Lee Simonson Explained

Lee Simonson (June 26, 1888, New York City – January 23, 1967, Yonkers) was an American architect painter, stage setting designer.

He acted as a stage set designer for the Washington Square Players (1915–1917). When it became the Theatre Guild in 1919, he became a stage setting staff of the theater. He graduated from Harvard College in 1909.^[1]

Literary works

• “Skyscrapers for Art Museums” The American Mercury, August 1927, pages 399-404
• "Minor Prophecies" New York, Harcourt and Brace, 1927
• "The Stage Is Set", New York, Dover Publications, 1932
• (with Theodore Komisarjevsky): "Settings and Costumes of the Modern Stage" New York Studio Productions, 1933
• Isaacs, Edith J.R., editor: "Architecture for the New Theater" Lee Simonson: "Theater Planning" New York Theater Arts, 1935
• Part of a lifetime: Drawings and Designs 1919-1940, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York 1943
• The Art of Scenic Design; A Pictorial Analysis of Stage Setting and its relation to Theatrical Production, 1950

Exhibitions

• "Modern American Design in Metal" Newark Museum March 19 - April 18, 1929 included Simonson, Donald Deskey and William Zorach
• "International Exhibition of Theater Art", Museum of Modern Art, January 15- February 25, 1934, more than 700 drawings and models from 14 countries. After the MoMA venue, the exhibition traveled to Worcester, Providence, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Chicago and Buffalo
• Harvard Contemporary Art Society 1932, exhibition included Simonson, Bel Geddes, Robert Jones, Monsine, Ornslegger

External links

• http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9067866
• Guide to Lee Simonson Papers at Houghton Library, Harvard University
• Lee Simonson Photographs, 1871-1937 [bulk 1915-1937], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Notes and References

1. Web site: Lee Simonson .