Guide to the Bob Freimark Collection
MSS.2008.05.01
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
© 2009
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Bob Freimark Collection
creator:
Freimark, Bob
source:
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2008.05.01
Physical Description:
1 folders
(4.5 linear feet)
Date (inclusive): 1952-2007 1952-1969
Date (inclusive): 1952-1969
Abstract: The Bob Freimark Collection, 1952-2007 [bulk 1950-1960] is a small representation of the creative work of the San Francisco
Bay Area artist. Friemark's work in abstract expressionism and figurative art reflects his interest in Mexican culture as
well as social and political justice. The collection consists of 19 limited edition prints, lithographs and posters produced
by Freimark over a 50-year time period.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special
Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to
research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
Bob Freimark Collection, MSS-2008-05-01, San José State University Library, Special Collections & Archives.
Processing History
Collection processed by Michael Condon. Finding aid EAD encoded by Mary Ellen Petrich. Reviewed by Danelle Moon and Erin Louthen.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San José State University Library grant project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project began in 2008. The Project Director is Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
Biographical History
Robert Freimark was born January 27, 1922 in Doster, Michigan. After serving in the United States Navy from 1939 to 1946,
Freimark enrolled in college and graduated in 1950 from the University of Toledo, Ohio with a bachelor's degree in creative
writing, as well as from the Toledo Museum of Art with a major in painting.
In 1951 Freimark received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Cranbook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, Michigan, and had
his first solo exhibit that year at the Circle Gallery in Detroit. This was the beginning of a lifelong career in printmaking,
painting, lithography, tapestry and video art.
While establishing himself as an artist, Freimark began an extensive teaching career in the early 1950s, including teaching
at the Toledo Museum of Art; Ohio University (in Athens, Ohio); and at San José State University from 1964 to 1986, where
he was awarded a Professor Emeritus designation in 1986. In addition, he has been an artist-in-residence at Mus Regla, Cuba
in 2001; Mus Guayasamin, Quito, Ecuador in 2002; and Balatonfured, Hungary in 2002.
Freimark's art career is inseparable from his commitment to all aspects of the Mexican culture, including its art, music and
history, and political and social causes. In 1966, he participated in the historic march organized by Cesar Chavez, from Delano,
California to Sacramento California, which brought national attention to the plight of immigrant farm workers.
Over the past 50 years, Freimark's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions across the United States and around the
world, including the National Gallery of American History in Washington, D.C. and the Galeria Galiano in La Habana, Cuba.
In 2007, a solo retrospective of his work,
Bob Freimark: Art of Dissent, was exhibited at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San José, California to celebrate the re-opening of the Plaza. Curated by
Peter Selz, the exhibit demonstrated Freimark's dissident voice as expressed in artwork that examined the two U.S. wars in
Iraq; Los Desaparecidos of Argentina; and the maltreatment of Dolores Huerta at the hands of the San Francisco Police, among
other themes. Freimark's work,
Art Protis Tapestries, was also featured in two additional exhibitions that year, at the San José Museum of Quilts and Textiles and History San
José.
Freimark currently works out of his Grass Valley Studios in Morgan Hill, California.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Bob Freimark Collection, 1952-2007 [bulk 1950-1960] is a small representation of the creative work of the San Francisco
Bay Area artist and San José State University art professor. Friemark's work in abstract expressionism and figurative art
reflects his interest in Mexican culture as well as social and political justice. The collection consists of 19 limited edition
prints, lithographs and posters produced by Freimark over a 50-year time period. Of particular note are three images culled
from his
Fifty States series, completed in the 1960s. As an artist, Freimark has moved steadily towards painting abstractly. He has avoided painting
objects or things, while at the same time understanding the landscape and human figure to develop a sense of reality. His
work symbolizes ideas, values and states of mind in pure abstract terms.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series: Series I: Artwork, 1952-2007 and Personal Papers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Figurative Art -- Specimens
Abstract expressionism -- Specimens
Art, American -- 20th century
Freimark, Bob
San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives
drawer 2-18, Folder 1
Series I. Artwork Series I:
1952-2007
Physical Description: 1 oversize flat file drawer
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series consists of 19 limited edition prints, lithographs and posters produced by Freimark over a 50-year time period.
The bulk of the material is from the 1950s and 1960s, with five pieces spanning the years 1979-2002. Of particular note are
three images culled from his
Fifty States series, completed in the 1960s. As an artist, Freimark has moved steadily towards painting abstractly. His work symbolizes
ideas, values and states of mind in pure abstract terms.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically by date of creation.
No Place to Hide, (50/50). Paper size: 16" x 13".
1952-1953
Shipyard 1. (54/60). Paper size: 16-1/4" x 25-1/2".
1952
Kamikaze. (8/10). Paper size: 21" x 10-3/8".
1954
The Stone Throwers. (41/47). Paper size: 12" x 18".
1957
Man With A Knife. (6/17). Paper size: 20-1/2" x 16-1/2".
1958
Censored. (54/54). Paper size: 20" x 13".
1959
California. Serigraph. (25/71). Paper size: 18-3/4" x 24-1/2".
1962
Moment of Truth. (1/49). Paper size: 26" x 20".
1962
Screaming Figure of Hate. (22/40). Paper size: 29-1/2" x 23".
1962
The Dissenter. (16/25). Paper size: 28-5/8" x 23".
1963
Indiana. Serigraph. (41/62). Paper size: 24" x 18".
1967
Mississippi. Serigraph. (28/65). Paper size: 24" x 18-1/4".
1967
Justice. (31/40). Paper size: 20" x 13".
1969
Daniel Valdez. (2/4). Paper size: 28" x 19-7/8".
1979
Figure. (2/5). Paper size: 39-3/8" x 26".
1979
Campesinos: Air, Fire, Water. Paper size: 22" x 30".
1981
Free Kuwait. Lithograph. (23/50). Paper size: 21" x 30".
1993
Person Disintegrating. (32/34). Paper size: 30" x 22-1/2".
2002
Children's Hospital El Salvador. Paper size: 36" x 24".
n.d.
drawer 2-18, Folder 1
Series II. Personal Papers
Undated, 2007
Photograph of the artist.
Undated
"Art of Dissent" exhibition catalog.
2007
