The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, original art works, bibliographic notes and material on exhibitions. There are letters from Aleksandr Benois, Mikhail Chekhov, Fedor Komissarzhevskiĭ, Georgiĭ Lukomskiĭ, Nikolaĭ Medtner, Vladimir Nabokov and Aleksandra Tolstai︠a︡, and one letter each from Ivan Bunin, Mikhail Fokin, Tyrone Guthrie, Sok Hurok and Serge Kusevit︠s︡kiĭ. The manuscripts include essays by Dobuzhinskiĭ on such topics as the Mir Iskusstva group, Pushkin's illustrations, Aleksandr Blok, Kuzḿa Petrov-Vodkin and Josʹe-Maria Sert. There are original art works (pen and ink, goache, etc.) relating to his artistic and theatrical productions. Also included are photographs of Russian scenes, apparently from before World War I.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, subject files and printed materials of Simon Lissim. Among the correspondents are Aleksandr Benois, Mikhail Larionov, Georgiĭ Lukomskiĭ and Saveliĭ Sorin. There are many manuscripts by Lissim himself including the tests for a number of lectures and speeches, sections of his memoirs and essays on aesthectics. The documents include passports documenting his emigration from Russia to France and the United States, and several awards and certificates. There are many photographs of Lissim as well as dozens of photographic reproductions of his work, uncluding Lenox and Sèvres porcelain, textile designs, silver work and graphic arts. There are subjecxt files relating to two books for which he did the illustrations, and there are many folders of clippings documenting his career.

The correspondence includes a copy of a 1913 letter to Smirnova-Maksheeva and a 1973 letter from her. The manuscripts are primarily by Smirnova-Maksheeva and include essays on the St. Petersburg Ekaterinskiĭ Institut; the Smirnov vodka dynasty (to which Smirnova-Maksheeva's first husband belonged); the author Petr A. Zhili︠́a︡r(Pierre Gilliard); the painter Konstantin E. Makovskiĭ (whom Smirnova-Maksheeva knew) and her husband and father-in-law. In addition, there is a manuscript of a talk about Smirnova-Maksheeva's poetry given by Georgiĭ Ivit︠s︡kiĭ in Paris, 1975. The published books are "Rasskazy i povesti" (Paris, 1975)"Skazka o russkom soldate, krylatom bese i t︠s︡arevne Elene" (Paris, 1974)"Dushoĭ i serdt︠s︡em" (Souvain, 1970) and "Tain̆a kazbeka-Gruzinskai︠a︡ legenda v stikhakh 16-17 veka" (Paris, 1947).

The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, and an enormous number of notecards (that were collected over a twenty-year period for a proposed "Slovar' russkikh khudozhnikov") and several dozen notebooks containing entries to which the cards refer. Among the correspondents is Eugène Fabergé, whose letters contain information about the Fabergé dynasty of jewelers. Sakharov's manuscripts include essays on Ivan Bilibin, M. V. Rudaltsov, Mariia Bashkirtseva, Nikolai Globa and V. E. Borisov-Musatov. The cards containing information on artists are arranged alphabetically by artist and contain references to specific notebook entries. There are also bibliographic cards containing citations of articles on art in Russian and other languages. These are arranged by author. The notebooks are largely devoted to a particular artist or genre; others are designated by color and number, letter, number or not titled at all. There are also two sets of large notebooks which seem to belong to another series. There are a few photographs of artists (notably a 1939 photograph of Globa) and photographic reproductions of works by Bakst and Lukin among others. The collection contains approximately 11 exhibition catalogues dating from 1915 to 1940 and primarily relating to the exhibitions of Russian emigre artists in Paris. There are also 4 issues of "Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia" and some clippings dealing with Russian emigre artists.