Finding aid for the Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987 87.P.4
Special Collections
2014
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles
Creator:
Oliver, John
Creator:
Bridaham, Lester Burbank
Identifier/Call Number: 87.P.4
Physical Description:
21.2 Linear Feet
(37 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1895-1987
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection.
Click here for the
access policy .
Abstract: The Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles document the
scholar's ongoing fascination with this distinctive form of architectural decoration. Collected over the course of six decades,
Bridaham's extensive
compilation of photographs and research materials forms a comprehensive overview of the gargoyle and other related grotesques
used as ornament in
medieval architecture throughout western Europe.
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
Processing History
The collection was rehoused in archival folders upon receipt in 1987. Bridaham's folder titles were transferred to the new
folders, and any of the old
folders bearing notes were retained. In 2014, Ani Mnatsakanyan, working under the supervision of Ann Harrison, conducted research
on the collection and
created the inventory.
Preferred Citation
Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 87.P.4.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa87p4
Publication Rights
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers, with the exception of the photographic negatives, which require further processing.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. Materials relating to
Gargoyles, Chimères and the Grotesque in French
Gothic Architecture
, 1929-1970; Series II. Unpublished projects, 1917-1987; Series III. General research materials, 1895-1981.
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 1987.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles document the scholar's ongoing fascination with this distinctive
form of architectural
decoration. Collected over the course of six decades, Bridaham's extensive compilation of photographs and research materials
forms a comprehensive
overview of the gargoyle and other related grotesques used as ornament in medieval architecture throughout western Europe.
The bulk of the collection is visual. Bridaham compiled thousands of original photographs of artworks. He acquired them from
institutional sources and
commercial vendors, such as Alinari, photographed some works himself and commissioned photography at other sites. These original
photographs are
supplemented by further images on postcards and from various print media. Bridaham believed that the relatively early date
of many of the photographs
gave his collection a special importance, because they were taken before air pollution began seriously damaging the sculptures.
These images are also
accompanied by a substantial amount of textual research material, specifically correspondence, clippings and articles, notes,
and drafts of text for his
books. In addition to his main focus on the the grotesque in Medieval Europe, Bridaham collected images and research on peripheral
topics ranging from
the physiognomy of Joseph Merrick to gargoyles used in New York architecture in the nineteenth century to fantasy creatures
in Asian art.
The archive also provides insight into Bridaham's intellectual process. Bridaham created a large pool of images and research
materials, and over
decades, he mined and repurposed this body of data for the two editions of his book and three further unpublished book projects
on the topic of
gargoyles. The archive retains Bridaham's folder composition and titling, and often his original folders. Bridaham took extensive
notes while conducting
his research and often wrote notes on his file folders. Many folders also indicate the dates on which Bridaham consulted them
as he continually
referenced notes and images from his previous projects.
Materials relating to Bridaham's book,
Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture, published in
1930 and then reprinted in an enlarged edition in 1969, form Series I. Included here are photographs, publishing layouts and
proofs, research materials,
and correspondence regarding the publication of the book.
Series II, the bulk of the archive, documents Bridaham's multiple attempts to publish further material on the topic of gargoyles.
Materials relating to
three unrealized publications with the proposed titles of "Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque of the Middle Ages in England,
Germany, Italy, and
Spain," "Meet My Fabulous Grotesque Friends," and "The Bridaham Collection of Photographs of Gargoyles and Grotesque-Style
Sculptures of the Middle Ages
in All Countries" are found here. Each of these book projects includes images organized by the proposed chapter heading or
by the sculpture's location,
as well as correspondence, research, notes, and drafts of text relevant to the project.
Series III includes images and materials that relate to Bridaham's entire span of research on gargoyles and the grotesque
rather than being
attributable to a specific project. Although Bridaham's date notations allow most of his files to be assigned to a project,
or at least the project on
which he used it last, the materials in this series remain general or are clearly used throughout his work.
