Don Freeman
Encyclopedia
- For the basketball player, see Donnie FreemanDonnie FreemanDonald E. Freeman is an American former professional basketball player. He spent eight seasons in the American Basketball Association and, after the ABA-NBA merger, one season in the National Basketball Association...
Don Freeman (August 11, 1908 – February 1978) was a painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, printmaker, cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, children's book author, and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
.
Early life
Freeman was born in San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, attended high school in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, attended Principia College
Principia College
Principia College is a four-year private co-educational liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. The campus sits on bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River between Alton and Grafton, located about thirty miles north of St. Louis. In 1934, Principia College graduated its first class as a full...
and later moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he studied etching at the Art Students League with John Sloan and Harry Wickey.
Career
Frequent subjects of Freeman's included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. Freeman was known for carrying a sketchbook with him wherever he went. His images depicted New York City, and the faces of the people he observed on the streets, in the theaters, and in the subways. They often included images of showgirlsShowgirls
Showgirls is a 1995 American drama film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Gershon...
, Bowery Boys
Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were a nativist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Irish gang based north of the Five Points district of New York City in the mid-19th century. They were primarily stationed in the Bowery section of New York, which was, at the time, extended north of the Five Points...
, drunks, apple sellers, window washers and numerous citizens of the city that were down on their luck. Freeman was also a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician and the brother of hotel entrepreneur Warren Freeman.
As Freeman's career progressed, he lightened his palette and depicted more upbeat subjects. In 1951, he began illustrating children's books. His wife, Lydia, who was also an accomplished artist, authored the books Freeman illustrated. The Freemans eventually moved to Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
where they spent the remainder of their lives.
Don Freeman was first introduced to children's literature when William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
asked him to illustrate several books. However, his greatest influence came from the artist Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century....
. Freeman studied many of Daumier’s works as well as possessed a large collection of books on the artist.
Throughout Don Freeman’s career he was the author and illustrator of over 20 children’s books. He is best known for his publication of Corduroy
Corduroy (book)
Corduroy is a 1968 book written by Don Freeman, and published by Viking Press. It tells the story of a teddy bear named Corduroy, who is bought in a department store by a girl named Lisa. Don Freeman wrote a sequel, A Pocket for Corduroy in 1978....
. Although he came up with many of his ideas on his own, his wife, Lydia Freeman, contributed greatly to his success, having co-authored two books with him, including Chuggy and the Blue Caboose and Pet of the Met. She was very influential to her husband's work, as he relied on her for inspiration for his pieces. He would read his work aloud to her as well as any children around in order to gain feedback on a particular piece. She too became a well known artist in her later life.
“Simplicity is the essence of children’s book stories, not simple mindedness.” Don Freeman once stated when speaking to an audience who was interested in writing, illustrating and publishing children’s books.
Freeman also drew cartoons for magazines and newspapers, including the Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Theater Magazine.