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Dajevskis (Evalds) papers
M2945
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Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Evalds Dajevskis papers
Identifier/Call Number: M2945
Physical Description:
22 Linear Feet
(32 boxes, one oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): circa 1914 - 1990
Abstract: Evalds Dajevskis (1914-1990) was a Latvian artist and theater set designer.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials
are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was given by Peteris Dajevskis to Stanford University Special Collections in 2023. Accession 2023-231.
The archive documented in this finding aid was compiled and organized by Peteris Dajevskis. It was donated to Stanford University's
Department of Special Collections and University Archives in July 2023. In addition to printed matter, photographs and publications,
the collection includes 4x5 color transparencies and 35mm slides of the artist's works that were professionally photographed
by Rick Echelmeyer of West Chester, Pennsylvania in the early 1990s. These transparencies represent the vast majority of the
artist's paintings that were contained in the Dajevskis estate at the time of the artist's death. In the early 2000s, a considerable
number of the artist's concept sketches for various theater projects were photographed digitally by the photographer Vidvuds
Mednis for the exhibition app that was being developed for the interpretive exhibit
Evalds Dajevskis: Art, Place and Identity.
The collection is divided into 19 separate series. In addition to these files pertinent to the Evalds Dajevskis story, supplemental
material provides photographs and other materials about the Latvian DP experience at the Esslingen DP camp in the American
zone and others. These additional materials were given to Peteris Dajevskis over several decades for safekeeping by various
elderly Latvian community members living in the United States. They had maintained records about their own DP and immigrant
experiences. This material provides additional context about the Latvian DP experience in Germany.
Books from the artist's private library, pertaining to famous American scenographers that he admired, costume design as well
as other resources materials relevant to the artist's creative activity are to be individually catalogued and will be available
via Searchworks.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
[identification of item], Evalds Dajevskis papers (M2945). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
The series of documents, photographs and assorted publications contained in this collection are organized in accordance with
the follow main groupings and main topics:
SERIES 1. Artist's autobiographical essay, personal documents, and various profiles of the artist's career. Includes: biographical
articles in publications, listing of artist's teachers, CV from DP era seeking work abroad, work in the theater upon immigration.
An associated file in the 1.0 series also includes documentation of the career of actress Helga Gobzine-Dajevskis, the artist's
wife.
An additional file provides biographical information and photos documenting the career of Latvian theater director Osvalds
Uršteins, a life-long friend and colleague of Dajevskis. The two friends collaborated closely at the Meerbeck Latvian Theater
in Germany and later on manyof the theatrical productions of the American Latvian Theater (ALT) company.
SERIES 2. Overview of Latvian theater history. Contains history of 20th century Latvian theater during the exile period
as documented by Helga Gobzine Dajevskis, actress and E. Dajevskis' wife.
SERIES 3. Design for the stage: Latvia and the Meerbeck Latvian Theater period including tours of DP camp venues by the theater
company. The company's mobile stage designed to carry sets and actors to performances at DP camps in the British zone and
some camps in the American zone is featured.
SERIES 4. American-Latvian Theater performances, 1950-1988.
SERIES 5. Design for Latvian Song Festivals & other cultural institution projects, 1958-1988.
SERIES 6. Set design by Evalds Dajevskis for thr animated film, Hansel and Gretel, produced by Michael Myerberg Productions,
New York, 1950s.
SERIES 7. E. Dajevskis' work for Broadway scenery studios and other design firms.
SERIES 8. Evalds Dajevskis: Group and solo exhibitions, retrospective shows, reviews, and publications.
SERIES 9. Writing, correspondence, travel and visual impressions by the artist.
SERIES 10. Prints of Evalds Dajevskis' paintings and related photo research.
SERIES 11. Color transparencies (4x5 format) of Evalds Dajevskis' paintings and set designs.
SERIES 12. Color transparencies (35mm format) and filmstrips of Evalds Dajevskis work.
