Scope and Content Note
The Paul F. Stiga Collection of Stage and Costume Design spans from 1821 to 2017 and encompasses Stiga's collecting activities and research interests in the areas of design for stage and screen.
The bulk of the collection consists of Design Renderings created for more than 1,300 ballets, motion pictures, musicals, operas, operettas, plays, revues, and television programs. Stiga collected costume designs, production sketches, and set designs for more than 900 individuals beginning in the late 1960s until his death in 2019. The majority of these productions were performed or filmed in the United States and in countries across Europe.
Stiga also collected 85 original caricatures drawn by illustrator Sam Norkin. These images were created between 1946 and 1997 for publication in newspapers and magazines. They primarily capture productions on the Broadway stage. A much smaller series of roughly 50 Prints and Posters rounds out Stiga's collection of works-on-paper.
Research Files contain supplementary information on the designers and productions represented in the Design Renderings series and includes auction and gallery catalogs, programs, and records related to the exhibition of works in Stiga's collection
Personal Papers consists primarily of correspondence Stiga maintained with dealers, designers, and friends. Theater programs from productions he attended, as well as a few miscellaneous collected items, are also included here.
An Appendix provides additional information on each production including the number of renderings, a description of what is depicted, and information about the specific production.