Ann Freedman

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Ann Freedman
Born
Ann Louise Fertig

c. 1949[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWashington University in St. Louis (BFA)
Occupation(s)Art dealer; gallery owner
Years active1977 - present
Known forKnoedler Gallery director

Ann Freedman (née Fertig, born c. 1949) is an American art dealer and gallery owner. She was previously director of the now-defunct Knoedler Gallery in New York City; she resigned in 2009 after 31 years working for the gallery during a large-scale forgery scandal.

Referred to as a "leading New York gallerist" by the New York Times,[2] she was prominently featured in the Netflix documentary Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art by documentary filmmaker Barry Avrich. In 2011, Freedman opened her own gallery called FreedmanArt in Manhattan's Upper East Side, amid numerous lawsuits regarding her central role in the Knoedler forgery case.

Biography[edit]

Ann Louise Fertig was born circa 1949 to Hilda and Felix C. Fertig, a real-estate executive from Scarsdale, New York.[1][3] She attended Green Acres Elementary School, and later graduated from Scarsdale High School.[4][5] She attended university at Washington University in St. Louis as a painting major, earning a BFA in 1971.[6][1][7]

She first got a job at the gallery of André Emmerich working as a receptionist, before starting at Knoedler as a salesperson in 1977.[8] Freedman eventually became director and was referred to by author Anthony M. Amore as "the famous face of Knoedler".[8][9] The year she became president of Knoedler, in 1994, she also started to conduct a forgery ring with Glafira Rosales, Jose Carlos Bergantiños Diaz and Pei-Shen Qian, who all made a total $80 million from their malicious business.[10]

When many works Freedman had acquired for the gallery turned out to be forgeries, Freedman was removed from her post and eventually resigned in 2009.[2] In 2011, her forgery business was revealed in the press. Glafira Rosales admitted to being part of the whole scheme, but Freedman, who denied everything at first, preferred to call herself the "central victim" of the scheme.[10] A lawsuit against Freedman filed by Italian businessman Domenico De Sole and his wife Eleanore for selling them a fake Rothko for $8.3 million was settled in 2016.[2] In 2017, she settled the tenth and last of the lawsuits of the Knoedler affair.[11] Her defense remained that, she, as president of the one of the most prestigious art dealing house in the world, was unable to see that the paintings - bought through her friend from an untraced source - were forged.[10] M.H. Miller of The New York Times said, "Either she was complicit in it, or she was one of the stupidest people to have worked at an art gallery."[12]

Freedman participated in the documentary Made You Look about the experience in 2020. Hyperallergic writer Hrag Vartanian stated Freedman came across "like an art world caricature" in the film.[13]

After leaving Knoedler, Freedman decided to open her own studio in the Upper East Side called FreedmanArt. The first show, titled "Embracing Circles: 1959–1960", featured work by Jules Olitski.[14] She represents American painter Frank Stella.[6]

Personal life[edit]

Freedman became engaged to Robert Lawrence Freedman, son of Herbert J. Freedman, in 1972. Their engagement was announced by The New York Times in October of that year.[15] They married December 24, 1972.[3]

Freedman's mother Hilda died in November 1997.[16] Her father Felix died on April 21, 2002.[17]

Filmography[edit]

Film
Year Title Film type Role
2020 Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art Documentary Self
2019 Driven to Abstraction Documentary Self

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Shnayerson, Michael (April 23, 2012). "A Question of Provenance". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Moynihan, Colin (February 7, 2016). "Knoedler Gallery Director Settles Lawsuit Over Fake Rothko". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Ann Fertig and Robert Freedman Marry". The New York Times. December 25, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  4. ^ "Ann Fertig". Scarsdale Inquirer. April 15, 1960. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  5. ^ "Ann Louise Fertig, Robert Freedman". Scarsdale Inquirer. September 28, 1972. p. 6. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Anderson, Erica (November–December 2012). "Ann Freedman: The Gift of Art". Education Update. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  7. ^ Otten, Liam (April 16, 2009). "Ann Fertig Freedman, BFA 1971". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Tron, Gina (March 5, 2021). "Where Is Ann Freedman, Ex-Knoedler Gallery President Wrapped In $80 Million Art Scandal, Now?". Oxygen. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  9. ^ Amore, Anthony M. (2015). The Art of the Con. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 59. ISBN 9781466879119.
  10. ^ a b c Miller, M. H. (April 25, 2016). "The Big Fake: Behind the Scenes of Knoedler Gallery's Downfall". ARTnews.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  11. ^ "Ann Freedman, former Knoedler director, settles final lawsuit". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. September 11, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  12. ^ https://icon.ink/articles/made-you-look-documentary/
  13. ^ Vartanian, Hrag (March 18, 2021). "A Very Rich Take on the Largest Art Fraud in US History". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  14. ^ "Ann L. Fertig Fiancee Of Robert Freedman". The New York Times. October 8, 1972. p. 91. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  15. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths FERTIG, HILDA L." The New York Times. November 6, 1997. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  16. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths FERTIG, FELIX C." The New York Times. April 27, 2002. p. 18. Retrieved May 11, 2022.

External links[edit]

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