Percy Leason papers
name: label: Creator
content: Leason, Percy, 1889-1959
label: Names
content: State Library of Victoria
label: Names
content: Leason, Max
label: Names
content: Meldrum, Max, 1875-1955
topic: label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- Staten Island
label: Topic
content: Illustrators -- New York (State) -- Staten Island
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated in 1969-1979 and 2014 by Max A. Leason, Percy Leason's son.
creator: label: Creator
content: Leason, Percy, 1889-1959
setName: label: See more items in
content: Percy Leason papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter, illustrator, and educator Percy Leason measure 1.3 linear feet and 0.402 GB and date from circa 1929 to 2011. The collection documents his career through biographical material, correspondence, diaries, writings and notes, printed and digital material, photographic material, and a scrapbook.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Percy Leason (1889-1959) was a painter, illustrator, writer, and educator from Kaniva, Victoria in Australia. Leason took an interest in art at an early age winning first prize in painting at the 1904 State Fair. He later attended art school in the town of Nhill, and in 1906, he went to Melbourne to be an apprentice at Sands and McDougall Lithographers. Soon after starting his apprenticeship, Leason moved to the art department where he began drawing illustrations for products and advertisements. In the evenings, he attended the Melbourne Gallery School where he studied art under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin. While in Melbourne, Leason associated himself with the Victorian Artist Society and lived a bohemian lifestyle. He began creating illustrations for books in 1914 and went on to do illustrations for the Sydney Bulletin, Melbourne Punch, Tabletalk Magazine, and the Melbourne Herald where he developed the Wiregrass cartoon series. In 1924, Leason and Max Meldrum, who Leason had met a few years before, discussed tonal realism, a systematic style of painting that uses light and shade to produce a misty quality. Leason's devotion to tonal realism along with his participation in Victorian Artist Society exhibitions helped advance his career. In 1934 Melbourne University commissioned him to do a series on Australian aborigines. He became interested in cave art and archeology during this time. In Cambridge, England in 1937 he presented his theory that cave artists sketched using dead animals as models. 

Due to the impending World War, art scene rivalries, and the lack of commercial art employment prospects, Leason immigrated to New York in 1938 in search of more opportunities in the United States. Before emigrating to the U.S., he completed a portrait of Basil Burdett which now hangs in the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia. His career in New York included work for New York Daily News, Blue Book Magazine, the Saturday Evening Post, Street and Smith, and book illustrations for The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum (Whitman Publishing Company) in 1939. In New York, Leason continued his opposition to modernist and expressionist art by aligning himself with the Salmagundi Club, Allied Artists, and the American Artist Professional League, all of which supported tonal realism. In association with Portraits Incorporated in New York, he painted the portraits of TV personality Arlene Francis, Michael Engel of Grumbacker art supplies, and Missouri congressman Dewey Short whose portrait is housed in the House of Representative's collection in Washington D.C. 

By the late 1950's, Leason had difficulties within the art world because the trends in art no longer held a place for his tonal realism. He died in 1959 on Staten Island in New York. As a tribute to Leason after his death, the Staten Island Institute and the Salmagundi Club held retrospective exhibitions of his work.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.3 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.402 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1929-2011
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.leasperc
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Diaries
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-1957, 2006 (5 folders; Box 1, 2)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1946-1973 (4 folders, Box 1)

Series 3: Diaries, 1938-1959 (0.3 linear ft.; Box 1)

Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1939-2011 (6 folders, Box 1, 0.155 GB; ER01-ER02)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1946-1973 (4 folders; Box 1)

Series 6: Photographic Materials, circa 1969-1972 (0.2 linear ft.; Box 1, 2, 0.247 GB; ER03)

Series 7: Scrapbook, 1938-1972 (0.1 linear ft.; Box 2)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Mundy in 2014.
The collection has been minimally rearranged and retains the existing/original folder titles when
possible. All materials have been rehoused in archival folders and boxes for long-term stability, but
often staples and other fasteners have not been removed. Materials within folders have not been
rearranged. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 74, 999-1000, 1050 and 3090 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter, illustrator, and educator Percy Leason measure 1.3 linear feet and 0.402 GB and date from circa 1929 to 2011. The collection documents his career through biographical material, correspondence, diaries, writings and notes, printed and digital material, photographic material, and a scrapbook.

Biographical materials include financial records, biographical statements about the artist, certificates, and a few sketches. Correspondence contains letters and writings of Max Leason, Percy Leason's son, correspondence to and from Percy Leason, letters from congressmen, and letters regarding Leason's work displayed at the State Library of Victoria in Australia. Four diaries document Leason's life over 20 years. A series of published and unpublished writings and notes includes two digital books of Leason's writings. Printed material contains new clippings, gallery flyers, a framed statement about art, and the book The Science of Appearances by Max Meldrum with typed pages written by Leason  inserted into the book. Photographic materials include slides and digital photographs of Leason's artwork, personal photographs, and photographs of the State Library of Victoria. One scrapbook contains mostly news clippings and other printed material. 

Scattered throughout the collection are annotations made by Max Leason which are usually signed "Max" with the date of annotation.