In going through family heirlooms and collected junk from my wife's aunt, there was a lithograph in the bottom of the box. It appears to have never been framed, nor well cared for. There is a pressure tear near the center although it is hard to see, and there is a pressure mark from some object probably packed above it at some time. Although someone in the family may have been acquainted with the artist, I don't know of any connection, and the artist is not a member of the family. My first thought was that I should chuck it, since there's no known family history attached to give it family value, and the foxing and tear surely destroy any value a print might have. However, I looked up the artist, Fred Freeman (Frederick William Freeman 1906-1988), and he had some notice as an illustrator, particularly of military and space themes after the 1940's. In trying to find examples of his work, I didn't find any as early as the print we have. It is signed and dated in pencil 1935, fairly early in his career. From a biography in the American Society of Marine Artists: Freeman took advantage of these slow years to advance his technical skills as a lithographer. In 1933 he studied with the master of lithograph printers George C. Miller (1894 – 1965), who did work for many well-known artists such as Bellows and Benton. From this it seems it is an early lithograph of his. Now I'm less inclined to chuck it, at least without doing some checking first. There is a 1977 "artist proof" lithograph of his on ebay for $145. Original paintings/drawings of his fetch $800-900. Despite being early work, does the damage render it worthless? I'm in a quandary what to do with it. It's too big for my scanner, but this gives a idea of what it is (the white square in the rightmost sail is not damage, it's original to the print). Paper size is 10.75" x 15.25". Other than the artist name and date, there is nothing else written on it.
Tears are certainly going to affect the value, but it looks to be an attractive image and since the artist is known, it has some value. Check for a connection with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and/or the Federal Art Project (FAP). (scan it in sections, post the pics... someone will stitch them together)
The newsletter you linked has an extremely good biographical article about Freeman. Well researched and very well written. From what I have read, he was a very influential and known artist later in his life. I don't know a lot about art conservation but do think that this piece would be restorable. And given what that article says, I think there would be interest in his early-ish work (although his later work would be even more valuable). Whatever you do, don't pitch it. I say "early-ish" because he was 29 when he made this piece and had already been working as an illustrator. Also, his most famous art was in a different field, of space exploration.
And if you scan it in sections, post it in the best resolution that you can and still remain UNDER 1 MB for EACH section....you’ll get a better total result when stitched together!!!!
Those white squares on the sails are just evidence that the owners of the vessels were also frugal and repaired the sails!!! Artist most likely being true to what he was observing? It looks like a BEAUTIFUL piece....I certainly wouldn’t trash it!!!!!!! ANY chance we can see the section with the damage???
The tear is above the bridge (right of center) about halfway between the right side of the bridge and the top of the drawing. It's in the clouds, so not extremely noticeable. The pressure dent is at the top of the second sail from the right, and is only visible if you look very close. The three scratches that are easily visible are the most distracting damage. Here is the whole image (stitched from 4), and below it a closeup of the tear.
@Laima It would be best for you to start a thread of your own about this piece. When you do so, be aware that a photo of the back side of this framed piece will also be helpful.
