About

Desmond Freeman AM
Artist, Interior, Interpretive and Exhibition Designer

Desmond studied art and design at the National Art School, Sydney and later graduated with a Master of Arts from the prestigious Royal College of Art, London. While working as a designer in London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore he earned a reputation as a leading interior and museum designer never abandoning his passion for painting and drawing. Desmond’s career includes academic appointments as Professor of Design and Head of the Design School at the University of Technology, Sydney and leadership of the Design Institute of Australia, twice as Federal President, President of the Australian Academy of Design and Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts NSW. 

Desmond’s commercial interior design project work has generally included the commissioning and selection of major 2 and 3-dimensional artwork for buildings as diverse as hospitals, prisons, universities, commercial headquarters, embassies, expo pavilions and private residences. Working now principally in Perth, Western Australia, Desmond is working on his latest exhibition, ‘Desmond Freeman London, Impressions in Ink and his next book to accompany the exhibition.

Since 2014 Desmond began to devote most of his time to painting and has participated in commercial exhibitions of his work and has sold extensively into commercial projects and private collections. His earlier work explored the Australian landscape in bold form often using vibrant colour in multiple layers to achieve richness and depth. Tranquil wetlands, grassfire infernos and sunburnt panoramas emerge with contrasting canvases of fanciful imaginary landscapes. Many works were devised in multiples permitting the presentation of broad landscapes typical of the Australian experience.

Desmond completed a commissioned set of eight pictures entitled “Memories of the Saint Chapelle”. This vibrant series, based on the medieval symbolism of the building’s interiors, initiated an interest in Gothic revival imagery that finds expression in his series of pen and ink drawings of Venice. These highly detailed drawings, sometimes of whole sections of Venice, sometimes of facades or of intimate architectural details, illustrate the diversity of the city’s magnificent architectural range. The exhibition featured original works, and a number of archival, signed prints.

Luca Belgiorno-Nettis AM, when he opened the Venice Exhibition at Wombat Hollow on 8 July 2016 launched the 88-page book entitled ‘Desmond Freeman Venice, Impressions in Ink’. Hon. Michael Yabsley of Wombat Hollow, East Kangaloon, NSW and Dominique Maunsell of Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern Gallery, Paddington, jointly staged the exhibition.

The Venice book was awarded the Gold Medal in the Fine Art category of the 21st Independent Publishing Awards in New York in April 2017. The awards programme attracted over 5,000 entries from around the world.

Desmond has completed a set of 54 pictures for the next book in the five-volume set - this time on Paris. ‘Desmond Freeman – Paris Impressions in Ink’ was published by Images Publishing, Melbourne and launched on 6 July 2018 again at Wombat Hollow in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Later in 2018 there was a book launch at the Australian Embassy in Paris. The third book in the series was published on the architecture of Rome. ‘Desmond Freeman Rome - Impressions in Ink’ was published in 2020 by Images Publishing, Melbourne. Images from that collection can be seen in the ‘Rome’ section of this website.

The fourth collection of some 50 pictures featured black and white and full-coloured images of New York City. The accompanying book, ‘Desmond Freeman New York – Impressions in Ink’, supported three exhibitions of these works in Perth and Bowral, Southern Highlands of NSW.

Work is now underway on the ‘London’ collection, a topic Desmond has intended to tackle since the inception of the Great Cities series. It is hoped that this will be complete early in 2027.

Desmond was made a Member of the Order of Australia, in 2026 for his significant contribution to interior design and vocational education.