From Jan. 16 through May 22, a very special exhibition will be on display at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Ga. Featuring 50 oil paintings and sculptures of the West and its inhabitants, “Kenneth M. Freeman Legacy Exhibition-Artist at Work” gives patrons a very special glimpse of a lifetime of work by Kenneth M. Freeman (1935-2008), a man nicknamed the “Rembrandt of the Rodeo” by members of the Arizona media, who viewed him as a local treasure and source of pride.
Central to the exhibit is a re-creation of the artist’s studio. “It’s a great way for people to understand how an artist makes a living,” says Bonnie Adams, curator of the Kenneth M. Freeman Legacy Collection. “It shows how he painted and what was in his environment. People can see the [Old Masters] technique he used. He painted a picture three times. First, he put a full drawing on canvas. Then, on the same canvas, he laid down the full value painting in one color: burnt umber. Then, he laid down the same painting in color. There are also lots of artifacts that Ken used in his paintings. Having [the studio] there, we hope you’ll feel Ken and his magic.”
Because the exhibit opens on Martin Luther King weekend, Adams chose to include several of his Buffalo Soldiers paintings and sculptures. Freeman and many of his models were members of the re-enactment group, the Ninth Memorial Arizona Buffalo Soldiers calvary. “People think all the Buffalo Soldiers were black, but the officers were white,” Adams explains. “There are a lot of under-told and unappreciated stories about them. The Buffalo Soldiers were sent to the toughest and most remote areas of the West.”
Although Freeman’s Western-themed paintings hang in the collections of the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress’ Legacy Collection from Arizona, he painted portraits of Western legends such as John Wayne and Waylon Jennings, and he illustrated many Louis L’Amour books, he was an unlikely cowboy painter. Raised in Chicago, Freeman was brought up in a traditional Jewish family and had a very successful 20-year career as an illustrator that began with an apprenticeship with Haddon Sundblum, best known as the creator of Coca-Cola’s iconic Santa Claus ads.
But his childhood dream was to be both an artist and a cowboy. “When he was 43 years old, he decided Chicago was too cold and it was time to pursue the other part of his dream. So he moved to Arizona and took his camera and went to powwows, rodeos and cattle drives. He’d be herding cattle and photographing all at the same time. Then he’d come home with those photographs and bring those models to life on his canvas.”
While in town during the exhibit’s opening, Adams will also be accepting a posthumousa award for Freeman. “Western Artists of America is awarding him their lifetime achievement award for his body of art, and from here on in, it’s going to be called the Freeman Award,” she says.
For more information, visit the Booth Museum Web site.
