The fonds consists of Shadbolt's private journals, notebooks, lecture notes, sketch books from his work with the Art Students' League of New York, 1948-1949 as well as 6 sketchbooks from the 1960s, a collection of his loose drawings and studies, an extensive collection of photographs of Shadbolt's paintings, including colour transparencies, slides of a photographic work entitled "Year", family photographs, personal and professional incoming correspondence, his picture reference file of postcards and magazine clippings, exhibition catalogues and other printed material. Correspondents include John Macdonald, Wilfred Watson, Max Maynard, Jock Firestone, Molly Bobak, George Swinton, and Ron Thom.