Lee Simonson
Illustration — Lee Simonson in 1931 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.
Lee Simonson

Theatre Magazine Company · Theatre Magazine, Volume 53, Number 3, March 1931 (page 42) Immediate source at NYPL · Public domain
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- painter
- Languages
- English
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Illustration — Lee Simonson in 1931 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.
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He graduated from Harvard College in 1909.
• Illustration — The board of directors of the Theatre Guild (from left): Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Theresa Helburn, Maurice Wertheim, Helen Westley, Lee Simonson (1923) • “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
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

The board of directors of the Theatre Guild in 1923. Left to right: en:Lawrence Langner, en:Philip Moeller, en:Theresa Helburn, en:Maurice Wertheim, en:Helen Westley and en:Lee Simonson.
Lawrence Langner (1963) G.B.S. and the Lunatic

Advertisement for the American drama film The Heart of a Siren (1925), under the alternative title Heart of a Temptress, with Barbara La Marr, director Phil Rosen, Harry T. Morey, and Conway Tearle, on page 26 of the April 7, 1925 Exhibitors Herald.
Associated Pictures Corporation / First National Pictures · Exhibitors Herald (Dec. 1924 - Mar. 1925), on the Internet Archive
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New York City.
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Yonkers.
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- “Lee Simonson”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q6515079: Lee Simonson
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lee Simonson.
- 2.Lee Simonson. Minor Prophecies. General Books. 15 March 2010. 978-0-217-25833-3.
- 3.Lee Simonson. The stage is set. Books for Libraries Press. September 1975. 978-0-518-10206-9.
- 4.B. Blom. Settings & costumes of the modern stage. 1966. 9780405087165.
- 5.National Theatre Conference, Theatre Arts. Architecture for the new theatre. 1935.
- 6.Lee Simonson. Part of a lifetime: drawings and designs, 1919-1940. Duell, Sloan and Pearce. 1943.
- 7.Lee Simonson. The art of scenic design: pictorial analysis of stage setting and its relation to theatrical production. Harper. 1950.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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