Karli Frigge (1943–) is one of the world’s most prominent and innovative paper marblers. From 1960 to 2000 she produced marbled papers and publications that are renowned for their innovation and creativity. The Magic of Marbling: The Art of Karli Frigge presents selections from Watson Library’s collection of her work including her sample books, recipe books, instruction guides, and workbooks.
Frigge studied bookbinding at the Graphic School in Holland and the Rotterdam Academy of Decorative Arts (now the William de Kooning Academy) under Dieuweke Kollweijn, a preeminent Dutch bookbinder. Frigge has distributed and published examples of her marbling in numerous limited-edition formats. Her most recent publication from 2023 is titled Set of Historical Marbled Papers. This extraordinary collection brings together a selection of her marbled papers made between 1974 and 1998 and serves as a retrospective including her signature patterns: landscape, tiger eye, and alchemy marbles.
Watson Library’s collection of Karli Frigge’s work is part of a larger outstanding collection on the history of papermaking and decorated paper. The collection was enhanced in 2016 by a significant donation of four hundred and fifty books from Mary Schlosser. In 2018, Mindell Dubansky, Museum Librarian for Conservation and Preservation, started a Paper Legacy Collection that now holds the work of more than fifty American decorated paper artists active from the 1960s to 2000s. That collection includes extensive paper samples, publications, tools, recipe books, and personal correspondence.
The exhibition of Karli Frigge’s work is complemented by Frigge’s vivid, inspirational quotes about the practice of marbling and by insightful comments from Sidney E. Berger, Frigge’s biographer. His comprehensive account, Karli Frigge’s Life in Marbling, is on display in the exhibition.