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Creator
Fuller, Loie, 1862-1928
Call number
*MGZMC-Res. 9
Physical description
4.33 linear feet (14 boxes)
Language
English; In English and French.
Preferred Citation
Loie Fuller collection, *MGZMC-Res. 9. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

Loie Fuller (1862-1928) was an American dancer and choreographer who pioneered an innovative approach to dance, using fabric and light to create modern performance art. The Loie Fuller collection mainly documents the last fifteen years of Fuller's life and consists of personal and professional correspondence, performance contracts, production notes, sheet music, autobiographical writings, other writings by Loie Fuller, material concerning Maryhill Museum, legal documents, memorabilia, and photographs.

Biographical/historical information

Loie Fuller (1862-1928) was an American dancer and choreographer who pioneered an innovative approach to dance, using fabric and light to create modern performance art.

Loie Fuller was born Marie Louise Fuller on January 15th, 1862, in Fullersburg, Illinois. She started her stage career as a child and performed in vaudeville and popular theater throughout the 1880s. By the 1890s, she began to develop an abstract language of movement and color utilizing billowing silks, extended wands, and changing light conditions. In 1891, she debuted the "Serpentine Dance," the first dance in her soon-to-be iconic performance style. The performance used light to create a sculptural effect instead of traditional dance storytelling.

Fuller moved to Paris in 1892, where she quickly gained popularity at the Folies Bergère theater. Fuller combined Symbolist and Art Nouveau elements with scientific experimentation in her artistic approach to her performances. Through her stage designs Fuller patented lighting equipment, colored gel filters, and stage control systems. These theatrical innovations produced radiant effects that made her body disappear into shimmering patterns. Fuller created abstract and atmospheric dance experiences through her performances, helping shape the development of modernist art in theater and dance arts.

Fuller's work attracted the attention and respect of both the artistic and scientific communities of Paris, and she counted among her friends Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Auguste Rodin, Stéphane Mallarmé, Thomas Edison, and Marie Curie. She maintained a close bond with Queen Marie of Romania and fostered young artists, including fellow American-born dance pioneer Isadora Duncan and Japanese dancer and actress Sada Yacco. Fuller's long-term relationship with artist Gabrielle Bloch, who was known professionally as Gab Sorère, was both romantic and professional in nature. Fuller and Bloch lived together openly for over thirty years, and Bloch was instrumental as a collaborator in Fuller's artistic endeavors. Bloch worked as Fuller's stage designer and developed mechanical props and theatrical effects for Fuller's performances, and later moved into filmmaking. Block and Fuller made three films together: Le Lys de la vie (1921), Visions des rêves (1924) and Les Incertitudes de Coppélius (1927). After Fuller's death, Bloch inherited her dance company, Les Ballets Fantastiques de Loie Fuller, and strove to protect her partner's legacy as an influential visual effects artist and performer.

The French edition of Fuller's autobiography, titled Quinze ans de ma vie, appeared in 1908, followed by the English translation, Fifteen Years of a Dancer's Life, in 1913. Loie Fuller passed away in Paris on January 1, 1928.

Scope and arrangement

The Loie Fuller collection mainly documents the last fifteen years of Fuller's life and consists of personal and professional correspondence, performance contracts, production notes, sheet music, autobiographical writings, other writings by Loie Fuller, material concerning Maryhill Museum, legal documents, memorabilia, and photographs. The earliest piece of correspondence dates from 1902, although the collection does contain photographs from as early as 1862. The collection does not end with Loie's death in 1928 but includes performance contracts and correspondence through 1935 for Les Ballets Fantastiques de Loie Fuller and some personal correspondence of Gabrielle Bloch, Loie's partner and the company's manager after her death.

The Loie Fuller collection is arranged in nine series:

  • Correspondence
    1900-1935

    This series contains personal and professional correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, as well as miscellaneous correspondence of acquaintances and associates. Outgoing correspondence includes handwritten and carbon copies kept by Fuller.

