Scope and arrangement
The collection dates from about 1915 to 1938 and contains 33 studies of dancer Ted Shawn by American artist James Daugherty; drawings by Charles Michael Daugherty; and a large poster advertising Sergei Diaghilev's American debut of Ballet Russes at the Metropolitan Opera.
The works created by James Daugherty are gesture figure drawings of Ted Shawn. The vast majority are labeled simply with Shawn's name, though a small number depict Shawn specifically in positions as St. Francis of Assisi. The studies are drawn on onion skin and done predominantly in brown crayon, with some images incorporating orange.
The majority of the drawings by Charles Michael are held in a sketchbook that he took with him during a 1938 tour with Lincoln Kirstein and his Ballet Caravan, during which time Charles Michael reportedly assisted Kirstein with the driving. The drawings depict buildings, dancers, and other individuals in Athens, Georgia, and the towns of Charleston and Rock Hill, South Carolina. Drawings created while the group was in Cuba depict boats and figure drawings of police officers, farmers, and dancers. The sketchbook also contains draft sketches of sign reading "Ballet Caravan." Portraits in the collection drawn by Charles Michael include Lincoln Kirstein, Marie-Jeanne, and Katharine [sic] Mason. While his drawings are almost exclusively done in black ink and graphite (a few contain a yellowish wash in watercolor), Charles Michael labeled some dancing and other figures' clothing with colors.