’
The Student Prince (MGM 1954), interior of a German cathedral in fictional Karlsburg near the turn of
the 20 th century - Back Painted Translucent 35’-2” x 20’-3”
Two Loves (MGM 1961), exterior view of a trailer park in Pennsylvania in 1961 - Back Painted
Translucent 41’ x 30’
The Outrage (MGM 1964), a view of southwestern United States, the Sonoran Desert, in the 1870s -
Back Painted Translucent 30’ x 93’
Glass Bottom Boat (MGM 1966), a view of Avalon, a city on Santa Catalina Island, in 1966 - Translucent
35’-10” x 19’-10”
TICKET INFORMATION
The exhibit is open by reservation for one-hour long visits on Thursdays through Sundays to April 18.
Timed slots are available at 2:30 pm, 3:15 pm and 4 pm on Thursdays and Fridays and at 10 am, 10:45
am, 11:30 am, 2 pm, 2:45 pm and 3:30 pm on weekends. The number of visitors per one-hour timed
entry slot is strictly limited. Advanced reservations are required and available now at
texasperformingarts.org.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $ 5 for non-University of Texas at Austin students of any age. Tickets are
free for UT students, faculty and staff, healthcare professionals, essential workers, military and Texas
Inner Circle Members.
Tickets for the guided virtual tour are $10 and available beginning Wednesday, March 10 at 10 am CST.
Virtual tour tickets are free for Texas Inner Circle members. For on-demand purchase go to
texasperformingarts.org.
ABOUT KAREN MANESS
Karen Maness is the principal instructor of scenic art and figurative painting for the Department of
Theatre & Dance at The University of Texas at Austin and Scenic Art Supervisor at Texas Performing Arts.
Maness studied studio art and set design at Whittier College. She continued her studies at Cobalt
