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Freeman Sargent
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Freeman Sargent (1912-1990)
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Freeman Sargent commonly painted in the California Regionalist style (with strong parallels to W.P.A. muralists and the work of Thomas Hart Benton) often capturing local scenes of the SF Bay, the Filbert Steps, Coit Tower, Monterey Bay, UC Berkeley, Stanford and Marin. He also produced avant-garde abstract pieces and experimental mixed media works. Sargent was interested in all forms of arts and crafts and studied with master ceramicist Marguerite Wildenhain at the legendary Pond Farm Pottery ceramic studio in Guerneville.
California/American “Scene Painting” or “Regionalism” was a movement during and following the Great Depression of the 1930s when artists looked to their immediate visual environment and the commonplace activities of Americans at work and play for artistic inspiration. This resulted in work that was uniquely American and celebrated the people and places that were local and familiar to the artist. These artists included Thomas Hart Benton, Millard Sheets, Grant Wood and Freeman Sargent.
Sargent also frequently experimented with abstraction and referred to his approach as “conservative abstraction”, as he felt this work employed modern abstraction without fully abandoning some aspects of representation and the known visible world.
Sargent was a good friend and painting partner of the renowned American Impressionist, Abel Warshawsky (1883-1962). Sargent was also fortunate to study under and produce ceramic work with Marguerite Wildenhain (1896-1985) at The Pond Farm Workshops in Northern California. Wildenhain was one of the very first students of the Bahaus (studying with the likes of Paul Klee and Wassily Kandisky) in Weimar, Germany and was the first woman to receive the Master Potter certification in Germany. There are several wonderful examples of Sargent’s ceramic work in the Lost Art Collection.
Sargent was a member of the Carmel Art Association and exhibited at the SF Museum of Modern Art, The Legion of Honor, the de Young Museum and the Lucien Labaudt Gallery. Ten examples of Sargent’s work were recently included in the “95 Year Historic Show” at the venerated Carmel Art Association gallery in 2022. These included scenes of Cannery Row and Monterey Bay painted in the 1950s and 1960s.
Sargent earned his B.A. degree from U.C. Berkeley and his M.A. from Stanford. He was a resident of Berkeley in the 1930s and active in the local art and theater scenes. He “worked his way through college” as a broadcaster on KSFO and KFRC radio. This is where he developed his love of performing on stage. Following service in the Navy, he studied at the California School of Fine Art and CCAC.
Sargent served in the South Pacific in the US Navy as a Lieutenant during World War II, and in 1947 he married Sara Carlton of Richmond, Virginia. Their first home was at 291 Union St. on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco while building a house in Monterey, CA. In 1962, they moved their young family to Europe where they lived and traveled extensively for over a year. They also lived in Mountain View and Albany, California before finally settling in East Richmond Heights across the Bay Bridge. For over twenty years Sargent taught Art, Drama and English in Bay Area high schools.
A note about his name: Sargent was born Sidney Freeman Sargent. In 1936 while in radio, he changed his name to Freeman Sidney Sargent. His paintings older than 1936 are usually signed S Sargent.
We would like to thank the Sargent family, especially his sons Jon and Chris, for working with us on their father’s collection and legacy. And our gratitude to the Carmel Art Association for introducing all of us.
