1901 Born on the East End of London to émigré Jewish parents from Russia

1910-14 Spent four years in hospital. Began self-education with a focus on drawing

1916 Became a draughtsman to a monumental stonemason

1916-22 Took evening classes at St. Martin's School of Art

1922 Sir William Rothenstein, then Principal of the Royal College of Art, helped him to secure a full-time scholarship there

1925 Left the Royal College. Took a room off Euston Road where he focused on drawing and painting

1927 Received his first commission from Faber & Gwyer for two drawings to illustrate Laurence Binyon's poem The Wonder Night

1928 Took a teaching position at Working Men's College in London to instruct drawing and painting two days per week

1929 Stopped working for a year due to ill health

1930 Began a commission to illustrate Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, a full-length book. Rothenstein helped him to secure a position as an instructor of still-life at the Royal College of Art one night per week. Began to visit the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford twice per term (until 1946). Married the Sicilian Claudia Guercio, also an illustrator

1932 Commissioned by Messus Shell-Mex to design and illustrate the double Peep-Show with lithography

1933 Created a series of puzzle advertisements for Messus Shell-Mex in chalk

1934 Drew tailpieces for The Post Office and designed the postage stamp to celebrate the Jubilee of HM King George V for the GPO

1940-44 Became an official war artist creating drawings, watercolours, and oil-paintings. Illustrated Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Love during the war

1958 Died in London

Selected Solo Exhibitions

1931 Zwemmer Gallery, London

1958 Shell-Mex House, London

1958 Arts Council Memorial Exhibition, London

1978 Manchester Polytechnic Library

1984 Gillian Jason Gallery, London

1990 Manchester Polytechnic Library

Selected Group Exhibitions

1946 Tate Gallery, London

1977 Artists at Curwen, Tate Gallery, London

1985 Edward Gordon Craig, Barnett Freedman, Eric Gill, Gillian Jason Gallery, London

1996 The Printed Image, Sally Hunter Fine Art, London

Selected Bibliography

Mayne, Jonathan. Barnett Freedman. London: Art and Technics. 1948.

Rogerson, Ian and Sue Hoskins. Barnett Freedman: Painter, Draughtsman, Lithographer. Manchester: Manchester Polytechnic Library. 1990.