Lester Burbank Bridaham papers
name: label: Creator
content: Bridaham, Lester Burbank
label: Names
content: Art Institute of Chicago
label: Names
content: Colonial Craft Survey for Massachusetts
label: Names
content: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Society for Contemporary American Art
label: Names
content: Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983
label: Names
content: Barton, Macena, 1901-1986
label: Names
content: Biesel, Charles, 1865-1945
label: Names
content: Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988
label: Names
content: De Diego, Julio, 1900-
label: Names
content: Eboli, Jules
label: Names
content: Florsheim, Richard A., 1916-1979
label: Names
content: Krans, Olof, 1838-1916
label: Names
content: Lee, Gypsy Rose, 1914-1970
label: Names
content: Nicolaïdes, Kimon, 1892-1938
label: Names
content: Rickey, George
label: Names
content: Schnakenberg, H. E. (Henry Ernest), 1892-1970
label: Names
content: Spears, Ethel, 1903-1974
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art historians
label: Occupation
content: Art teachers
label: Occupation
content: Museum directors
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- United States
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers
label: Topic
content: Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Mural painting and decoration
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 1974-1987 by Lester Burbank and Dorothy Bridaham. In 1996, an additional 0.8 ft. was donated from the Jeanette Fowler estate.
creator: label: Creator
content: Bridaham, Lester Burbank
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Museum director, art historian, painter, and printmaker; d. 1992. Bridaham received a degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T. and studied art history at Harvard's Fogg Museum from 1936-1937. He received a 1931 American Field Service fellowship for study in France and Morocco, and studied studio art at the Art Students League under Kimon Nicolaides and Kenneth Hayes Miller. Between 1938 and 1954, Bridaham was a staff officer at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was also the director of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, and of the Strathmont Museum, Elmira, N.Y. He is the author of Gargoyles, Chimeras and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1912-1986
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bridlest
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 35mm microfilm reels 3 and 8 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
label: Reproduction Note
content: Writings by Kimon Nicolaides are photocopies.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Writings by Kimon Nicolaides: Location of originals unknown.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Correspondence, writings, art works, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs, and files on Julio De Diego and Kimon Nicolaides and other topics, related to Bridaham's career as an artist and writer.
label: Scope and Contents
content: REEL 8: Printed material, including articles written by Bridaham for periodicals (1950-1957), 15 exhibition catalogs (1928-1968), clippings by and about Bridaham (1930-1959), 6 press releases (1956-1957), a transcript of a radio discussion which included Bridaham (1951), 2 advertisements, a lecture announcement (1957), instructions on using egg tempera for Bridaham's students, a guide book to the Louisiana State Museum (1956), brochures about Strathmont Museum (1958), and resumes.
label: Scope and Contents
content: REEL 3: Material related to Kimon Nicolaides, including a radio address given by him, 1933; publicity for his book THE NATURAL WAY TO DRAW; exhibition catalogs; clippings; press releases; and a photograph of one of his sculptures. [Microfilm title: Kimon Nicolaides papers]
label: Scope and Contents
content: UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence with Kimon Nicolaides and Henry Schnackenberg (1921-1923), Julio De Diego (1941-1952), Ethel Spears (1961), Isabel Bishop (1975), and George and Edith Rickey. Letters to Mamie Harmon concern a Nicolaides exhibition and book (1938-1941). Writings include nine v. of diaries (1946-1954) kept during his tenure at the Art Institute of Chicago, and notes and drafts for an unpublished book (1938-1982).
label: Scope and Contents
content: Subject files concerning Ivan Albright's poetry, the Colonial Craft Survey for Massachusetts (1935), Olof Krans (1939), the reorganization of the Metropolitan Museum's photographic department (1949), Romanesque and Gothic sculpture and the Society for Contemporary American Art. A file (1921-1983) on Julio De Diego contains Bridaham's research materials, sketches and drawings by the artist, a journal kept by De Diego in New York (1932) and photographs of De Diego, his family including third wife Gypsy Rose Lee, friends and art works. Kimon Nicolaides' file (1921-1986) contains his writings and drawings (1928), drawings by Vivian Gordon and Howard Ahrens (1923-1986), photographs and other research materials.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Printed materials consists of clippings (1930-1972), "The Chicago Artist" newsletter (1938), press releases, a book cover, Artists Equity publications (1952-1953), posters, exhibition catalogs and anouncements and membership cards. Photographs show Bridaham, friends, National Art Week activities with Macena Barton, Charles Biesel, Jules Eboli and Richard Florsheim, his studio and drawings (1928-1949). Other materials include over 150 prints and drawings (1927-1977) of Moroccan scenes, Colorado wildflowers and other subjects, resumes, an illustrated notebook of Bridaham's plans for art works (1931-1932) and a list of his works (1974).
label: Scope and Contents
content: ADDITION: Material concerning the latter part of Bridaham's life, including original works of art, photographs, a dream sketchbook (1945), a notebook devoted to Julio de Diego; Bridaham's letters to Jeanette Fowler, 1989-1990 and other correspondence, 1940s-1950s; and printed material.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987, are located at The Getty Research Institute Special Collections.