John Kobal
Encyclopedia
John Kobal was an Austrian-born British based film historian responsible for The Kobal Collection, a commercial photograph library related to the film industry.
Kobal was born in Linz
, Austria, but the family emigrated to Canada when Kobal was ten and settled in Ottawa.
Kobal had a short-lived career as an actor in early 1960s London. He was an inveterate collector: magazines, postcards, pictures, any movie memorabilia. It was a chance encounter with Marlene Dietrich
in Canada in the 1950s that led Kobal to develop his affection for the Golden Age of Hollywood. He used his contacts from a BBC appointment in New York from 1964 to acquire Hollywood related photographs, eventually numbering about 4,500 images dating from the end of the silent era to about 1960. The material was then considered of little value and regularly dumped.
The author of 30 books, Kobal was responsible for organising the first exhibition of Hollywood related photographs at London's Victoria and Albert Museum
in 1974. The critic John Russell Taylor
has described Kobal's contribution to film studies as "unique". A homosexual, Kobal died aged 51 of AIDS
-related pneumonia in London.
The John Kobal Foundation, to which he donated his collection, was established as a registered charity at the end of 1992 and presented an annual award in Portrait Photography between 1993 and 2002.
The Kobal Collection can be found at http://www.picture-desk.com. The collection is split between the London and New York offices of The Picture Desk and now consists of more than 200,000 images. The Collection also continues the exhibition work begun by John Kobal, mounting several exhibitions commissioned by the International Festival du Film, Cannes, and prestigious department stores in Japan.
Kobal was born in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, Austria, but the family emigrated to Canada when Kobal was ten and settled in Ottawa.
Kobal had a short-lived career as an actor in early 1960s London. He was an inveterate collector: magazines, postcards, pictures, any movie memorabilia. It was a chance encounter with Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
in Canada in the 1950s that led Kobal to develop his affection for the Golden Age of Hollywood. He used his contacts from a BBC appointment in New York from 1964 to acquire Hollywood related photographs, eventually numbering about 4,500 images dating from the end of the silent era to about 1960. The material was then considered of little value and regularly dumped.
The author of 30 books, Kobal was responsible for organising the first exhibition of Hollywood related photographs at London's Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in 1974. The critic John Russell Taylor
John Russell Taylor
John Russell Taylor is an English critic and author. He is the author of critical studies of British theatre; of critical biographies of such important figures in Anglo-American film as Alfred Hitchcock, Alec Guinness, Orson Welles, Vivien Leigh, and Ingrid Bergman; of Strangers in Paradise: The...
has described Kobal's contribution to film studies as "unique". A homosexual, Kobal died aged 51 of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related pneumonia in London.
The John Kobal Foundation, to which he donated his collection, was established as a registered charity at the end of 1992 and presented an annual award in Portrait Photography between 1993 and 2002.
The Kobal Collection can be found at http://www.picture-desk.com. The collection is split between the London and New York offices of The Picture Desk and now consists of more than 200,000 images. The Collection also continues the exhibition work begun by John Kobal, mounting several exhibitions commissioned by the International Festival du Film, Cannes, and prestigious department stores in Japan.