The series consists of chronologically arranged files created by Lela Wilson to document the progress of York Wilson's career.
The material includes exhibition notices and catalogues, clippings of articles and reviews about York Wilson, and copies of some art journals featuring him. The series begins with a couple of files labelled by Lela Wilson as "archival" and containing exhibition catalogues not directly relating to York Wilson (Art Gallery of Toronto, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and Ontario Society of Artists catalogues 1926-1938). The rest of the files provide a comprehensive record on York Wilson's career, documenting all the exhibitions in which his work was shown, from his first with the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1931. Included are two 1939 New York World's Fair catalogues, for the Canadian Group of Painters and the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour. Throughout the files are catalogues for the Ontario Society of Artists, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and Canadian Group of Painters annual shows. There are also Canadian National Exhibition catalogues, including one for 'Contemporary Art of Canada and Newfoundland from the International Business Machines Corporation Collection' exhibition 1940.
The files include documentation on York Wilson's first important solo show at the Watson Galleries in Montreal, 1951, the Laing Galleries (1951-1952), and on the Roberts Gallery, Toronto, which represented him for most of his career. There are also catalogues and reviews of exhibitions held outside Canada, including group and solo exhibitions in London (1955), the Canary Islands (1962), Paris ('Cinque Peintres Canadiens' with Jean-Paul Lemieux, Alfred Pellan, Jean McEwen and Joe Plaskett at le Musée Galliera 1963), Lille (Confrontation 1964), Cardiff (1965) and New York (Rose Fried Gallery 1968). There is material on his solo exhibition at the Sala Internacional, Galeries del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico (1969-1970) and on his retrospective by the Sarnia Public Library and Art Gallery 1974. Other material includes Seagram's 'Cities of Canada' 1955; 'Madame Helena Rubinstein presents the 4 seasons, a collection of Canadian paintings' 1955; and a Baxter Art Foundation booklet 1959.
There is correspondence scattered throughout the files, including letters from art associations and museums, from private collectors, and from students and scholars. Among the correspondents is the Minister of National Defence 1944, thanking for a donation; the Robert Simpson Company about its 'Rooms I'd Stay Home In' display 1949; Jack Nichols 1963; Evan Turner 1968; the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta 1970; Donald Cameron 1971; Robert Ayre 1973; Scott Symons; and Graeme Wilson 1984.
Also scattered throughout the files are typescripts and notes by York Wilson: these include a vignette about illustrating murder stories 1941; essays and notes on art and design 1942, 1947, 1964, 1973; and autobiographical material 1974.
The series includes files dating after York Wilson's death, containing Lela's business correspondence, posthumous recognitions of York Wilson's life and work, and miscellaneous exhibition catalogues, annual reports and other material. Subjects documented include the York Wilson memorial exhibition at the Moore Gallery in 1985 and the designation of Wilson's house and studio as a heritage site by Heritage Toronto in 1999. Note an Arts and Letters Club dinner programme autographed by Ed Mirvish, Floyd Chalmers, Joan Chalmers, Lyman Henderson, Charles Pachter, Allan Collier, et al, 1986.
A small amount of the material found in the series pertains to the lives and work of other artists, such as L.A.C. Panton (Art Gallery of Toronto retrospective 1990), Dennis Burton (retrospective 1977) and J.S. Hallam (retrospective organized in part by Wilson 1972 and 1975). Note a catalogue autographed by Cleeve Horne, Leonard Brooks, Herbert Palmer and J.S. Hallam 1947. Also included is a copy of the book 'Le portrait de l'oiseau qui n'existe pas' (1962 edition) inscribed to Wilson by its author, the French poet Charles Aveline.
A few of the exhibition catalogues in the series originally belonged to the artist Peter Haworth and are identified by his signature; they were given to Lela Wilson for her files following Haworth's death in 1986.
Material received in 2006 includes files relating to the publication of "Face at the Bottom of the World and Other Poems" which featured poems by Graeme Wilson and paintings by York Wilson (1964-1969); documents on the publication "York Wilson" by Paul Duval (1977-1978); and material relating to the York Wilson Endowment Award, through the Canada Council for the Arts, which was the result of a substantial gift by Lela Wilson and Maxwell Henderson (1998-2000). These additional records commence at Volume 417 under the Archival Reference number R4154.