Biographical/Historical Note
Lester Burbank Bridaham (1899-1992) was a museum administrator, educator, artist, collector, art historian, and author. Bridaham's
initial academic
training was in the sciences. He received a B.S. from Cornell University in chemistry and, in 1923, a M.S. in chemical engineering
from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yet, during his time at Cornell, Bridaham developed a deep interest in art, which he
credited to his fascination
with the gargoyles decorating his fraternity house. After only a brief period working in the steel business, Bridaham devoted
the rest of his life to
pursuing this interest in art.
In 1928, Bridaham began taking classes at the Art Students League in New York, where he studied under Kimon Nicolaides and
Kenneth Hayes Miller.
Awarded an American Field Service Fellowship for the 1931/1932 academic year, Bridaham spent the year painting in Morocco
and Normandy. After his return
to the United States, Bridaham continued his artistic pursuits, moving to Massachusetts and supervising artists working under
the aegis of the Federal
Art Project. In 1936, Bridaham enrolled in the year-long museum studies course taught by Paul Sachs at the the Fogg Art Museum,
Harvard University.
The Fogg training ushered Bridaham into a long career as an arts administrator and educator. From 1938 to 1954, Bridaham was
a staff member at the Art
Institute of Chicago, where among his many roles he founded the public relations department and served as secretary to the
board of trustees. After
leaving Chicago, he served in administrative roles at a number of other cultural institutions: director of museum operations
of the Louisiana State
Museums in New Orleans (1954-1956), director of the Chicago Historical Society (1956-1958) and director of the Strathmont
Museum in Elmira, New York
(1958-1959). In 1959, Bridaham moved back to Denver, Colorado, where he had been born and raised. In Denver, Bridaham initially
focused on art
education. He taught drawing and painting in the Denver and Jefferson County public school systems, and wrote children's art
books suitable for
classroom use. Then, in 1974, Bridaham used his knowledge of art and the art world to start his own art appraisal business.
Bridaham also remained a practicing artist throughout his life, from the earliest exhibition of his paintings in 1928 until
shortly before his death.
His final work
My Secrets of the Grand Canyon, a series of fifty watercolors, was completed when Bridaham was eighty-nine
years old. Several museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of the City of New York, hold
his paintings and prints in
their collections. In addition to creating art, Bridaham began collecting in the 1920s. Over the years, he and his wife Dorothy
developed an enormous
collection, often acquiring the work of emerging local artists, such as the self-taught painter Martin Saldaña, from whom
Bridaham got over 200 works.
This collection would serve as the basis for a gallery Bridaham opened with his daughter in Bozeman, Montana in the last years
of his life.
Bridaham's roles as an educator and art historian, and his fascination with the visual, came together in his publications.
These range from his
children's art books to journal articles on technical aspects of the use of slides in art education to a book on the late
nineteenth/early twentieth
century photographer, George François Mugnier. Among Bridaham's catholic interests, however, one stands out, the topic that
first led him to art in his
student days at Cornell: gargoyles. In 1928, the year he began studio art studies at the Art Students League, Bridaham also
began conducting extensive
research on gargoyles, culminating in his 1930 book,
Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture.
Bridaham returned to the topic later in life, spending almost twenty years from the late 1960s to the late 1980s bringing
out a new edition of the 1930
publication and working on three further gargoyle book projects.
Related Archival Materials
Further archival material held by the Getty Research Institute relating to Lester Burbank Bridaham includes the Paul Sachs
course notes, 890069, a
bound copy of the handouts and materials for the 1936/1937 museum studies course Bridaham attended at the Fogg Art Museum,
and the Lester B. Bridaham
photographs of Mexico, 87.P.6. Further archival material relating to Bridaham is held by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian
Institution and the
Denver Public Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Negatives (photographic) -- 20th century
Gargoyles
Grotesque in architecture
Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Europe
Black-and-white photographs
Gelatin silver prints
Bridaham, Lester Burbank -- Photograph collections
Materials relating to
Gargoyles, Chimères and the Grotesque in French Gothic Architecture,
Series I.
1929-1970, undated
Physical Description: 7.4 Linear Feet(9
boxes)
Arrangement
The series is organized into two groupings: production materials and research materials.
Scope and Contents
Production and research materials related to Bridaham's book,
Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in French Gothic
Art
, form this series. Production materials include mounted photographs with printer's instructions, page layouts and proofs.
