Davis, Jim, 1901-1974
Photographer, Painter, Filmmaker
Size: 3.8 Linear feet
Summary: The papers of painter, photographer, and filmmaker James Edward Davis measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1917-1970. They highlight Davis's career through biographical material, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed and photographic material, and artwork.
James Edward Davis (1901-1974) was a painter, photographer, and filmmaker who worked primarily in New Jersey. Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Davis specialized in the abstract and surrealist styles and his artwork was heavily inspired by the zeitgeist of the 1920s. He graduated from Princeton University in 1923 and studied painting and sculpture in France with Andre Lhote for three years. Davis taught at multiple places during his career including Lawrenceville School (1933-1936), Princeton (1936-1942), and the Moholy-Nagy Institute of Design (1947). Davis is also known for his experimental abstract films that use mobile designs of transparent plastics and controlled illumination. His paintings have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Addison gallery, and the Princeton and Yale University Art Museums. He died in Princeton, New Jersey at the Princeton Medical Center at the age of 73 on September 20, 1974.
Sketches, designs, working papers related to Davis's art films, the John Marin letters, and drawings were lent for microfilming by James E. Davis in 1967 and 1968. Papers were donated in 1969 by James E. Davis and Rosalind Kossoff.
English .
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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