Tom Freeman Exhibit At War College: On Loan From National Museum of the U.S. Navy

By Elizabeth Delucia

NEWPORT, RI— The Naval War College Museum is now hosting a new exhibit, “Illuminating the Past,” by Tom Freeman. The exhibit, which is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Navy, occupies the museum’s art gallery on the first floor and will be on rotating display through 28 February 2018.

Seldom does a person with no formal art training rise to the level of international prominence Tom W. Freeman achieved. He began his career as an artist after his U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and U.S. Army service (1970-1977). Using the medium of watercolor, he specialized in naval and maritime themes. Researching deeply in written and visual sources, Freeman’s strict adherence to the historical record led to images of great accuracy. He was the first artist in residence for the U.S. Naval Institute as well as the artist in residence for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration from 2013 until his passing in 2015. Freeman’s art hangs not only in many museums but also in The White House, the USS Arizona Memorial, the Vatican, and the Royal Palace of Bahrain. The artist’s willingness to tackle all aspects of U.S. naval history means that his death in 2015 has created a void in the visual interpretation of the subject.