The papers of sculptor Freda Koblick measure 5.8 linear feet and date from 1934 to 2011. The collection documents her career through scattered biographical material, correspondence with family and friends, personal business records, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor Freda Koblick measure 5.8 linear feet and date from 1934 to 2011. The collection documents her career through scattered biographical material, correspondence with family and friends, personal business records, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs.
Scattered biographical material includes resumes and awards. Family correspondence includes many letters from her brothers David and Daniel. General correspondence is primarily personal correspondence with friends. Personal business records consist of Koblick's files on commissions, exhibitions, travels, grants, sales, and publicity. Writings include 11 notebooks and loose notes. Printed material includes news clippings and exhibition announcements as well as printed material of interest to Koblick, but not directly documenting her career. Artwork consists of a small grouping of pencil sketches, possibly depicting her sculpture designs. Photographs depict Koblick, her family, friends, and artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-2011 (5 folders; Boxes 1, 6)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1934-2007 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1950s-2009 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-4, OV 7)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1962-1998 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1943-1990 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 4, 6)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1950s-1980s (1 folder; Box 4)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1930s-2007 (1 linear foot; Boxes 4-6)
Biographical / Historical:
Freda Koblick (1920-2011) was a sculptor in San Francisco, California. Koblick attended San Francisco City College and San Francisco State College. She then moved to Los Angeles and received a certificate as a plastics engineer in 1943 from the Plastics Industries Technical Institute. She worked only in plastics as a medium for sculpture, with an emphasis on cast acrylic. At the start of her career she focused on designing and producing functional cast plastic objects such as doors, lighting, doorknobs, and fountains often in collaboration with architects.
By the 1960s Koblick was exhibiting her sculptures and was regularly teaching, lecturing, and offering workshops on plastics sculpture. From 1965 to 1967 she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal College of Art, London, where she set up the Experimental Plastics Unit and taught plastics theory and application. During the 1970s she received several large scale commissions, most notably a sculpture for the North Terminal of the San Francisco International Airport. In 1980 she moved into a former synagogue in the Mission District of San Francisco where she had a large studio and living space. She continued producing new artwork until she was in her mid-80s, at which point her health limited her ability to work.
Provenance:
Donated in 2012 by Freda Koblick via Julia Fremon, Freda Koblick Living Trust.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
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:
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
