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Charles G. Shaw Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: 16 Aug 1966



Biographical History

Charles Green Shaw (1892-1974) was an American writer, poet, illustrator, and abstract painter.

Born in New York City on May 1, 1892 to parents Charles and Eva (Morris), Shaw attended the Friends School and Berkely School, earned his Ph.D. at Yale in 1914, and did graduate work at Columbia in 1915. He served overseas in World War I.

Shaw began writing in 1919 and painting in 1932. He had numerous one-man shows of his art in the United States, England, and France and his work is represented in major galleries across the U.S. and Europe. Besides murals and paintings, Shaw created posters, magazine covers, and montages. Among other awards, he received the Nantucket Art Association Award (1958), Michael Strange Poetry Award (1954), and 1st prize in Nantucket Art Association (1960).

Shaw is the author of Heart in a Hurricane (1927), The Low Down (1928), and many other works, and he was a regular contributor to House and Garden, the New Yorker and other national publications.

Shaw also owned and assembled The C. G. Shaw Theatrical Print Collection, and was a member of various artistic and poetic societies including The Poetry Society (London) and the Institute of Arts and Letters. His published poems include "Into the Light" (1959) and contributions to periodicals and poetry magazines.


Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Charles G. Shaw Papers consist of correspondence, subject files, manuscripts and published versions of his writings, and scrapbooks.

Correspondence consists of incoming and a small amount of outgoing correspondence.

Subject files consist of announcements, bills, a certificate, photographs, receipts, and vouchers.

Manuscripts consist of bound and unbound drafts of books or articles by Shaw, often including his original drawings.

Published material includes books, exhibitions, newspaper clippings, poems, and published brochures.

Scrapbooks contain Shaw's collections of his magazine articles, press clippings of his work, and articles done by his friends and other writers.


Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically (incoming) or chronologically (outgoing). Subject files are arranged alphabetically by topic. Manuscripts are subdivided into bound and unbound; unbound are arranged alphabetically by title but bound volumes are in no particular order. Published material is subdivided by type and arranged alphabetically by title; books have been transferred to Rare Books for cataloging. Scrapbooks are arranged chronologically based on the earliest dated item in each volume.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has the papers of many other artists and illustrators, including fellow abstract expressionists Grace Hartigan and Irving Lehman. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.


Subject Headings

Persons

Albers, Josef.
Chatterton, Ruth, 1893-1961.
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937.
Lewis, Sinclair, 1885-1951.
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.
Nathan, George Jean, 1882-1958.
Perkins, Maxwell E. (Maxwell Evarts), 1884-1947.
Shaw, Charles Green, 1892- Archives.
Taylor, Deems, 1885-1966.
Woolley, Monty, 1888-1963.

Associated Titles

Smart set (periodical).
The New Yorker (periodical).

Subjects

Abstract expressionism -- United States.
Art, American -- 20th century.
Authors, American.
Illustrators -- United States.
Novelists, American.
Painters -- United States.
Painting, American -- 20th century.
Poets, American.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Drawings (visual works)
Exhibition catalogs.
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Sketches.

Occupations

Artists.
Authors.
Illustrators.
Novelists.
Painters.
Poets.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Charles G. Shaw Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries


Table of Contents

Correspondence

Subject files

Manuscripts

Published Material

Scrapbooks


Inventory