1.4 Sketchbooks and Notebooks, 1930 - 1939
Contents:
Bethune's Sketchbooks and Notebooks subseries cover the period of 1930-1939. These formative years in her artistic life encompass her art school days, early apprenticeships, and first commissions of works. The books (created, dated, and often numbered by Ade) are streams of visual and textual consciousness as Bethune explored ideas and creative concepts through rough sketches, notes, lists of subjects, and other inserted ephemeral materials. The sketches are generally done in pencil or pen (although there are also a few watercolors) and the notes are mostly written in French (with a few in Greek and Latin). The first sketchbook, labeled "Ete 1930", has beautiful endpapers painted in watercolor to represent three artistic muses dancing with Pegasus. The final notebook in this subseries contains Bethune's subject lists of the projects she was working on during this time period.
Dates
- 1930 - 1939
Extent
From the Collection: 5.5 Linear Feet (12 boxes plus 6 oversized items)
Language of Materials
Multiple languages
Arrangement:
Sketchbooks are arranged chronologically by Bethune's creation date, and sometimes by her own numbering of the same-format sketchbooks.
Processing Note:
The materials in the Sketchbooks and Notebooks subseries were intentionally minimally processed to better preserve insight into Bethune's creative and organizational processes. All miscellaneous ephemera (which includes random things such as: inserted sketches and writings on separate pages, invitations and letters, printed materials, drafts and revisions, contact information, pressed leaves, etc.) have been left in the pages of the books. At a later date, these items may be removed and processed separately for preservation.
Creator
- From the Collection: Bethune, Ade (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the St. Catherine University Special Collections Repository
St. Catherine University
Archives and Special Collections
2004 Randolph Avenue
St. Paul MN 55105 U.S.A.
651-690-6423
archives@stkate.edu