Allan Freelon: Pioneer African American Impressionist

H. C. Taylor Gallery, Dudley Bldg, 1st Floor

Opening Reception
January 20, 2005
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Dudley Multipurpose Room

Allan Freelon: Pioneer African American Impressionist will present over 30 paintings and prints from notable 20 th century artist, Allan Randall Freelon, Sr. (1895-1960). This traveling exhibition was originally organized by North Carolina Central University Art Museum and will be on view at the University Galleries at North Carolina A&T from January 21 to March 12, 2005 . Along with the exhibition, there will be two scheduled lectures focusing on the life and work of this academically trained artist and master colorist.

Born in 1895, Allan Randall Freelon, Sr. was a product of a middle-class family who possessed a love for education and the arts. This passion for knowledge and creativity fueled the destiny of Freelon to become a groundbreaking artist and influential art educator. Freelon’s journey as a student, artist, and educator placed him among the African Americans with the title of “first” preceding major achievements. Freelon became the first African American to receive a four-year scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art , which later became the University of the Arts College of Art and Design and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Freelon received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from Temple University ’s Tyler School of Art. After serving in the U.S. Army as Second Lieutenant in World War I, Freelon returned to his life as an artist and began a career in art education. In 1921, Freelon was accepted as the first African American member of the Philadelphia Print Club. During the same year, he also became the first African American to supervise all art instruction in the Philadelphia public school system, a position occupied primarily by white Americans at that particular time. His career in education included teaching studio art to classes of mixed races at Windy Crest, his farm in Montgomery County .

Allan Freelon’s first exhibition was given at the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library in 1921. He later became involved in the exhibitions sponsored by the Harmon Foundation, an organization established by William Harmon, a philanthropist and real estate tycoon. In 1929, the Foundation organized a nationwide traveling exhibition where Freelon grew in recognition as a premier artist. Freelon also exhibited artwork through the Tra Club, an organization for Philadelphia artists and those supporting them, and the Pyramid Club, an organization for African Americans of prestige to socialize and network with one another. The Pyramid Club invited Freelon to speak at their annual invitational art exhibit in 1940.

Allan Freelon maintained a strong belief that art educators must be practicing artists. During his artistic training and practice, Freelon adopted techniques associated with Impressionism. From 1927 to 1929, Freelon continued his art studies at the Barnes Foundation where he became familiar with the works of Impressionist masters Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cezanne. Freelon developed the same interest in landscape painting and studied under two notable American Impressionists, Emile Gruppe and Hugh Breckenridge. Prior to his tutelage under Gruppe and Breckenridge, Freelon studied and worked with two of the best Philadelphia printmakers, Dox Thrash and Earl Horter. Both Impressionist artists had a major influence on Freelon’s artistic development. Freelon learned to master bold colors and manipulate them to take on the characteristic of light within his paintings. At the same time, he also began his travels to Gloucester , Massachusetts during his summer vacations. Gloucester was a well known spot for artists who wanted to learn and paint magnificent landscapes. In paintings such as View of Gloucester of 1928, he recaptures his experiences in Gloucester with impressionistic leanings developed alongside that of his Philadelphia counterparts.

Although Allan Freelon experienced the kind of groundbreaking success that spoke volumes about the strength and intellect of the African American community, Freelon’s association with a style rooted in the European art tradition was not popular among some African American artists and other intellectuals during the New Negro Movement –also known as the Harlem Renaissance- of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Many who supported this particular movement chose to use elements that symbolized or pointed toward African forms for artistic inspiration. Freelon made his disagreements known with certain ideas found within the New Negro Movement. He favored complete artistic freedom and defied any limitations of expression based on racial ancestry or popular trends in the modern American art scene. This stance did not deter him, however, from speaking on the disgrace of racism upon the American society. In 1935, Freelon participated in the exhibit Barbecue-American Style. Freelon’s piece attacked the horrendous act of lynching black Americans.

The life of Allan Randall Freelon, Sr. offers a glimpse into the limitless techniques and art forms available to artists during the early part of the twentieth century. Freelon broke many racial and artistic barriers as he mastered an art form associated with European and European American artists. His unwillingness to abandon the art of his passion to please a racial assumption made this American Impressionist a beacon for artistic freedom.

The University Galleries are located on the corner of Dudley and Bluford Streets at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University . Take East Market Street north from downtown and take a left on Dudley Street. Afterwards, take a right on University Circle (look for a blue street sign identified as University Circle ). The Dudley Building is located within University Circle , which surrounds the A&T/Greensboro Four statue. The hours of operation are from 10: 00 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday through Friday and Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The Galleries are closed Sundays, Mondays and University holidays. For more information, call University Galleries at (336) 334-3209 . Also, visitors may call University Parking Services to inquire about available parking at (336) 334-7980.