Frank Freed

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Frank Freed

American, 1906–1975

ActiveHouston, Texas, United States

Birth placeSan Antonio, Texas, United States

BiographyFrank Freed was born in San Antonio, the only child of Louis and Fannie Freed, on February 15, 1906. In 1913 they moved to Houston and at a young age, Freed showed little signs of being an artist. Like most "folk" artists it wasn't until middle age or later when he began painting. Freed's parents brought him up exposed to contemporary adult issues being debated in their home and the community, such as women's suffrage and prohibition. They provided a strong background of civic and cultural affairs.

He studied literature at Harvard and pursued a career in journalism. Having graduated from Harvard in June 1927, he worked briefly in New York City, returned to Houston and then toured Europe in 1930. He tried writing briefly, but nothing materialized and instead worked with his father in the insurance business.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he volunteered to join the Army in 1942. This experience was later seen as a liberation to him from a "too-comfortable routine in Houston." He traveled around Europe during the war, but it was his trip to Paris, that seemed to spark something inside of him. Like most artists, he was inspired by the night life, the street life, and the art exhibits. "Freed left France with experiences that had enriched his eye for the ironies and incongruities of life and with the idea of trying his hand at art." It seemed that he "could do something better" than what he had seen at the Paris exhibitions.

After his return from the war in 1947, he began courting an old friend, Eleanor, who later became his wife, and went on a week-long date in Manhattan, where he saw other inspiring exhibits. It was the exhibit of Ben Shahn that "floored" him at the Museum of Modern Art. Two months after the exhibition, he was enrolled in a painting class at the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

It was through painting, rather than writing that he found a way to express himself. "The world of art" is a common theme throughout his paintings during the 1950s, depicting artists, art classes, collectors, auctions, museums, and gallery openings. Freed's paintings can be described as, "flat, simplified, strongly defined by line, and filled in with unmodeled colors that establish lively patterns of color and tonal contrasts."

Credits:

Camfield, W. (1996) American Art Review Vol. VIII No. 3

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