H. Andrew Freeth RA (1912-1986) - 1955 Watercolour Landscape View with Trees

Description

A rural scene in watercolour with gouache details by the well-listed British artist H. Andrew Freeth. Signed to the lower right-hand corner. Inscribed to the lower margin: 'For Felicity and John with good wishes from Roseen and Andrew, July 1955', also inscribed on the reverse. Well-presented in a double wash line card mount and in a wooden frame. On watercolour paper.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including discolouration and light foxing. Small scuffs to the frame.

Size

24.3 x 35.5cm (9.6" x 14")
Framed Size: 44.4 x 59.4cm (17.5" x 23.4")

Artist Biography

H. Andrew Freeth RA (1912-1986) was a painter and etcher, born in Birmingham. Andrew Freeth, as he was known, studied at Birmingham School of Art, where he won the coveted Prix de Rome in engraving, spending three years in Italy, 1936-39. He was elected to the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers as early as 1938 and during World War II Freeth served as a major with the Intelligence Corps in the Mediterranean theatre, and, for a time in 1943, was loaned to the RAF Middle East as an Official War Artist.
After the war, he settled in London and was elected an Associate of the RA, 1955 and RA a decade later. He was also a member of the RWS and served as President, 1974-76. A fine portrait painter, he was a member of the RP and exhibited there as well as the other major societies of which he was a member. His sitters included Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Somerset Maugham, Walter de la Mare, Enoch Powell and many bishops and other dignitaries. As a teacher, he taught at St. Martin's School of Art and at Sir John Cass College of Art, Whitechapel. Freeth has paintings, drawings and etchings in the collection of the NPG, BM, IWM, GAC, Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Collection, Metropole Art Collection and Brighton Museum & Art Gallery also hold examples of his work. He was the uncle of printmaker Peter Freeth.