Barry Humphries collection of Charles Conder correspondence, 1895-1910

Summary

Creators:

Conder, Charles Edward, 1868-1909, Humphries, Barry, 1934-2023, Waller, Pickford, Pash, Florence, 1862-1951, Smithers, Leonard C. (Leonard Charles), 1861-1907, Way, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert), 1861-1913, and Williams, Edith Lockyer, 1869-1947

Abstract:

This collection consists of correspondence from British artist Charles Conder to Leonard Smithers, Edith Lockyer Williams (Mrs. Dalhousie Young), Thomas Way, and Pickford Waller, in addition to art gallery announcements of shows featuring Conder's work, and letters about Conder's health from artist Florence Pash Humphrey to Pickford Waller.

Extent:

.42 Linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English .

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of correspondence from British artist Charles Conder to Leonard Smithers, Edith Lockyer Williams (Mrs. Dalhousie Young), Thomas Way, and Pickford Waller, in addition to art gallery announcements of shows featuring Conder's work, and letters from artist Florence Pash Humphrey to Pickford Waller about Conder's health (Humphrey was also the aunt of Conder's wife, Stella Maris MacAdams). Letters discuss other writers, artists, and critics (including Aubrey Beardsley, Wilfrid Blunt, and Ernest Dawson), Conder's working style and experiments with media such as lithography, women's fashion and home decoration, and Conder's failing health in the early 1900s.

The letters from Florence Pash Humphrey to Pickford Waller in particular discuss Conder's health and decline from 1907-1909. Many of the letters to Edith Young include sketches and diagrams of women's clothes; Conder was relatively well-known for painting decoration directly onto women's dresses (see Charles Conder, Train ca. 1903 in the Victoria and Albert Museum database)

Acquisition information:

This collection was originally in the collection of Barry Humphries and was part of the Christie's sale of his collection, February 13, 2025 (lot 89).

Processing information:

This collection was processed and described in July 2025 by Rebecca Fenning Marschall.

Physical location:

Clark Library.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Artists -- 19th century -- Correspondence
Womens' clothing -- 19th century
Letters -- England -- 19th century
Letters -- France -- 19th century
Letters -- England -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century

Names:

Humphries, Barry, 1934-2023

Restrictions:

This collection is open to researchers.

Terms of access:

The Clark Library owns the property rights to its collections but does not hold the copyright to these materials and therefore cannot grant or deny permission to use them. Researchers are responsible for determining the copyright status of any materials they may wish to use, investigating the owner of the copyright, and obtaining permission for their intended publication or other use. In all cases, you must cite the Clark Library as the source with the following credit line: The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:

UCLA, Clark (William Andrews) Memorial Library

2520 Cimarron Street

Los Angeles, CA 90018, US

Contact:

(310) 794-5155

clark@humnet.ucla.edu

Website