Paget-Fredericks, Joseph Rous, 1903-1963

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks, born in 1903, was a descendent of Russian and English noblemen. His mother, Constance Paget-Fredericks, was hostess to many dancers visiting the San Francisco Bay Area and the family was particularly close to Anna Pavlova and Isadora Duncan. He reportably was related to Count Vladimir Borisovitch Fredericks, First Minister of the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg, Russia, but the relationship proved be a hoax. A student of Léon Bakst, his dance drawings and paintings were exhibited in Europe and the United States. He was also an author and owner of an extensive collection of dance memorabilia which included the costumes of Pavlova, Carlotta Grisi, and Marie Taglioni. Paget-Fredericks was a lecturer on dance and related arts at the University of California, Berkeley. He wrote I Shall always Love the West: Impressions of the Incomparable Anna Pavlova during her several Visits to California. His extensive collection of drawings, paintings, and original costumes are housed at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. He died, age 56, on April 21, 1963 in Berkeley, California.

From the guide to the Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks papers, 1920-1960, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks was born in San Francisco, California on December 22, 1903. He was born into a family with a strong background in European theater and art. He attended the University of California and went on to study art with Leon Bakst and John Singer Sargent. He served as the Art Director for the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova's world tours from 1932 to 1933, and gave lectures on dance at the University of California in 1939. He taught design at the California College of Arts and Crafts and at the Jean Turner Art Center. He also wrote and illustrated books for children, including Green Pipes, Poems and Picture (1929), Miss Pert's Christmas Tree (1929), and I Shall Always Love the West (1952), about Anna Pavlova. He died on April 21, 1963 in Berkeley, California.

From the description of Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks dummy, undated. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 777960168

Biographical Information

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks was born in San Francisco, California on December 22, 1903, although a family story claims his birth occurred on the eve of the 1906 earthquake and fire. It is questionable as to what his true year of birth is; it has been recorded as 1903, 1905 or 1909. His mother, Constance Rous-Marten Paget-Jackson, came from a noble English family, and his father, Arthur Remy von Höe[h]nthal Fredericks, was descended from a family of Baltic lumber Barons.

Paget-Fredericks received a diverse education both in California and Europe, and attended the California College of Arts and Crafts, as well as Berkeley High School, class of 1920. For the next ten years, he continued to travel and study abroad, immersing himself in the world of dance, working with Löie Fuller, Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, among others and in his studies. Paget-Fredericks was the last private pupil of both Leon Bakst and John Singer Sargent, and also attended Oxford and Cambridge University, the Beaux Arts in Paris, and the Munich Academy.

At the age of fourteen, Paget-Fredericks presented his artwork for the first time at the Parisian salon of his godmother, the Baronness Deslandes. In 1921, he was invited by Sam Hume, general art director for the University of California, Berkeley, to design and present a series of ten pageants at the Greek Theater. The following year, Paget-Fredericks gave his first professional exhibit of creative designs and costumes in Paris, sponsored by Anna Pavlova and Leon Bakst. He staged the pageant-ballet "Wings," for the Bohemian Club in 1925, and in 1927, held three major one-man shows at the University of California, Berkeley, the Grand Central Arts Gallery (New York), and the New York Public Library. Pavlova designated Paget-Fredericks Art Director of her world tours, and he redesigned five major productions for her. In 1941, he designed the San Francisco Opera production of "Swan Lake."

Paget-Fredericks also wrote and illustrated two children's books, "Green Pipes" and "Miss Pert's Christmas Tree" (published by Macmillan in 1929), and began collaborating with Edna St. Vincent Millay to illustrate some of her books, including "Illustrated Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay" and "The Princess Marries the Page" (Harper, 1932). In 1936, he received the First Award at the Berlin Olympic Games for designing the 1935 Stanford yearbook, "Quad". Paget-Fredericks continued to illustrate children's books and privately published his own book, Pavlova Dances, a monument to the dancer and her tremendous impact on his life.

From 1930 to 1937, Paget-Fredericks lectured at the California College of Arts and Crafts and the Fashion Art School of San Francisco. He was the first instructor on Dance and related Theater Arts during the 1939-1940 Summer Sessions at the University of California, Berkeley. He and his mother also gathered together elaborate collections of "International Childhood," Theater Arts, and Pavlova ("Pavloviana") memorabilia. While Paget-Fredericks' teaching, illustrating, and theater designing career flourished, he continued to loan his family collections to museums and universities; the Pavlova memorabilia was exhibited with great success in London in the fall of 1956.

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks died in 1963.

From the guide to the Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks Papers, 1893-1963, 1924-1962, (The Bancroft Library.)

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.

From the guide to the Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks Dance Collection, ca. 1913-1945, (The Bancroft Library. The University of California, Berkeley.)