This series includes personal and professional correspondence of Paul Bransom from the beginning of his career until the end of his life. Correspondence includes letters from other artists, art directors and editors, writers, nature and wildlife conservators and zoologists, curators, collectors, printers, engravers, family, and friends. Also found are letters Bransom wrote to his wife, Grace Bond Bransom, early in their relationship, and scattered correspondence to Grace Bond Bransom and Althea Bond, Bransom's niece and heiress. Many illustrated letters are found among the correspondence, including several lavishly illustrated letters from Charles Sarka. Photographs, clippings, and other enclosures such as membership cards, are scattered throughout the series.
Correspondence is divided into three groups: that between Paul Bransom and his wife, general correspondence, and cards. General correspondence is arranged chronologically except for occasional instances where letters were originally grouped together by author or subject. Drafts and carbon copies of outgoing letters written by Paul Bransom are interfiled with general correspondence, and undated drafts are filed at the end of the general correspondence. Greeting cards with significant written messages are interfiled with general correspondence, and cards without messages are arranged alphabetically at the end of the series. Many of the cards are made with original artwork, as indicated in the folder notes below.
General correspondence contains letters and records of transactions with Bransom's publishing clients, as well as letters from many authors whose stories Bransom illustrated, especially between the 1900s and the 1940s. Among the authors are Albert Payson Terhune, Donald Culross Peattie, J. Frank Dobie, Dorothy Cottrell, Attilio Gatti, Charmian London (wife of Jack London), and Herbert Sass. Artists represented in Bransom's correspondence include Charles Sarka, Joe Back, Walter Biggs, Patricia Bott, Chen Chi, John Clymer, Paul Fair, Charles Hargens, Bob Kuhn, Dorothy and Gertrude Lathrop, Bob Lougheed, George McLean, Ugo Mochi, Bill and Rachel Scott, Donald Teague, and Clarence Tillenius.
Letters and envelopes are often annotated by Bransom giving the full name of the author and sometimes the nature of their relationship or other biographical information. Additional correspondence can be found in Personal Business Records, and some drafts of outgoing letters are found in the notebooks filed in Notes and Writings.
See Appendix for a list of selected correspondents from Series 2.
Appendix: Selected Correspondents from Series 2:
This selected index to Series 2: General Correspondence, includes selected artists, writers whose works Bransom illustrated, art editors and directors, collectors, printers and engravers, and other significant correspondents. Illustrated letters are indicated in parentheses. This index is not comprehensive.
The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not digitized requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Paul Bransom papers, 1862-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
8.5 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 11 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1896-1987
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, photographs, exhibition materials, scrapbooks, journals, printed matter, essays, gallery records and other business records, and miscellaneous papers.
REELS 3799-3806: A resume; a travel journal; an address book; appointment books; passports for Marcelle Labaudt; correspondence, including 3 illustrated Christmas cards from Walt Kuhn and letters from Edward Rowan about Lucien Labaudt's murals for the Los Angeles post office for the Section of Fine Arts; notes on costume design, geometry, and metric color scales; writings by Lucien Labaudt, including "Color Constructions--Opticolormetry", 1940; 4 sketchbooks and 70 sketches by Labaudt; prints and drawings by others; scrapbook on history of costume design; announcements; programs; reproductions; printed material concerning Labaudt's California School of Design; records of the San Francisco Women Artists organization; minutes of the Artists' Council kept by Marcelle Labaudt; artist files; guest registers; ledgers 1929 and 1939-1949, and financial records, 1943-1980, for the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery; clippings; photographs of Labaudt's family, 1911-1981; of works of art, 1913-1968; and stage and costume design.
REEL 1052: Correspondence relating to the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery and to Lucien and Marcelle; photographs (many undated and unidentified) of a gallery opening, 1950 of Max Hages, two paintings by Fred Martin, and two by R. Kaess; manuscript material; biographical material on artists who exhibited at the gallery; catalogs and announcements; printed material; and clippings.
REEL 1854: Photographs, 1920-1940 of: Labaudt; Labauadt working on Beach Chalet Murals; at the Bohemian Club Grove with C. Ford, Arnautoff, Otis Oldfield, Moya del Pino, Sotomayer, Timothy Pflueger, William Gerstle, and Diego Rivera; with Adeline Kent; with Marcelle and André Ferier; costumes and sets designed by Labaudt; and paintings and murals by Labaudt. Also included are 173 personal and business letters, 1923-1975; sketches; manuscripts, including essays about Labaudt by Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Lorser Feitelson; a scrapbook; business records; catalogs and announcements; clippings and other printed matter. Correspondents include: Edward Biberman, Lorser Feitelson, Walt Kuhn, Fernand Leger, Charmain London (Mrs. Jack), Henri Matisse, Marthe and Amedee Ozenfant, Timothy L. Pflueger and Edward Rowan.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material regarding Marcelle Labaudt's education; correspondence, 1901-1979, with friends and associates, including Alvyne Maisonneuve, Yliane Remy, Henry and Ann Varnum Poor, Charmian London, Millard Sheets and Richard Diebenkorn (1 letter, 1950); Marcelle Labaudt's travel diary kept on a trip to France, undated; art works, undated, including a sketchbook and illustrated letter by Lucien and an unsigned print; exhibition catalogs and clippings regarding the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery; photographs, slides and negatives, 1896-1976, of friends, family and art works, and an album of photographs of Lucien's works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Lucien Labaudt was a painter, muralist, costume and set designer. He also ran a commercial art school called the California School of Design. After his death in 1943, on assignment as a war artist correspondent, his wife, Marcelle Labaudt, established the Lucien Labaudt Art Gallery in San Francisco, California. She specialized in giving younger or relatively unknown artists their first exhibitions and operated the gallery until 1980.
Provenance:
Donated by Marcelle Labaudt 1974-1976, and after her death by her estate through her step-sister and executor, Simone M. Berges, 1984. After Berges' death in 1988, an additional installment was received via Berges' sister-in-law, Jill Alexander.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
