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Robert Blackburn

American, 1920-2003

Robert Blackburn participated in the rich mix of art programs and creative groups available in Harlem as he was growing up, including Charles Alston's Harlem Arts Workshop, the Harlem YMCA, and later the Harlem Artists’ Guild. In 1937, Blackburn joined the WPA at the Harlem Community Art Center, the largest New York center for instruction in the arts. There, he was exposed to Harlem's most prominent artists, among them Aaron Douglas, William Henry Johnson, and Jacob Lawrence. Blackburn studied with Will Barnet and Vaclav Vytlacil at the Art Students League, which he attended in the early 1940s on scholarship. In 1949, he founded the Printmaking Workshop, an artist's cooperative modeled on Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17. Blackburn's ongoing commitment to the workshop and his innovative approach to the art of lithography was critical in shaping the development of the medium. In his capacity as a master printmaker, Blackburn collaborated with many major American artists, including Romare Bearden, Robert Motherwell, Jasper Johns, and Helen Frankenthaler. From an early age, Blackburn was the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including the Frederick Douglass Guidance and Art Medals, John Wanamaker Memorial Medal, Spingarn Award, Robert Pious Award, Poussant Award, G. T. Pinckney Award, and the John Hay Whitney Traveling Fellowship. Blackburn's work is represented in numerous major American art museums and collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Library of Congress.

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Reclining Nude — Mid-Century Modernism, African American Artist
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Robert Blackburn, Untitled (Reclining Nude), brush and ink, c. 1948, unsigned. A fine, spontaneous work, on cream wove paper. Slight toning to the sheet edges; otherwise in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 18 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches (476 x 597 mm). Provenance: Adrienne E. Wheeler Collection, acquired from the artist. ABOUT THE ARTIST Robert Blackburn (1920 - 2003) participated in the rich mix of art programs and creative groups available in Harlem as he grew up, including Charles Alston's Harlem Arts Workshop, the Harlem YMCA, and later the Harlem Artist's Guild. In 1937 he joined the WPA at the Harlem Community Art Center, the largest New York center for instruction in the arts. There he was exposed to Harlem's most prominent artists, Aaron Douglas, William Henry Johnson...
Category

