289:, an 8,000-square-foot (740 m) loft at 114 West 17th Street in New York City. When it first opened, the workshop's program included evening classes, an open studio working area, and print shops where artists could carry out their own experimentation. In the early 1950s, Blackburn and Barnet produced a suite of Barnet's lithographs that were a technical tour de force, requiring up to seventeen colors and multiple stones in the printing process. During 1953 and 1954, Blackburn traveled throughout Europe.
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413:, and is credited with introducing him to the collagraph process. The two met at meetings of the artist group 306. His commitment to sponsoring minority and third-world students and developing community programs profoundly influenced younger printmakers, who seeded similar workshops around the United States and internationally.
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devised a means to save the studio by transforming it into a cooperative with annual dues. Blackburn credited
Koppelman with saving the Workshop, and in 1992, Blackburn, Barnet, and Koppelman received a New York Artists Equity Award for their "dedicated service to the printmaking community."
164:, where his family moved when he was seven years old. Shortly after moving, his parents separated and the family underwent difficult financial times. Blackburn's mother encouraged his artistic talents, but his father discouraged him. At the age of 13, he began attending classes at the
269:, Blackburn won a School Arts League Award and an Art Students League Working Scholarship for study. Between 1943 and 1948 he supported himself with difficulty with arts-related freelance work, producing maps, charts and other graphics. Blackburn was also later able to study at
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Blackburn was famously generous to other artists who came through the
Workshop and fostered an atmosphere of openness to diversity. Among the many artists who have worked with Blackburn at the Printmaking Workshop are
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Blackburn's most productive period as an artist and printmaker was between the late 1950s and the early 1970s. During this period he produced a large body of abstract still lifes and color compositions, mostly in
199:, who taught him how to operate the press, process, and prepare stones, based on simple techniques. He frequented the Uptown Community Workshop, a gathering place for black artists and writers such as
487:, who met Blackburn while a student at the School of Visual Arts in 1985 and was the collection's curator between 1993 and 1996. By 1997, over 2,500 of these works had been deposited with the
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Award for having "contributed significantly to the cultural life of New York City." In 1988, Blackburn and the nonprofit
Printmaking Workshop received a Governor's Art Award from the
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From early prints that portrayed cityscapes and figures on abstract backgrounds, Blackburn moved into more abstract work. From 1940 to 1943, a work scholarship to the
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188:, who was his classmate. Blackburn credited his work at the WPA for the interest he had in working collaboratively throughout the rest of his career.
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in
Kingston, NY. Andrews made prints with the help of printer assistants who had been taught printmaking by Wigfall, and he exhibited there.
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211:. Blackburn worked at the Workshop as a monitor, running errands for teachers. This role allowed him to meet artists such as
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In 1956, when the
Printmaking Workshop struggled financially and faced the threat of closing, fellow artist and printmaker
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Life
Impressions: 20th-Century African American Prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (an exhibition catalogue)
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Blackburn attended P.S. 139 and then
Frederick Douglass Junior High School (1932–36), where his English teacher was
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In 1971, Blackburn put in place a board of trustees to help run the
Printmaking Workshop and incorporated it as a
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During the 1970s, he participated in a community art space called
Communications Village operated by printmaker
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1115:. The David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park, September 18 - December 19, 2014.
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in New York City held an exhibition and memorial to honor
Blackburn's work. Blackburn's early work at
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in 1996, to work innovatively and experimentally with students. In 1981, Blackburn was elected to the
580:, where classmates included artists Burton Hasen, David Finn and Harold Altman, was exhibited at the
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Robert Blackburn's public artwork at the 116th Street Station, commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit.
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The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts
756:. Hillwood Art Museum., Bronx River Art Center & Gallery. New York, NY: The Workshop.
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in Washington D.C. Smaller selections of the Workshop's prints have been placed with the
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as an Associate member, and he became a full member in 1994. In 1987, he received the
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in New York, an experience that contributed to his desire to open his own print shop.
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Cullen, Deborah. "A Life in Print: Robert Blackburn and American Printmaking"
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Blackburn also served between 1957 and 1963 as the first master printer for
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429:. In the 1970s, Blackburn turned away from lithography and began producing
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668:. Hamilton, NY: Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University. 2001. p. 46.
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541:(1977-1979). He founded the Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI) at
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Through a Master Printer: Robert Blackburn and the Printmaking Workshop
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1077:"Creative Space: Fifty years of Robert Blackburn's Printing Workshop".
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Robert Blackburn : passages : September 18-December 19, 2014
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Robert Blackburn : passages : September 18-December 19, 2014
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Robert Blackburn : passages : September 18-December 19, 2014
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Robert Blackburn : passages : September 18-December 19, 2014
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Robert Blackburn : passages : September 18-December 19, 2014
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1058:"Robert Blackburn, Founder of the Printmaking Workshop, Dies at 82."
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156:, to Janet Chambers and Robert Archeball Blackburn, who were from
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184:, among others. At the Harlem Art Community Center Blackburn met
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Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop : the artists of color
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1106:(as artist and master printer) at The Baltimore Museum of Art.
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York, Hildreth. "Bob Blackburn and the Printmaking Workshop."
565:. He lived in the Chelsea Hotel later in life, and died in
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452:(ULAE), where he produced editions for such artists as
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Ph.D. Dissertation, City University of New York, 2002.
948:"Chaim Koppelman: Pioneering Printmaker and Teacher."
