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Barry Humphries collection of Charles Conder correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: MS.2025.012

Scope and Contents

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)

Dates

  • Creation: 1895-1910

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

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.

Extent

.42 Linear feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

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.

Physical Location

Clark Library.

Provenance Note

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 Note

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

Source

Title
Barry Humphries Collection of Charles Conder Correspondence
Author
Finding aid by Rebecca Fenning Marschall
Date
2025
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Repository

Contact:
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Los Angeles 90018 USA us
(310) 794-5155