Randall Davey Estate Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: PAAC-0079

Staff Only

Content Description

Collection of photographs from the Randall Davey Estate in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Included are gelatin silver prints, cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards, tintypes, negatives, slides and postcards related to Randall V. Davey's artwork and life in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as to members of the Holt and Cullum families.

Dates

1869-1985

Creator

Davey, Randall, 1887-1964 (Artist, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to researchers on an appointment basis only, pending approval of application to view original material.

Conditions Governing Use

User responsible for all copyright compliance. Permission to publish must be obtained from Photo Archives. Form to request permission available at: https://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/collections/photo-archives/order-photos

Biographical and Historical Information

Randall Davey (1887-1964), a Santa Fe artist, is known for his oil paintings, watercolors, etchings and lithographs of racetrack scenes, landscapes, portraits and female nudes. Davey was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on May 24 1887. He studied architecture at Cornell University between 1905-1908, but he left Cornell and enrolled at the Art Students League in New York City. In 1909, Davey became a student of Robert Henri at the New York School of Art and in the subsequent decade, Henri had a big influence on Davey's early artwork. Davey married Florence Sittenham in 1912, and the two had a son, William Davey. In 1919 Davey and fellow painter John Sloan traveled from New York City to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Davey settled in Santa Fe, where he purchased a 135 acre property and converted an old Army sawmill into his house and studio. Davey became heavily involved in the Santa Fe art scene, but unlike emerging local artists of the time, he preferred impressionist themes over showcasing the Southwest. Davey combined a teaching career with painting for exhibitions and private clients. Upon divorcing first wife Florece, Davey married Isabel Holt in 1932. They lived in Santa Fe until Isabel's death in 1963, followed by Randall Davey's death in a car crash on November 7, 1964.

The Davey estate was inherited by Kate H.G. Cullum, Isabel's sister, who opened an art gallery in the former home and studio. After Cullum's death in 1984, the Davey estate was donated to the National Audubon Society. Today, the property is known as the Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Sources:

Kim Straus, Raising chickens in Santa Fe: the artistic life of Randall Davey (Santa Fe, NM: The Davey Archives Project, 2022).

Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary: https://randalldavey.audubon.org/. Accessed April 6, 2023.