Coastal Landscape with a Red Boat. Watercolor on cream wove paper. 300x380 mm; 12x15 inches. Signed in pencil, lower right recto. Circa 1925-30.
Friedman was born in Corona, Queens and worked at the post office while painting on the weekends and in the evenings. While maintaining his full-time job to support his family, he developed his art career, first taking classes at the Art Students League in 1905 under Robert Henri (1865-1929) and Kenneth Hayes Miller (1876-1952) and then, in 1909, taking a leave of absence from his job to go to Paris where he was introduced to Impressionism and burgeoning modern art movements such as Cubism. His style evolved throughout his career, but he maintained his focus on color and nature, paying tribute to Impressionism, particularly Camille Pissarro (1820-1903). He did not dedicate himself full-time to art until 1933 when he was 59 years old.