SERIES 13. Evalds Dajevskis' concept sketches and visualization for paintings, art history research and documentation of other
resource materials used by the artist.
SERIES 14. Historical reference materials related to the Latvian immigration experience.
SERIES 15. Audio/Visual materials (organized in chronological order by date of production).
SERIES 16. Publications organized in three subsets:
16.1 Dust cover designs (entire books provided) and other books illustrated by
Evalds Dajevskis;
16.2 Publications that address design for the theater and other publications of particular significance/inspiration for the
artist;
16.3 Books relating to Latvian and Baltic theater history, playwrights and artists.
SERIES 17. Scripts for plays produced by the American Latvian Theater, Washington, DC
SERIES 18. Materials related to the Esslingen Assembly Center, Germany and life in other DP camps plus the story of Latvian
immigration to the US.
SERIES 19. Awards, posters, oversize prints and letters of commendation
Preliminary organization of this collection was accomplished by Peter Dajevskis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July, 2023.
The collection contains the papers, stage design documentation, photographs, theatrical ephemera and other materials related
to Evalds Dajevskis' life and career as a scenographer. The collection offers a profile of Dajevskis' life in Latvia during
the formative years of his career. Examples of his stage design for his early career assignments include working on scenography
for various smaller theater companies in Riga and other regional theaters. Color transparencies of this work were obtained
from several Latvian museum archives researched by Peteris Dajevskis after his father's death in 1990.
The collection has substantial documentation of Dajevskis' work as a scenographer for the Meerbeck Latvian Theater, which
was a traveling theater company of actors in the Displaced Persons (DP) camps of post-World War II Germany. Based in the British
Zone of occupation, Dajevskis was an exhibition designer for a Baltic Arts and Crafts exhibition held at the headquarters
of the British Army of the Rhine in Bad-Oeynhausen, Germany May 24-30, 1948. Other one-man and group exhibitions and one-man
shows are documented from 1947 and earlier. Photos of other important Latvian artists involved in exhibition planning are
documented.
Story of the emigre Latvian theater -- Germany and the United States
The collection reflects the history of the Latvian emigre theater and the role that it played during the post-war era. At
first, the theater served as a way of professional actors maintaining their craft with some hope that Latvia would regain
its independence, but it also served as a mechanism of fostering Latvian cultural identity and providing entertainment for
refugees during the challenging gray camp years. The formation of the Meerbeck Latvian Theater in 1945 is well represented,
and a wide range of plays performed by the company is documented with programs, photographs and reviews. As immigration to
the United States became possible with the signing of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 by President Harry S. Truman, the
collection highlights the immigration process to the United States and the formation of the New York Latvian Theater in Brooklyn,
New York in 1949. Two years after formation, the New York Latvian theater was renamed the American Latvian Theater company
as it reached out to wider Latvian audiences in major cities along the east coast and as far west to venues in Cleveland,
Detroit, Chicago, Lincoln, Nebraska and even Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The theater traveled to locations where groups of
immigrant Latvians had homes with their sponsors from around the United States.
During this time the Rev. Richards Zariņš (see his collection at https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11057177), served as
pastor for the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of New York. He provided significant leadership to the Latvian community
of post-WWII refugees arriving at the port of New York. Pastor Zariņš provided a base of operations for the newly arrived
theatre professionals as well who recently arrived in New York from Germany's DP camps. The Church's parish hall in Brooklyn's
Park Slope section was made available to the Latvian theater director Osvalds Uršteins. It offered essential rehearsal space
for the newly formed theater troupe. The company's first production was Ķīnas vāze (China Vase), a comedy written by the Latvian
playwright Mārtiņš Zīverts. The first performance of the play occurred on January 8, 1950 at Arlington Hall in the East Greenwich
Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.
