- Kathryn Freeman is a
narrative figure painter who combines classical composition with magic
realism. Freeman’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited in New
York, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and other cities in the
United States and Europe. Her paintings are in numerous private and
public collections and she has completed several large-scale public
murals as well as private commissioned paintings and portraits.
Freeman’s career as a painter began when she lived and worked with her
uncle, the American landscape painter Robert Jordan, in the White
Mountains of New Hampshire. She continued her studies at the University
of New Hampshire and completed her Master of Fine Arts degree at
Brooklyn College in New York, studying with Milet Andrejevic, Lennart
Andersen, Philip Pearlstein and Joseph Groell.
Freeman, who works in oil
on canvas in addition to gouache and pastel, began exhibiting her art
with the Tatistcheff Gallery in New York in 1983. Her first show with
Tatistcheff was made up of figure compositions inspired by her Brooklyn
neighborhood.
She left New York in 1984 to live in Warsaw, Poland, with
her husband, journalist Matthew Vita. Freeman was inspired by the
symbolism and allegory characteristic of Polish culture as well as the
architecture and public parks in Warsaw. Among the paintings she
executed during this period are 'A Street has Two Sides,' 'A Place in
the Woods,' 'Approaching Winter' and 'January Thaw.'
Freeman moved to
London in 1987, living first in Primrose Hill, where she painted
'Virtues of Air' and 'Black Bird Fly.' In 1990, she moved to the
Highgate neighborhood and fell in love with Hampstead Heath, where she
spent many hours drawing and doing preliminary studies for her
large-scale figure compositions. Some works from these years are 'Upon a
White Horse' and 'Stolen Tartes.'
Freeman returned to the United States
in 1993, moving to Chevy Chase, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C. In
the months after her move, Freeman completed a series of six paintings
titled 'Toward a Peaceable Kingdom.' Set at the National Zoo, the series
captured Freeman’s reaction to her return to the United States after 10
years abroad. 'The Gates to the Kingdom' was the central painting in
this series and in her subsequent exhibition of the same title at the
Tatistcheff Gallery in 1994.
After the Peaceable Kingdom paintings,
Freeman turned away from streets and parks and went back to one of her
favorite subjects, the narrative interior, or what she calls 'the
painted story.' In 1998, Freeman had another solo exhibition at the
Tatistcheff Gallery that was titled 'Sense and Sensibility.' Works that
were included in this show are 'Piano Lessons,' 'Arbor Day,' and 'Full
Moon.' After this show, Freeman went outside for her subject matter
again, but this time into the allegory of the garden. Freeman exhibited
for the sixth and final time at the Tatistcheff Gallery in 2003, showing
such works as 'Goldfish Pond,' 'Lady in Pink with Trained Rabbits' and
'Counting Sheep.'
Between 2003 and 2005, Freeman
completed two three-story murals that grace the main staircase of the
new Main Public Library in Jacksonville, Florida, designed by A.M. Stern
Architects. The two monumental murals reflect the art, architecture and
music of Jacksonville, in 'Springfield Composition' and the literary
history of the area in 'Allegory of a Library.' Freeman continues to
live and paint in Maryland and has broadened her work to include writing
and illustrating books for children and painting narrative portraits.
She is currently represented by Marin-Price Galleries in Chevy Chase,
MD.
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