David Freeman was born in Calcutta, India, in 1961 and moved to Britain in 1978. After graduating college in 1981, he set up his own studio in London. For the next several years, he busied himself on commissions for books, magazines, posters and greeting cards; at the same time he continued with his own fine artwork, exploring various mediums, including sculpture. The high level of detail with which Freeman paints highlights the “icon-like” appearance of his figures. They are blended into his myriad of patterned backgrounds as if frozen in time. His colors, deeply rich, dark and sumptuous, and his frequent use of gold leaf are derived from the Byzantine tradition of decoration. Despite Freeman's classical approach, his faces and figures speak to the viewer from a standpoint in the vanguard of art of the late twentieth century figurative style.