Frederick W. Davis (April 17, 1878 - March 7, 1961) operated an
antiquities and
folk art shop in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. Davis was an early collector and dealer in pre-Columbian and Mexican folk art and his shop was a place where Mexican Modern artists who were interested in pre-Columbian and folk art, often met.
Davis was born and raised in Illinois. He came to Mexico about 1910 and worked for the Sonora News Company selling newspapers, guidebooks, and souvenirs on the Southern Pacific Railway line south from Nogales, Arizona. Davis, who was interested in folk art and pre-Columbian
art of Mexico became the manager of the Sonora Company's arts and crafts showroom in Mexico City. During the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
(1910-1920), many Mexican antiques came on the market. After 1920, as stability returned and Americans became interested in Mexico, Davis's shop attracted collectors and other visitors. Artists of the emerging “Mexican school” were interested in both historical and contemporary folk art, so they also gravitated to Davis's shop. Davis was among the first to collect, display and sell their work. He exhibited work by
Diego Rivera,
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...
, and
Rufino Tamayo; others who came to the shop included
Miguel Covarrubias
Miguel Covarrubias, also known as José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (22 November 1904 — 4 February 1957) was a Mexican painter, caricaturist, illustrator, ethnologist and art historian. Along with his American colleague Matthew W. Stirling, ...
and
Jean Charlot. Davis also displayed work by Americans including
George Biddle
George Biddle (January 24, 1885 – November 6, 1973) was an American painter, muralist and lithographer, best known for his social realism and combat art. A childhood friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he played a major role in establi ...
,
Caroline Durieux
Caroline Wogan Durieux (January 22, 1896 – November 26, 1989) was an American printmaker, painter, and educator. She was a Professor Emeritus at both Louisiana State University, where she worked from 1943 to 1964 and at Newcomb College of Tula ...
, and
William Spratling
William Spratling (September 22, 1900 – August 7, 1967) was an American-born silversmith, silver designer and artist, best known for his influence on 20th century Mexican silver design.
Early life
Spratling was born in 1900 in Sonyea, Livin ...
.
In 1927, Davis hired
Rene d'Harnoncourt
René d'Harnoncourt (May 17, 1901 – August 13, 1968) was an Austrian-born American art curator. He was Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 1949 to 1967.
Background
Of Austrian, Czech, and French descent, Count Rene d'Harnoncou ...
as his assistant. D'Harnoncourt worked with Davis until 1933, helping in the purchase and sale of art objects and organizing displays and exhibits in the showroom.
Davis was also a noted
silversmith and produced numerous pieces of Mexican
jewelry
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
.
Davis was
gay, but few accounts of his life mention this fact.
In 1933, Davis left the Sonora News Company and became head of the department of antiques and fine crafts in Frank Sanborn's Mexico City store. He continued supporting Mexican artists and craftsmen by displaying and selling their work.
References
Sources and further reading
* Morrill, Penny C., and Berk, ''Mexican Silver: 20th Century Handwrought Jewelry & Metalwork'', Schiffer, Atglen PA 1994, pages 22–29. This essay is the best summary of Davis's career.
* Oles, James, editor, ''South of the Border: Mexico in the American Imagination, 1914-1947'', Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DE 1993, pages 123-127;
* Delpar, Helen, ''The Enormous Vogue of Things Mexican: Cultural Relations between the United States and Mexico, 1920-1935'', University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 1992, pages 5–6, 65-66;
* Davis, Mary L., and Pack, Greta, ''Mexican Jewelry'', University of Texas Press, Austin 1963, pages 150-167.
* Fergusson, Erna ''Mexico Revisited'', Alfred A Knopf, New York 1955, pages 305-313.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Frederick W.
1961 deaths
American emigrants to Mexico
American silversmiths
Mexican gay men
1877 births