1940s American Modern Robert Blackburn

Materials

Ink

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Lighthearted Illustration of Outdoor Pursuits This one of a fisherman signed "W. Steig" Provenance: from Mrs. Joseph B. Ryan, Commissioned by Joe Ryan for the bar at his ski resort, Mount Tremblant Lodge, in 1938. Mont Tremblant, P.Q., Canada Watercolor and ink on illustration board, sights sizes 8 1/2 x 16 1/2 in., framed. In 1938 Joe Ryan, described as a millionaire from Philadelphia, bushwhacked his way to the summit of Mont Tremblant and was inspired to create a world class ski resort at the site. In 1939 he opened the Mont Tremblant Lodge, which remains part of the Pedestrian Village today. This original illustration is on Whatman Illustration board. the board measures 14 X 22 inches. label from McClees Galleries, Philadelphia, on the frame backing paper. William Steig, 1907 – 2003 was an American cartoonist, sculptor, and, in his later life, an illustrator and writer of children's books. Best known for the picture books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, and Doctor De Soto, he was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988. Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1907, and grew up in the Bronx. His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialists. His father, Joseph Steig, was a house painter, and his mother, Laura Ebel Steig, was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio.He graduated from Townsend Harris High School at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York, three years at the National Academy of Design and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each. Hailed as the "King of Cartoons" Steig began drawing illustrations and cartoons for The New Yorker in 1930, producing more than 2,600 drawings and 117 covers for the magazine. Steig, later, when he was 61, began writing children's books. In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1969), won the Caldecott Medal. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek! (1990) formed the basis for the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek (2001). After the release of Shrek 2 in 2004, Steig became the first sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion from theatrical and ancillary markets after only one sequel. Along with Maurice Sendak, Saul Steinberg, Ludwig Bemelmans and Laurent de Brunhofff his is one of those rare cartoonist whose works form part of our collective cultural heritage. In 1984, Steig's film adaptation of Doctor DeSoto directed by Michael Sporn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. As one of the most admired cartoonists of all time, Steig spent seven decades drawing for the New Yorker magazine. He touched generations of readers with his tongue–in–cheek pen–and–ink drawings, which often expressed states of mind like shame, embarrassment or anger. Later in life, Steig turned to children's books, working as both a writer and illustrator. Steig's children's books were also wildly popular because of the crazy, complicated language he used—words like lunatic, palsied, sequestration, and cleave. Kids love the sound of those words even if they do not quite understand the meaning. Steig's descriptions were also clever. He once described a beached whale as "breaded with sand." Throughout the course of his career, Steig compiled his cartoons and drawings into books. Some of them were published first in the New Yorker. Others were deemed too dark to be printed there. Most of these collections centered on the cold, dark psychoanalytical truth about relationships. They featured husbands and wives fighting and parents snapping at their kids. His first adult book, Man About Town, was published in 1932, followed by About People, published in 1939, which focused on social outsiders. Sick of Each Other, published in 2000, included a drawing depicting a wife holding her husband at gunpoint, saying, "Say you adore me." According to the Los Angeles Times, fellow New Yorker artist...
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Rose
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Blanche Grambs, (Shell Fish: Lobster, Crab, and Shrimp)
Located in New York, NY
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Previously Available Items
Abstraction II — African American artist
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Robert Blackburn, Untitled (Abstraction II), lithograph, c. 1950, unsigned, no edition–proofs only. A superb, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (2 3/8 to 3 1/8 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 13 1/8 x 7 5/8 inches; sheet size 19 x 13 inches. Extremely scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Provenance: Adrienne E. Wheeler Collection, acquired from the artist. ABOUT THE ARTIST Robert Blackburn participated in the rich mix of art programs and creative groups available in Harlem as he grew up, including Charles Alston's Harlem Arts Workshop, the Harlem YMCA, and later the Harlem Artist's Guild. In 1937 he joined the WPA at the Harlem Community Art Center, the largest New York center for instruction in the arts. There he was exposed to Harlem's most prominent artists, Aaron Douglas, William Henry Johnson, and Jacob Lawrence. He studied with Will Barnet and Vaclav Vytlacil at the Art Students League, which he attended in the early 1940s on scholarship. In 1949 he founded the Printmaking Workshop, an artist's cooperative modeled on Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17. Blackburn's ongoing commitment to the workshop and his innovative approach to the art of lithography was critical in shaping the development of the medium. In his capacity as master printmaker, Blackburn collaborated with many major American artists, including Romare Bearden, Robert Motherwell, Jasper Johns, and Helen Frankenthaler. From an early age, Blackburn was the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including the Frederick Douglas...
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Lithograph

Abstraction I — African American artist
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Robert Blackburn, 'Untitled (Abstraction I)', lithograph, c. 1950, unsigned, no edition–proofs only. A superb, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (2 3/8 to 4 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Extremely scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 10 x 8 1/8 inches; sheet size 19 x 13 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Provenance: Adrienne E. Wheeler Collection, acquired from the artist. ABOUT THE ARTIST Robert Blackburn participated in the rich mix of art programs and creative groups available in Harlem as he grew up, including Charles Alston's Harlem Arts Workshop, the Harlem YMCA, and later the Harlem Artist's Guild. In 1937 he joined the WPA at the Harlem Community Art Center, the largest New York center for instruction in the arts. There he was exposed to Harlem's most prominent artists, Aaron Douglas, William Henry Johnson, and Jacob Lawrence. He studied with Will Barnet and Vaclav Vytlacil at the Art Students League, which he attended in the early 1940s on scholarship. In 1949 he founded the Printmaking Workshop, an artist's cooperative modeled on Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17. Blackburn's ongoing commitment to the workshop and his innovative approach to the art of lithography was critical in shaping the development of the medium. In his capacity as master printmaker, Blackburn collaborated with many major American artists, including Romare Bearden, Robert Motherwell, Jasper Johns, and Helen Frankenthaler. From an early age, Blackburn was the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including the Frederick Douglas...
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1950s Abstract Expressionist Robert Blackburn

Materials

Lithograph

Robert Blackburn art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Robert Blackburn art available for sale on 1stDibs. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of David LaChapelle, Paul Resika, and Mercedes Matter.

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