Valeria Ladd Papers, 1919-1985

0.5 linear feet; 1 container
Valeria Ladd painted in both oils and watercolor. Her watercolors have a high degree of abstraction, mainly figure or group subjects, while her oils are more scraps of paper or cloth, which seem to drift in the air against various colored skies. However, Her dance is how she is known best. She directed a group around 1919 and had another group in 1950 called the Valeria Ladd Dancing Players. She also worked for the Noyes School of Rhythm Foundation, based in Portland, CT at some point.

While this one box collection does not give a comprehensive view of the artist, Valeria Ladd’s various artistic interests of painting, poetry, and dance. The first series consists of photographs of Ladd, homes, a small child with a kitten, and a few other prints of Ladd’s friends or family. The second series, Award & Ephemera, includes one award, an exhibition postcard, a clipping from Art News, and several dance programs. The third series contains letters from Ladd to her mother while she was in Europe. These letters have been placed in Mylar sleeves. The fourth series is a passport, which Ladd used to travel to Greece with her performance group. The last series is two notebooks with Ladd’s poetry.

The collection is divided into five series: Photographs, Award & Ephemera, Correspondence, Passport, and Notebook. The collection is contained in one box, which is located in the Library and Research Center. The notebooks are in poor condition. The text-block is detached from the cover in the notebook in folder 9. The leather cover of the notebook in folder 10 has severe red rot. The Archives on Women Artists in the Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts maintains a vertical file on Valeria Ladd, which includes an article.

Finding Aid for the Valeria Ladd Papers as PDF