Friday, July 1, 2016
Marshall Freedman was a uniquely special person in my life. He was the first client to buy a painting of mine at my first solo exhibit at the Boulder Public Library in 1964. And then he and Betty bought another, and on it went into another generation when their son Jonathan also became a collector. I was awed to become part of their international art collection and to get to know them. Friendships later developed with their children, spouses, and grandchildren. I did portraits of three generations of Freedmans, each uniquely wonderful in their own way. I have never experienced this kind of life-long human/art interaction with anyone other than my own family.
When they began collecting my art my name was Helen Barchilon and I was a young woman just out of college. Marshall and Betty were always independent collectors, attracted to strong art work, color and pattern. That they believed in my work helped me to believe in myself at a time when few people took women artists seriously.
In the last portrait drawing (2002) I did of Marshall, his character is replete with intelligence and awareness. Now in retirement (but still volunteering his expertise), nurturing plants in his greenhouse, surrounded by powerful art icons--he was a combination of bitter and sweet, always highly provocative and generous.
Although our friendship was art based, I knew he was a doctor and teacher whose honesty and diagnostic clarity, could be trusted. Even after I moved to California (to live only blocks from Jonathan in Point Loma), when anyone in my family needed some medical explanation or counsel, he would help over the phone and check in later as to how we were doing.
Last September, with my husband Kenny and granddaughter Shira, I returned to Colorado and was able to visit the Freedmans. My granddaughter had never seen the paintings they owned and Jonathan was there to give her the tour. The conversation between us all was invigorating despite the health issues that confined Betty and Marshall to home. Our intergenerational sharing meant a great deal to me and with his death, a timeline closes.
Marshall was a true patriarch in the best sense of the word. I celebrate the rich life and legacy he left us all.
With gratitude,
Helen Barchilon Redman
