{{Short description|Sculptor (1907–1979)}} '''Frederic Littman''' (1907–1979) was a Hungarian-American sculptor, whose large sculpted public artwork, frequent collaborations with architect Pietro Belluschi, and four decades of teaching "left a towering artistic legacy in Oregon".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Humpal|first1=Mark|title=Frederic Littman (1907-1979)|url=https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/littman_frederic_1907_1979_/#.WauXv_OGPcs|website=The Oregon Encyclopedia|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref>
== Life ==
Littman was born in Hidegszamos, Austria-Hungary (now Gilău, Cluj County, Romania).<ref>{{cite web|title=Online Collections - Frederic Littman|url=http://portlandartmuseum.us/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=6596;type=701|website=Portland (Oregon) Art Museum|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref> He studied in Budapest and then at the Académie Julian in Paris. By 1931 he'd shown at the Salon d'Automne and entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts; by 1934 he was a full professor and had worked under Charles Malfray at the Académie Ranson, where he met his wife, Austrian-born fellow sculptor Marianne Gold (1907–1999).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Humpal|first1=Mark|title=Frederic Littman (1907-1979)|url=https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/littman_frederic_1907_1979_/#.WauXv_OGPcs|website=The Oregon Encyclopedia|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref>
As Jews, Littman and his wife fled Europe and came to the United States in 1940. After a brief stint at Antioch College in Ohio, they came to Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where Littman was artist-in-residence until 1945. After a collegial divorce, Marianne Gold Littman continued at Reed until the 1950s. They remained lifelong friends.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marianne Gold Littman obituary|url=http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/aug1999/news/8.html|website=Reed College Magazine August 1999|accessdate=3 September 2017|archive-date=29 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529200713/https://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/aug1999/news/8.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Littman became instructor of sculpture at the Museum Art School of the Portland Art Museum, now the independent Pacific Northwest College of Art. He taught there until being named associate professor at Portland State University until his retirement in 1973. Among his students was Manuel Izquierdo.
== Work ==
Littman's work includes:
* eight marble vignettes on Oregon's industries, First National Bank Building, Salem, Oregon, with architect Belluschi, 1947 (razed 2017)<ref>{{cite news|last1=Woodworth|first1=Whitney M.|title=Second life for 8 historic marble sculptures in downtown Salem|url=http://www.freep.com/story/news/2017/06/13/second-life-8-historic-marble-sculptures-downtown-salem/389518001/|accessdate=3 September 2017|publisher=Detroit Free Press|date=13 June 2017}}</ref> * sculpted copper low-relief doors, Zion Lutheran Church, Portland, with Belluschi, 1950<ref>{{cite web|title=City Guide to Sacred Spaces - Portland, Oregon|url=https://www-tc.pbs.org/godinamerica/art/pdx_cityguide.pdf|website=Sacred Space International / God in America|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref> * War Memorial, marble sculpture on the facade of the Marion County Courthouse, Salem, Oregon, with Belluschi, dedicated 1954 * freestanding bronze Pioneer Woman, Council Crest Park, Portland, 1956 * ''Sedes Sapientiae'' (Seat of Wisdom), lead affixed relief, Clark Memorial Library, University of Portland, 1958 * interior work (''bimah'', rose window, and bronze ark doors depicting the Biblical account of the burning bush), Temple Beth Israel, Portland, 1960 <ref>{{cite web|title=City Guide to Sacred Spaces - Portland, Oregon|url=https://www-tc.pbs.org/godinamerica/art/pdx_cityguide.pdf|website=Sacred Space International / God in America|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref> * ''Farewell to Orpheus'', bronze fountain sculpture on the campus of Portland State University, 1968
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Littman, Frederic}} Category:1907 births Category:1979 deaths Category:People from Cluj County Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:Académie Julian alumni Category:Jewish American sculptors Category:Portland State University faculty Category:Reed College faculty Category:Pacific Northwest College of Art faculty Category:Sculptors from Oregon Category:20th-century American Jews Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States