Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection, ca. 1913-1945

Processed by Alyson Belcher.

The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California 94720-6000

1996

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection, ca. 1913-1945

Collection number: BANC PIC 1964.009-024

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California 1996

Finding aid and digital representations of archival materials funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed and encoded by:

California Heritage Digital Image Access Project staff in The Bancroft Library and The Library's Electronic Text Unit

Digital images processed by:

The Library Photographic Service

Finding aid completed:

February 1996

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection,

Date (inclusive): ca. 1913-1945

Collection Number: BANC PIC 1964.009-024

Creator: Paget-Fredericks, J. (Joseph Rous), 1903-1963

Extent: Approximately 2,000 original drawings, paintings and photographs, as well as scrapbooks and other dance memorabilia. Thirty historic dance costumes (on extended loan to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). 368 digital objects

Repository: The Bancroft Library. The University of California, Berkeley.

Berkeley, California 94720-6000

Languages Represented: English

Information for Researchers

Access

The following parts of the collection are stored off-campus:

BANC PIC 1964.012 A/AX

BANC PIC 1964.015 ALB

BANC PIC 1964.016 ALB

All dance costumes are on extended loan to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection, BANC PIC 1964.009-024, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Digital Representations Available

Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto 35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.

Removed or Separated Material

Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
The Paget-Fredericks Manuscript Collection is housed in the Manuscripts Division of The Bancroft Library under the call number BANC MSS 72/156 c.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection was given to The University of California at Berkeley by Sarah Montmorency (the artist's sister) in 1964. Additions were made to the collection in 1976.

Funding

Finding aid and digital representations of archival material funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biography

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks was born in his family's San Francisco home at the corner of Clay St. and Webster St. in 1905. His mother, Constance Paget-Fredericks, was born in San Francisco when her father, a Special Correspondent for the London Times, was on his way to Japan as British Minister. The artist's father, Arthur Remy von Hohenthal Fredericks, was also born in San Francisco as his parents were headed for St. Petersburg. Descendant of the famous Baltic lumber barons, Paget-Fredericks' father was a well-known western business man and philanthropist.

Paget-Fredericks' maternal grandmother and her family had a great interest in the theater. They developed and preserved Europe's first Theater Art Museum in their home Martendale Greathouse, the celebrated "summer palace" of Charles II. It was also here that the King signed the land-grant and Charter of Charleston, South Carolina. Constance Paget-Fredericks continued her family's tradition of collecting art--her link with so many distinguised English and Russian families gave her easy access to the most famous artists and their work. Throughout the early 20th century she was hostess to all the great dancers visiting California. Her collection of theater and dance memorabilia and art was unrivaled. The family home contained numerous souvenirs of Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova (including many of her beautiful costumes for such ballets as "Swan", "Giselle", "Rondino" and "Gavotte").

On his father's side of the family was a strong tie to Russian art and culture. Paget-Fredericks' uncle was Count Vladimir Borisovitch Fredericks, First Minister of the Imperial Court from 1900-1917; all arts in Russia functioned under his supervision. In 1909, Count Fredericks arranged for Serge Diaghilev to take the Ballet Russe to Paris for a festival of Russian culture. Led by prima ballerina Anna Pavlova and artistic designer Leon Bakst, this was to be the company's first performance outside of Russia. Needless to say, they were a great success. Young Paget-Fredericks first became acquainted with the members of the Ballets Russe during their visit to San Francisco, where they were entertained by the Paget-Fredericks family.

Growing up in the midst of such theatrical oppulence, it is no wonder Paget-Fredericks turned his attention to the arts at an early age. In 1921, at the age of 16, he presented the first of ten original pageants at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. The title of the July 28, 1921 performance was "An Hour of Dance Impressions by Joseph Paget-Fredericks". Two years later he performed in "Joseph Paget-Fredericks in a Programme of Expressionistic Dances." He also portrayed Magazu, a medicine man, in "The Days of Peralta, a Spectacle-Drama", which recalled the day in 1820 when "the Governor of California granted to Luis Peralta the San Antonio Rancho, a piece of land which includes the present site of Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda".

Paget-Fredericks attended the University of California as well as numerous universities in Europe; he also studied art with Leon Bakst and John Singer Sargent. Pavlova and Bakst were so impressed with his drawings and paintings that they sponsored his first show in Paris.

Dance authorities praised his work and in 1930 he was invited to serve as Art Director for Pavlova's world tours (1932-33). Paget-Fredericks designed the 1941 American production of Tchiakovsky's "Swan Lake," which was presented at the San Francisco Opera House. Joseph Paget-Fredericks was the first person to lecture on dance at a university in the United States when he taught at the University of California in 1939. He also taught courses in color and design at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and Jean Turner Art Center in San Francisco. At the time of his death he was working on texts for a lecture series on dance to be given at the University of California. He planned to speak of people he knew intimately: Loie Fuller, who was responsible for Alma Spreckles donating the Palace of the Legion of Honor to San Francisco; Isadora Duncan; Ruth St. Denis; Pavlova and her American partner Hubert Stowitts; and Nijinsky. He was the author and illustrator of several childrens books and planned to write a series of books on dance. His book about Pavlova, I Shall Always Love the West , was the only book from this series to be published. Joseph Paget-Fredericks passed away in his Berkeley home in the spring of 1963.

Scope and Content

The Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection contains roughly 2,000 original drawings, paintings, photographs and pieces of memorabilia that date from ca. 1913 to ca. 1945. The collection is arranged by subject and format into sixteen groups, numbered 1964.009 to 1964.024. Various media and sizes are represented. The categories by subject include: Isadora Duncan; Loie Fuller; Vaslav Nijinsky; Anna Pavlova; Ruth St. Denis; other dancers; decor and costume designs for ballets; other figure and costume studies; illustrations and graphic design; miscellaneous drawings and paintings; juvenilia; historic dance costumes; printed pictures and clippings; photographic prints; portraits; and works by other artists in various media. The material in the collection was either created or collected by Joseph Paget-Fredericks.

Container List

1964.009, Isadora Duncan

Le Vesinet, St. Germain-en-Laye.