Notes,
articles, correspondence, and a small number of images comprise the preserved research materials for the book. The materials
in this series derive
from the creation of both the 1930 edition of the book and the slightly enlarged 1969 edition. Also included are the contract
for the second edition
of the book, as well as promotional fliers for the first edition.
box 1, box 2, box 3, box 32, box 33, box 34*
Individual image mock-ups with printer's instructions
Scope and Contents
Arranged by size into three groupings; then by illustration number.
box 4, box 5
Research materials, notes and correspondence
Scope and Contents
See also research materials reused for subsequent projects below, especially bound volumes in boxes 30-31.
Unpublished projects, Series II.
1917-1987, undated
Physical Description: 9.3 Linear Feet(21
boxes)
Arrangement
The series is arranged in three groups of material correlating to Bridaham's unpublished book projects. A final, fourth grouping
contains materials
relating to all three of the previous unpublished projects, as well as a certain amount of miscellaneous and duplicate material.
Scope and Contents
Series II is comprised of materials relating to Bridaham's unpublished book projects. The publication of the second edition
of
Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Architecture spurred Bridaham to further research on the theme of
gargoyles. Over the next two decades he would produce three further projects, each expanding the scope of his core idea in
terms of geography,
chronology and audience.
From 1968 to 1981, Bridaham worked on a book project entitled "Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in the Sculpture of
the Middle Ages in
England, Germany, Italy and Spain," an expansion of his study of gargoyles to include monuments of the Romanesque period as
well as the Gothic, and
to cover much of Europe. Bridaham's previous publisher, Plenum Press, declined the book and he was unable to interest another
publisher in the
project. In 1980 Bridaham met John Oliver, who shared his interest in gargoyles, and the two men decided to collaborate. From
1981 to 1983 Bridaham
retooled his research into a popular book, co-authored with Oliver, with the working title "Meet My Fabulous Grotesque Friends."
Bridaham and Oliver
were unable to find a publisher. In 1986 and 1987, Bridaham returned to the topic again, envisioning a more scholarly project,
"The Bridaham
Collection of Photographs of Gargoyles and Grotesque-Style Sculptures of the Middle Ages in all Countries," which would include
1600 photographs.
The project remained unpublished.
Each of the projects documented in this series includes both images and papers. The images are primarily photographs, but
may also include
postcards and other printed material. The images are generally organized by Bridaham's planned chapter headings. The types
of textual material is
also relatively similar for each project, including correspondence, research, notes and drafts of text. A limited number of
images are also included
in these files. Of particular interest is the text dummy for the "Fabulous Friends" book.
Due to the fact that the research projects relate and often overlap, many materials may relate to more than one research project.
Although they are
generally grouped by the date he last worked with a folder, some anomalies still exist. Thus, the final grouping of this series
contains materials
relating to all three of the previous unpublished projects, as well as a certain amount of miscellaneous and duplicate material.
This includes
catalogs and pamphlets, articles, research notes and a variety of images.
"Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in the Sculpture of the Middle Ages in England, Germany, Italy and Spain"
box 6, box 7, box 8
Research, notes, correspondence and sections of draft text
"Meet my Fabulous Grotesque Friends"
box 12, box 13
Research, notes, correspondence and sections of draft text
"The Bridaham Collection of Photographs of Gargoyles and Grotesque-Style Sculptures of the Middle Ages in all Countries,"
box 19
Research, notes, correspondence and sections of draft text
Cumulative project research materials and images
box 24, folder 1-10
Research materials and notes
General research materials, Series III.
1895-1981, undated
Physical Description: 4.5 Linear Feet(7
boxes)
Arrangement
The series is arranged by type of material.
Scope and Contents
Series III includes images and materials that relate to Bridaham's entire span of research on gargoyles and the grotesque
rather than being
attributable to a specific project. Although Bridaham's date notations allow most of his files to be assigned to a project,
or at least the project
on which he used it last, the materials in this series remain general or are clearly used throughout.
box 27
Articles, clippings and notes
box 30, box 31
Bound volumes of research notes
box 36, box 37
Negatives
Scope and Contents
Restricted access.
