Central City Colorado Face On The Barroom Floor

Courtesy of teller house composer henry mollicone was a young man 40 years ago when the central city opera company in colorado commissioned him to write something short something.

Central city colorado face on the barroom floor.

He then offers to sketch madeline s face on the floor of the bar. He didn t speak it from memory but he did reference it often. It was painted in 1936 by herndon davis. The face on the barroom floor may be proof that art rarely makes an effective revenge.

I have been to the teller house bar in central city colo twice and saw the painting of the face both times. The face on the barroom floor is a painting on the floor of the teller house bar in central city colorado united states. Most folks believe that it was the inspiration for a once famous 1877 poem of the same name about a drunk who painted it to prove that he had once been a famous artist. But in central city there is a barroom where one such face is not only tolerated it s celebrated.

A later version was adapted from the titus poem by hugh antoine d arcy in 1887 and first published in the new york dispatch. He was also asked to do some work at the teller house. Having lost his beloved madeline to another man he has turned to drink. Central city colorado unlike apparitions of the divine there s no miraculous origin to the face on the bar room floor in the teller house bar it s just an oil painting on a floor.

It was painted in 1936 by herndon davis who had been commissioned to do a series of paintings for the central city opera house. The face on the bar room floor. Teller house central city. This is one of dad s favorite poems.

Written in ballad form it tells the story of an artist ruined by love. The eponymous face on the barroom floor in central city colorado that inspired the one act opera by composer henry mollicone and librettist john bowman. It s a portrait of a beautiful chestnut haired woman painted on the floorboards of the town s historic teller house bar and the story behind it is as. The face on the barroom floor painting is a painting on the floor of the teller house bar in central city colorado.

In the poem he enters a bar and tells his story to the bartender and to the assembled crowd. Butch whidden 9 10 2020 12 37 00 pm. The face upon the barroom floor aka the face on the floor and the face on the barroom floor is a poem originally written by the poet john henry titus in 1872. In most bars a face on the floor does not usually make the best impression.

The face on the barroom floor is a poem written by hugh antoine d arcy in 1887.