[THEATRE] Lee Simonson (1888-1967, Yonkers, N.Y.) a major force in American scenic design, discovered in his youth what the "painters' and designers' vision could do to revivify the theater." After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in 1909, he went to Paris hoping to become a mural painter. There he formed friendships with such expatriate Americans as writer and collector Gertrude Stein and painter Stanton MacDonald-Wright. He also attended some of the most experimental European theatrical productions, and when he returned to New York in 1912, he was determined to launch his career as a set designer. He was influential in freeing American stage design from constraints imposed by traditional realism. ALS on back of postcard, 1933

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