Ernest Freed "Battle of the Sexes" Engraving

Description

Haunting and evocative engraving by Ernest Freed (American, 1908 to 1974) titled "Battle of the Sexes." Number 21 out of … more Haunting and evocative engraving by Ernest Freed (American, 1908 to 1974) titled "Battle of the Sexes." Number 21 out of 100. Signed, titled, dated '47 and numbered lower edge. Image size 18.25"H x 29"W. Presented in rustic gilt frame. Measures: 30.50"H x 39"W x 3"D. With extraordinary passion, skill, innate creativity, and determination, Ernest Freed emerged as an innovative forerunner in the field of mid 20th century visual arts. Within these art forms one finds striking examples of that era's experimentation and growth of modern art of the 1940's through early 1970's, both abstract and figurative. Ernest Freed has especially become known for the developments made in the techniques of "intaglio" engraving and etching, enlarged format, and rich overlay of color in the field of two dimensional printmaking. In an interview The artist stated, "I tend to work a series of plates on themes such as Ballet, the Circus, or Shakespearean themes, to realize symphony of movement and color, repeating and alternating the motif. There is little attention to pictorial representation, but concern in expressing the total emotional response in terms of human form. The artist, and printmaker, has in hand a most trenchant medium, allowing for the expression of profound meanings and relationships in all human emotions."

This artist has left the art world an abundant and long lasting legacy, and vision, expressing the spiritual struggles, the joys, and the sorrows and hopes of humanity. Ernest Freed's artistic training included study at the University of Illinois, the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, and the University of Iowa with nationally known regional painter, Grant Wood, and internationally known printmaker, Mauricio Lasansky, including a strong connection with the Chicago Society of Etchers, and Atelier 17. Freed's career in education included, among others, positions at the University of Iowa, Bradley University, in Illinois, and 20 years as professor of art at Otis Art Institute, in Los Angeles, California. Freed proved early in life to be an extraordinary painter, sculptor, educator, and above all, followed his love for the techniques of printmaking, all with his own personal style. This artist's lifelong creative problem solving process with the elements of the visual arts has been lovingly shared with the world. His solo exhibitions were held at the Landau Gallery in Los Angeles, Cranbrook Museum, Winnipeg Museum, and Illinois, Iowa, Southern California, and North Carolina University. Repositories of his work include the Smithsonian Institution, Baltimore Museum, Philadelphia Museum, Metropolitan Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Cranbrook Museum, Library of Congress, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, University of Southern California, and the Bibliothèque Nationale. Ernest Freed passed away in Northridge, California in June of 1974. less