Immigration to the United States
Evalds Dajevskis joined the newly formed company as its scenographer upon immigrating to the United States with his family
in May, 1951. The Dajevskis collection provides a record of nearly all of the theater programs of the new theater company
under the direction of the company's director, Osvalds Uršteins. All American Latvian Theater (ALT) performances were held
in the Latvian language. Evalds Dajevskis' work as a scenographer played a critical role creating professionally designed
sets that contributed significantly to the success of the company as it performed for American Latvian audiences. The theater
company enhanced the Latvian immigrant experience and played a significant role in cultural life of Latvian émigré society
over a period of 40 years. It took time for many immigrants to obtain a foothold within the broader context of American society
and the theater played a key role in providing a familiar context that connected to the familiar Latvian language and drama
through medium of theater.
Evalds Dajevskis earned his living as a set designer and artist for film and Broadway productions. He concurrently he volunteered
to provide design and set production services for Latvian theater projects as well as other cultural projects in the United
States where his talents as an artist were called for. As Dajevskis became associated with several prominent New York scenery
studios, including Pete Feller Scenery Studios and Nolan Scenery Studios, he executed scenery for many production including
a number of Tony award winning shows that earned best set design awards. In addition to Broadway productions, Dajevskis executed
sets for the New York City Ballet Company including the well-known George Balanchine Nutcracker production viewed at the New
York State Theater, Lincoln Center. He also worked for the Metropolitan Opera Association's scenery studios at Lincoln Center
for a number of years. The experience of working for major New York scenery studios gave Dajevskis invaluable experience
to acquire contemporary approaches to produce sets. These experiences were then transferred by Dajevskis to theater productions
of the American Latvian Theater.
Design for the American Latvian Theater & Easel Painting
This collection is probably the most extensive archive of Latvian émigré theater history involving professional artists who
immigrated to the United States. Substantial amounts of design work created by Dajevskis for the American Latvian Theater's
three ensembles (New York, Washington and Boston) were organized by the artist in 1989-1990 soon after he was diagnosed with
stomach cancer.
Upon Dajevskis' death in June 1990, additional documentation about the life of the artist and his work was researched and
documented by his son Peteris Dajevskis. This included professional photography of nearly the entire collection of the artist's
original works left in the artist's estate. This included over 200 items of original paintings and a substantial collection
of the artist's sketches and archives assembled during his DP years in Germany. Materials related to the ALT developed over
a period of nearly 40 years after immigration to the United States are included.
To provide an interpretive perspective of the artist's career and work, his son developed an exhibit at the Latvian Embassy
in Washington D.C. showing iconic examples of the artist's work. An on-line application was developed for the show which served
as a catalog to help younger audiences obtain a better understanding of the artist's life placed in cultural-historical context.
The artworks featured both the artist's DP and US experiences. The initial show opened in fall 2012 at the art gallery of
the Republic of Latvia's Embassy to the United States. Later the exhibit traveled to the Latvian Cultural Center in Three
Rivers, Michigan (known as Garezers) and later was exhibited at Philadelphia's Latvian Society of Free Letts. Together the
three shows were billed as a farewell tour.
In 2014, the exhibit traveled to the Liepaja Museum in Latvia featuring a more encompassing retrospective anniversary show
to celebrate the artist's 100th birthday on May 28th. Over 200 original paintings by Dajevskis were donated to the museum
by the artist's son. Additional paintings from private collections in the United States were gifted to the museum. The Liepaja
exhibit featured several paintings that the artist created in the early 1940s and were already part of the museum's collection.
Proceedings from a one-day conference that was organized by the Liepaja Museum held on May 29th, 2014 were published by the
museum in 2022. The proceedings were published with the financial support of Latvia's Cultural Capital Foundation in association
with the City of Liepaja. A copy of the proceedings entitled Ēvalds Dajevskis. Māksla, Vieta un Identitāte (Evalds Dajevskis:
Art, Place and Identity) has been donated to the Stanford Libraries.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Painters -- Latvia -- Biography
Theater -- Set design
Set designers
Latvian-Americans
Set designers -- Latvia