Robert Freeman
Artist Bio Artist Work
Robert Freeman has been showing nationally for over 40 years, and has been included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Center for African American Artists, Boston Public Library, Brown University, and DeCordova Museum, among other institutions.
In addition to numerous gallery shows, his paintings have been featured in exhibitions at DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA. He earned his BFA and MFA from Boston University.
Known for his vivid and powerful figurative paintings, Robert Freeman has traditionally focused on the interactions between people in his work. In couples and crowds, the characters in his paintings betray their emotions with expressive faces and body language. Skillful, brave use of color and gesture are the trademark of Freeman’s work and make his figures nearly abstract.
Education
1997 Boston University, Distinguished Alumni Award
1981 Boston University, M.F.A.
1971 Boston University, B.F.A.
Public Collections
Brown University, Providence, RI
Boston College, Boston, MA
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
National Center of African American Artists, Roxbury, MA
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY
Smith College, Northampton, MA
Solo Exhibitions
2018
Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA
Adelson Gallery, Boston, MA - Mardi Gras Indians
2017
Adelson Gallery, Boston, MA
2010
Norman Parish Gallery, Washington, DC
2008
Golden Light, Zenith Gallery, Washington, DC
2007
Vineyard Summer, Powell Mandjes Fine Art, Vineyard Haven, MA
2006
Water Marks, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2003
New Encounters, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2001
Portugal, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
1998
Venice, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
1997
New Paintings, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1996
Sherry Washington Gallery, Detroit, MI
Boston University Gallery of Art, Boston, MA
1995
Mallorca/Costa Brava, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
1994
South of Rome, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
1992
New Paintings, Zenith Gallery, Washington, D.C.
North of Rome, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
1990
New Paintings, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1989
New Paintings, June Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
Isobel Neal Gallery, Chicago, IL
1988
New Paintings, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1987
Summer in the South of France, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
1986
Aegean Blues: Summer, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Aegean Blues: Winter, Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge
1984
Zenith Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1983
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Wendell Street Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Group Exhibitions
2009
The Freedom Place Collection, Art Gallery of the University of New England, Portland, ME
2008
Five American Voices, Meridian International Center, Washington, DC
2007
The Freedom Place Collection: Romare Beardon, Benny Andrews, Robert Freeman, Alma Thomas, and Richard Yarde, Washington, DC
2000
Salon Show, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1999
Salon Show, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Boston to Boca, Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
1998
Abstraction and the Figure, DeCordova Art Museum, Lincoln, MA
Salon Show, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1997
FourAfrican American Artists, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
1993
African American Perspectives, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University
1990
Artists Foundation Gallery, Boston, MA
Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
1989
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
1988
Faculty Exhibition, Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Salon Show, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Massachusetts Masters: Afro American Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Collected Visions, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
1986
Boston Collects: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Salon Show, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1985
Crystal Britton Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1984
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
1983
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Bibliography
2018
History Makers, http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/robert-freeman
Open Studios, WGBH interview with Jared Bowen
Artscope, “Mardi Gras Indians, a Captivating Collaboration”
Art New England, Review of new paintings
2016
The Bay State Banner, “Invite Only: Robert Freeman’s Paintings dissect a social world”
2003
Cate McQuaid, Unspoken Desire, The Boston Globe (Arts & Performance)
2002
Emily Sweeny, Documenting new faces, The Boston Globe
1997
Abell, D., “Sea, Sky, and Black Tie”, Bostonia
1994 1996
Who’s Who in American Painting
1995
Christine Temin, “Solo shows Spotlight a New Look for Landscapes”,The Boston Globe
1992
Christine Temin, “An Artist’s Declaration of Independence”, The Boston Globe
1991
Nancy Stapen, “Bold, Figurative Art Expresses Many Aspects of the South”, The Boston Globe
1990
The Boston Globe
1988
Allan Gold, “Boston curator defends Black Artists’ Exhibition”, The New York Times
Peyton Petty, “Portrait of the artist as a rising star”, The Tab
Christine Temin, “Freeman’s art chronicles Black middle class”, The Boston Globe
Marty Carlock, “Electric Lady Land” series energizes Clark Gallery, The Weston Town Crier
Edward Strickland, “Robert Freeman’s painting portray Black middle class”, Bay State Banner
Marty Carlock, The Weston Town Crier Massachusetts Masters: American Artists
Catalog for exhibition, MFA, Boston