FREEDMAN, BARNETT

FREEDMAN, BARNETT (1901–1958), British artist and book illustrator. Freedman, who was born in the East End of London, the son of a tailor, was bedridden from the age of 9 to 12 years. He then became a draftsman for monumental masons and attended evening classes in art. In 1922 he obtained a small annual grant and admittance to the Royal College of Art. In 1940 he was appointed an official war artist to the British Army, and later to the admiralty. His most important artistic achievement was as a book illustrator. In 1927 he illustrated Laurence Binyon's poem The Wonder Night, followed two years later by an edition of Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried sassoon . In 1935 he designed the commemorative stamp for the Jubilee of King George V. He illustrated a series of classics published by Limited Editions Club and the Heritage Club of America. His paintings of street scenes and itinerant musicians were influenced by memories of his childhood in the Jewish working-class area. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Mayne, Barnett Freedman (1948). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online. (Charles Samuel Spencer)