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 Africa 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 Nov

History Makers, http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/robert-freeman

2018 May

Open Studios, WGBH interview with Jared Bowen

2018 Mar

Artscope, “Mardi Gras Indians, a Captivating Collaboration”

2018 Mar

Art New England, Review of new paintings

2016 Nov

The Bay State Banner, “Invite Only: Robert Freeman’s Paintings dissect a social world”

2003 Jan

Cate McQuaid, Unspoken Desire, The Boston Globe (Arts & Performance)

2002 Nov

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 Nov

Christine Temin, “Solo shows Spotlight a New Look for Landscapes”,The Boston Globe

1992 Nov

Christine Temin, “An Artist’s Declaration of Independence”, The Boston Globe

1991 Apr

Nancy Stapen, “Bold, Figurative Art Expresses Many Aspects of the South”, The Boston Globe

1990 Jan

The Boston Globe

1988 Jan

Allan Gold, “Boston curator defends Black Artists’ Exhibition”, The New York Times

1988 Jan

Peyton Petty, “Portrait of the artist as a rising star”, The Tab

1988 Jan

Christine Temin, “Freeman’s art chronicles Black middle class”, The Boston Globe

1988 Jan

Marty Carlock, “Electric Lady Land” series energizes Clark Gallery, The Weston Town Crier

1988 Feb

Edward Strickland, “Robert Freeman’s painting portray Black middle class”, Bay State Banner

1988 Jan

Marty Carlock, The Weston Town Crier Massachusetts Masters: American Artists

1988 Jan

Catalog for exhibition, MFA, Boston