This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
The papers of New York-based, Argentinian born conceptual and performance artist Jaime Davidovich, measure 2.3 linear feet and date from 1949 to 2014. The collection document's Davidovich's transition from Argentina to the United States, his early artistic career in both countries, specific projects and exhibitions, and the way in which Davidovich's work intersected with audiovisual media and the New York avant-garde in the 1960s and 1970s. Papers include biographical materials, correspondence, writings including memoirs, exhibition and project files, scrapbooks, and printed materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York-based, Argentinian born conceptual and performance artist Jaime Davidovich, measure 2.3 linear feet and date from 1949 to 2014. The collection document's Davidovich's transition from Argentina to the United States, his early artistic career in both countries, specific projects and exhibitions, and the way in which Davidovich's work intersected with audiovisual media and the New York avant-garde in the 1960s and 1970s. Papers include biographical materials, correspondence, writings including memoirs, exhibition and project files, scrapbooks, and printed materials.
Biographical materials include Davidovich's contacts in address books, a certificate, curriculum vitae, a membership card, and a report card. A photograph album documents his New York apartment and studio after first coming to New York in the 1960s. Also found are records of the Wooster Street Corporation where Davidovich later lived and had his studio. A small amount of correspondence is with museums, galleries, artists, and curators, notably Julieta Hanono, Ilene Segalove, and Julia Herzberg, and includes early correspondence from Argentina during Davidovich's time as a student and a teacher in Buenos Aires.
Writings include artist statements, lecture note cards, a letter of recommendation, memoir drafts, and a manuscript about Davidovich by Carolyn Kinder Carr. Memoirs provide detailed information about Davidovich's childhood, education, and early career. Files for exhibitions consist of correspondence, notes, gallery floor plans, photographic material, lists of artwork, and exhibition announcements. Project files contain bound project books, proposals, correspondence, notes, sketches, photographic and source material for the Artists' Television Network, Wooster Enterprises, and other projects.
Three scrapbooks record Davidovich's career in fine arts and design. Printed material includes art reproductions, books, brochures and booklets, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, flyers, periodicals, posters, and press releases.
Much of the later correspondence found in the collection is in the form of printed email; later photographic material is in the form of digitially printed photograhs.
The bulk of material related to Davidovich's artworks, especially later ones, and the artworks themselves are located at NYU Fales Library.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1949-2007 (Box 1, OVs 3, 5; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1958-2012 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1973, 2001-2009 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 2003-2011 (Box 1, OV 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Project Files, circa 1960-2014 (Box 1-2, OVs 4-5; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1960s-circa 1971 (Box 2, OVs 3-4; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Materials, circa 1950s-2009 (Box 2, OVs 3, 5; 0.5 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Jaime Davidovich (1936-2016) was a conceptual and performance artist in New York, N.Y.
Davidovich was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a child, he became ill with rheumatic fever and his parents gave him art materials with which to entertain himself during his months of illness. Davidovich studied at National College in Buenos Aires and graduated from the University of Uruguay in 1961. After graduation, he began teaching in BahÃa Blanca, Argentina, and subsequently became the art superintendent at the visual arts school. In 1963 he was given the opportunity to travel to New York by the DiTella Foundation in Buenos Aires, after a grant to study in France fell through at the last minute. In New York he attended the School of Visual Arts and eventually began working as a graphic designer for Random House publishers.
In 1965, Davidovich and his wife, artist Judith Henry, moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked as a graphic designer and began working with video. His first video installation was exhibited at the Akron Art Institute in 1972. Davidovich's fascination with video and television continued when he moved back to New York City and created the nonprofit organization, Artists Television Network (ATN). The network produced television shows for Manhattan's public access channel using the name SoHo Television. Davidovich's avant-garde variety show, The Live! Show, was the organization's most well-known production. Davidovich hosted the show as the character Dr. Videovich, and invited guests including Laurie Anderson, Eric Bogosian, and other creatives.
In 1976, Davidovich and Henry established Wooster Enterprises, a design studio and retail outlet that created conceptual stationary in affiliation with the Fluxus movement. The company closed in 1979, but it's most popular stationary continued to be produced and sold at the Museum of Modern Art.
Related Materials:
The bulk of the records related to Davidovich's artworks, especially later ones, and artworks themselves, are located in the Jaime Davidovich Collection, 1952-2000, at New York University's Fales Library.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Jaime Davidovich in 2016.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
Davidovich's project files contain bound project books consisting primarily of photocopied documents compiled to document specific projects, proposals, correspondence, notes and sketches, source material, and photographic material. The series documents some of Davidovich's most well-known projects including some for the Artists' Television Network which produced The Live! Show, and Wooster Enterprises, the design studio and retail outlet established by Davidovich and Judith Henry in 1976. Also found are portfolios and original artwork Davidovich produced as a designer for various companies, including National Potteries where he served as Design Director.
Wooster Enterprises records include bound books published by the company, stationary sets, photocopies of a "Sound and Unbound" catalog, a bound set of photocopied invoices, and a publication produced in conjunction with the Wooster Enterprises exhibition at Churner and Churner in 2012.
Also found are a video notebook with notes and sketches for an unidentified project; a book of sketches and notes labeled "paintings, "backdrops," and "Cleveland 1984," which contains lists, sketches, and notes for a Dr. Videovich art lesson; and proposals for a workshop and a Guggenheim Fellowship. One book produced by the American Museum of the Moving Image includes hand-colored sketches and is housed with three additional loose sketches.
Source material consists primarily of postcards and photographs of televisions. Many of these have alphanumeric codes attached to, or written on them, which have been retained with the items, although their significance is not known.
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jaime Davidovich papers, 1949-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
