Freedman, Barnett

Date: 1901-1958

Barnett Freedman was an acclaimed painter, book illustrator, typographer and lithographer. His work ranged from posters and beer advertisements, to official illustrations and book jackets.

In 1915, Freedman spent his free evenings to attending art classes at St. Martin’s School of Art. Then, in 1922, he began studying at the Royal College of Art alongside Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious, and Enid Marx. He gained his first major commission from the book publisher Faber and Faber, to design and illustrate Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon. Freedman went on to illustrate classic novels by the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, and most notably Leo Tolstoy.

During the Second World War Freedman was an official war artist and was stationed on board the HMS Repulse. After the war, Freedman became a teacher at the Royal College of Art as well as at the Ruskin School of Art. In 1951, he was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The University Art Collection holds one drawing by Barnett Freedman.