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Gaston Lachaise collection

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 434

Scope and Contents

The Gaston Lachaise collection contains correspondence, writings, photographs, scrapbooks, and other materials documenting the life and artistic career of French sculptor Gaston Lachaise. The General Correspondence in the collection consists chiefly of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Gaston Lachaise and others, including family, friends, artists and writers, art critics and patrons, and cultural institutions. The correspondence features 567 outgoing letters from Lachaise to his wife Isabel Dutaud Nagle Lachaise,dating from 1910 to 1934, and incoming correspondence from New York area artists and cultural figures of the 1920s and 1930s. There are only a few pieces of writing by Lachaise, including a typescript draft of the essay "A Comment on My Sculpture" published in Creative Art in 1928, and several works by others relating to Lachaise. Photographs include over 200 black-and-white images of Lachaise, family members, and friends, and of artwork by Lachaise and French sculptor Pierre-Robert Christophe. Scrapbooks and printed ephemera document publicity and critical reception of Lachaise's work from the 1920s through 1970s and other materials, such as lists of Lachaise's work and the names of private owners, identify his work and document its custodial history. Lastly, third-party correspondence can be found between Gaston Lachaise's sister Allys and Lincoln Kirstein and others.

Dates

  • 1867-1979

Creator

Language of Materials

In English and French.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Existence and Location of Copies

Miscrofilm available for portions of the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

The Gaston Lachaise Collection is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Isabel Lachaise (1949 and 1951), Lincoln Kirstein (1949), and the estate of Allys Lachaise (1968), with additional small gifts and purchases from other sources.

Arrangement

Organized into seven series: I. General Correspondence, 1906-1957. II. Writings, 1927-1964. III. Photographs, 1867-1944. IV. Scrapbooks, 1918-1945. V. Personal Papers, 1882-1979. VI. Allys Lachaise Correspondence, 1905-1967. VII. Lincoln Kirstein Correspondence Relating to Gaston and Isabel Lachaise, 1933-1961.

Associated Materials

The Lachaise Foundation, 10 Federal Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02110.

Extent

8.96 Linear Feet ((16 boxes) + 1 broadside folder)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.lachaise

Abstract

Collection contains correspondence, writings, photographs, scrapbooks, and other materials documenting the life and artistic career of French sculptor Gaston Lachaise. General Correspondence consists chiefly of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Gaston Lachaise and others, including family, friends, artists and writers, art critics and patrons, and cultural institutions. The correspondence features 567 outgoing letters from Lachaise to his wife Isabel Dutaud Nagle Lachaise, dating from 1910 to 1934, and incoming correspondence from New York area artists and cultural figures of the 1920s and 1930s. There are a few pieces of writing by Lachaise and several works by others. Photographs include over 200 black-and-white images of Lachaise, family members, and friends, and of artwork by Lachaise and Pierre-Robert Christophe. Scrapbooks and printed ephemera document publicity and critical reception of Lachaise's work from the 1920s through 1970s and other materials, such as lists of Lachaise's work and the names of private owners, identify his work and document its custodial history. Third-party correspondence can be found between Gaston Lachaise's sister Allys and Lincoln Kirstein and others.

Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935)

Gaston Lachaise was a French sculptor best known for his female nudes. Born in Paris, Lachaise trained in the decorative arts, and from 1898 to 1904, studied sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts. He began his artistic career as a designer of Art Nouveau decorative objects for the French jeweler René Lalique. After falling in love with an American woman, Isabel Dutaud Nagle, Lachaise immigrated to the United States in 1906, working first in Boston for H. H. Kitson, an academic sculptor of military monuments, before moving to New York City in 1912.

Biographical information on Gaston Lachaise taken from the Wikipedia entry on Lachaise (accessed 22 December 2010) and the biography of Lachaise by The Lachaise Foundation (accessed 22 December 2010).

Processing Information

Processing was done on the Gaston Lachaise Collection in 1975 with support from The Lachaise Foundation. During reprocessing of the collection in 2010, the arrangement of correspondence and writings was largely preserved in Series I and II, with two notable exceptions: groups of Allys Lachaise and Lincoln Kirstein correspondence were moved out of the alphabetical run of general correspondence and established as Series VI and VII respectively. In addition, photographs, scrapbooks, and printed ephemera, previously removed from the collection and cataloged separately, were repatriated and can now be found in Series III, IV, and V respectively.

Formerly classed as Za Lachaise, Za L117 +1, Za L117 +2, and Za L117 +G1.

Title
Guide to the Gaston Lachaise Collection
Author
by Beinecke staff
Date
2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.