Sketches from Paris sketchbook, 1912
Berlin street scene from sketchbook, 1902-1903
Spanish country house, from sketchbook, 1920 or later
Through the pages of Julius R. Davidson’s 20 sketchbooks we can follow a gifted student in Berlin and his travels in Europe as he developed his skills as an architect and furniture designer. Davidson’s carefully drawn studies of buildings, decorative objects, and furniture in Berlin, Paris, London, the Netherlands, and the United States add fascinating detail to our understanding of this early southern California modernist. The sketchbooks and other documents are a recent gift from Davidson’s daughter-in-law, Barnaby Davidson and his grand-daughter Erica Avrahm and are now part of the Julius R. Davidson papers, which the ADC acquired from the family in 1972.
Jocelyn Gibbs, Curator