    The correspondence is broken down into the following subseries:

    Loie Fuller (LF)- Gabrielle Bloch (GB) Correspondence, 1905-1925

    Loie Fuller - Queen Marie (QM) Correspondence, 1912-1927

    Loie Fuller - Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (AS) Correspondence, 1914-1927

    Loie Fuller - Duchesse de Vendôme (DdV) Correspondence, 1916-1921

    Gabrielle Bloch - Alma Spreckels Correspondence, 1915-1923

    Letters from Loie Fuller, 1907-1927

    Letters to Loie Fuller, 1902-1927

    General Correspondence, 1910-1934 (letters neither written by nor addressed to Loie Fuller) Professional Correspondence, Notes, Documents, and Bills, 1900-1935

    Notable correspondents include: Arsène Alexander, Gabriel Astruc, J. Francis Aubertin, Bartholomé, Emma Calvé, Jules Chéret, Jules Claretie, Eve Curie, Madame Curie, Elizabeth, Queen of the Belgiums, Camille and Gabriel Flammarion, Simone Lahovary (Lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie), Pierre Roche, Augustuste Rodin, Soubinine, the Countess Van den Steen, and numerous American and European government officials. There is a substantial amount of correspondence to and from Samuel Hill, an American business magnate, with regard not only to War Relief work but to the establishment of the Maryhill Museum in Washington State.

    When noting the correspondents, the name of the individual or individuals writing the letter is listed first followed by a slash (/). Following the slash is the name of the individual or individuals to whom the letter is written.

    Example: LF/GB indicates a letter by Loie Fuller to Gabrielle Bloch.

  • Performance Contracts for Loie Fuller and Les Ballets Fantastiques de Loie Fuller
    1906-1935

    This series consists of contracts for performances, primarily in Europe, with some in the United States. (Note that not all contracted performances occurred.)

  • Sheet Music
    1893-1907
  • Series IV: Writings
    1914-1917

    This series includes writings on various topics by Loie Fuller. Holograph and typescript copies of at least five different autobiographical manuscripts are listed, in addition to a diary written in Lapland in 1918. Three of the autobiographical manuscripts relate specifically to Loie Fuller and Queen Marie—one being a defense of their friendship entitled The World Asks: the Truth about Loie Fuller and the Queen of Roumania. Other writings by Loie Fuller include five articles on the dance, essays concerning World War I, and miscellaneous pieces such as a questionnaire/interview for Prince Carol of Roumania and essays on Eve Curie, Samuel Hill, Augustuste Rodin, and Alma Spreckels.

  • Maryhill Museum & Egyptian Collection Materials

    This series includes an essay on and dedication for the Maryhill Museum and lists of the possible contents of and contributors to the museum's rooms. A catalog of Egyptian art works and artifacts collected by Alma Spreckels is also included.

  • Legal Documents, Certificates, and Related Items
    1903-1927

    Contains items such as Loie's passport and visas, material concerning Paul C. Turner, a classified report from the U.S.S.R. regarding World War I and its aftermath, and various contracts.

  • Autographs and Addresses of LF's Acquaintances

    Includes address books, autograph books, and calling cards.

  • Miscellaneous

    Includes sketches, invitations, programs, and clippings.

  • Photographs

    This series contains 333 photographs. Included are photographs of: Loie Fuller by herself, 1887-1923; Loie Fuller in titled dance works, 1895-1916; Loie Fuller and her Muses, 1909-1919; Loie Fuller and her family, 1862-1907; Queen Marie and her family, 1902-1928; Loie Fuller and Augustuste Rodin, 1898-1916; Loie Fuller and friends, 1855-1927; and photographs relating to War Relief work in the United States, Belgium, and Roumania, 1915-1920.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from John F. Fleming, 1973

Revision History

Biographical note added by Shaylyn Kruesi and Sarah Fischer; box and folder information added by Allison Hughes. (2025 December)

Processing information

Nancy M. Shawcross; machine readable finding aid created by Apex Data Services and revised by Chatham Ewing.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Alternative form available

Microfilm (4 reels ; 35mm.) of originals in Dance Collection, New York Public Library *ZBD-113.