Montefiore Waiting Room
Object number2021.142.1
Artist
Irma Freeman
(1903 - 1994)
Datec. 1980
OriginGlendale, NY
MediumOil on canvas; Wood; Metal; Foamcore; Marvelseal; Cotton twill tape
Credit LineGift of Shelia Ali, Conservation funds provided by Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination
DescriptionOil painting on canvas depicting an interior scene. Nearly square, but painting was stretched in a rhombus/parallelogram shape. Seated in an armchair in the bottom right corner is a young woman with long dark brown hair wearing a red shirt with purple sweater and red/pink and purple skirt; her proper left arm is bent upward with her hand next to her head, proper right arm rests on top of a book on her lap, her gaze is downward. Left half of background has two arched windows with blue and green curtains, the windows look onto a nighttime cityscape. Left foreground has a circular brown table with magazines(?), flowers in a vase, a cylindrical object, and a spherical object. Floor lamp stands behind the armchair and casts an illuminating halo around the armchair and figure. Painting is colorful with loose brushwork and areas of impasto. No frame. White foamcore backing board.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 45.25 × 50 × 2 in. (114.9 × 127 × 5.1 cm)Historical NotesThis painting shows the subject in a meditating pose in the waiting room of Montefiore Hospital in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The subject is the Sheila Ali, grand-daughter of the artist, at age 15. The vibrant colors, the scenes of domestic and family life, and the prominence of windows are all typical of Irma Freeman’s work. Irma Freeman was born Miram Deborah Gutel in Germany. She immigrated to the United States in 1925, settling with relatives in Topeka, Kansas. She married Louis Freeman, who was originally from Pittsburgh. The couple relocated to Pittsburgh in the 1930s. They later had three children, Sylvia Jean, Alfred Morris, and Ruth. In Pittsburgh, Lou Freeman ran a small novelty shop. Irma Freeman pursued a career as an artist. She initially took painting classes at St. Joseph’s Academy. In the early 1950s, she studied painting under Samuel Rosenberg at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where her daughter Ruth was also studying. She worked at Kaufmann’s Department Store, where she became known for producing portraits etched into tinfoil. She began exhibiting her work alongside her daughter Ruth in the 1980s and 1990s and was included in many shows following her death. Her granddaughter Sheila Ali founded the Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh in 2009 to showcase her grandmother’s work and promote a message of artistic inspiration.
Related institution
Montefiore Hospital
Related person
Sheila Ali
Related institution
St. Joseph's Academy
Related institution
Carnegie Mellon University
Related institution
Kaufmann's Department Store
(1871 - 2005)
On View
Not on view
1939-1945
2005