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136:(December 12, 1920 – April 21, 2003) was an
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561:in 1992. Blackburn was a long time member of the
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253:made it possible for him to study painting with
608:, February 8, 1998. Accessed February 20, 2011.
602:"ART; A Master and His Mecca on West 24th St."
493:Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
1094:"Bob Blackburn and the Printmaking Workshop".
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19:For other people named Robert Blackburn, see
476:was broken, shaking Blackburn's confidence.
786:"Harlem Artist Robert Blackburn Remembered"
238:, where he worked on the literary magazine
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1099:, vol. 20, Indiana State University, 1986.
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551:Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
285:In 1947, Robert Blackburn established the
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16:African American visual artist (1920-2003)
572:On September 18, 2003, the Great Hall of
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509:Over the years, Blackburn taught at the
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242:as a writer and artist along with peer
129:Blackburn and students in the workshop.
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195:and other printmaking techniques with
1194:21st-century African-American artists
1189:20th-century African-American artists
1121:Robert Blackburn: American Printmaker
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111:Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
832:. Anyone Can Fly Foundation website.
1010:Blackburn, Robert Hamilton (2014).
962:Blackburn, Robert Hamilton (1988).
889:Blackburn, Robert Hamilton (2014).
842:Blackburn, Robert Hamilton (2014).
679:Blackburn, Robert Hamilton (2014).
618:Blackburn, Robert Hamilton (2014).
563:Society of American Graphic Artists
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555:New York State Council on the Arts
14:
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1154:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
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1014:. Cullen, Deborah. College Park.
893:. Cullen, Deborah. College Park.
846:. Cullen, Deborah. College Park.
803:"Printmaking for the Love of It."
683:. Cullen, Deborah. College Park.
622:. Cullen, Deborah. College Park.
21:Robert Blackburn (disambiguation)
730:. Columbia, SC: Columbia Museum.
265:, who became his friend. At the
1097:Black American Literature Forum
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985:Fendrich, Laurie (2022-10-20).
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964:Robert Blackburn, a life's work
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937:Black American Literature Forum
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409:. He was especially close with
230:. Starting in 1936, he went to
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450:Universal Limited Art Editions
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170:Works Progress Administration
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1079:Library of Congress website.
166:Harlem Arts Community Center
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1179:Federal Art Project artists
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950:Journal of the Print World
578:DeWitt Clinton High School
547:National Academy of Design
511:National Academy of Design
232:DeWitt Clinton High School
103:National Academy of Design
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1112:Robert Blackburn Passages
537:(beginning in 1970), and
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134:Robert Hamilton Blackburn
119:MacArthur Fellowship 1992
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246:. He graduated in 1940.
148:Early life and education
82:New York City, New York
1164:Artists from Manhattan
966:. Alternative Museum.
752:Jemisin, Noah (1991).
504:Benjamin Leroy Wigfall
271:Stanley William Hayter
152:Blackburn was born in
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726:Parris, Nina (1985).
557:. He also received a
527:School of Visual Arts
339:Vincent Dacosta Smith
140:artist, teacher, and
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1149:American printmakers
952:, Winter 2010, p. 4.
559:MacArthur fellowship
303:Nadine M. DeLawrence
287:Printmaking Workshop
160:, and he grew up in
792:, October 22, 2003.
790:The New York Beacon
582:Metropolitan Museum
535:Columbia University
523:New York University
497:El Museo Del Barrio
489:Library of Congress
474:Robert Rauschenberg
466:Robert Rauschenberg
454:Helen Frankenthaler
267:Art Students League
251:Art Students League
174:Federal Art Project
1169:People from Harlem
991:Two Coats of Paint
828:2015-03-29 at the
606:The New York Times
600:Leimbach, Dulcie.
539:Rutgers University
433:, as well as some
379:Leonora Carrington
191:Blackburn studied
154:Summit, New Jersey
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59:Summit, New Jersey
1159:MacArthur Fellows
1056:Cotter, Holland.
784:Berstein, Alice.
543:Lafayette College
295:Elizabeth Catlett
142:master printmaker
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48:December 10, 1920
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1118:Deborah Cullen,
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1104:Robert Blackburn
1102:Works of art by
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375:Dinga McCannon
367:Romare Bearden
347:Melvin Edwards
319:Ernst Crichlow
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1144:2003 deaths
1139:1920 births
427:lithography
335:Mavis Pusey
263:Will Barnet
259:lithography
193:lithography
1133:Categories
996:2023-05-17
763:0933699247
588:References
399:Betye Saar
387:Sue Fuller
315:Otto Neals
275:Atelier 17
240:The Magpie
74:2003-04-22
52:1920-12-10
1038:cite book
1030:892515381
917:cite book
909:892515381
870:cite book
862:892515381
707:cite book
699:892515381
646:cite book
638:892515381
584:in 2009.
481:nonprofit
439:intaglios
435:monotypes
371:Kay Brown
311:Emma Amos
90:Education
972:21798887
826:Archived
772:25026051
431:woodcuts
331:Ed Clark
100:Employer
234:in the
158:Jamaica
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468:, and
281:Career
219:, and
162:Harlem
116:Awards
84:, U.S.
61:, U.S.
261:with
236:Bronx
1044:link
1026:OCLC
1016:ISBN
968:OCLC
923:link
905:OCLC
895:ISBN
876:link
858:OCLC
848:ISBN
768:OCLC
758:ISBN
713:link
695:OCLC
685:ISBN
652:link
634:OCLC
624:ISBN
495:and
437:and
405:and
257:and
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180:and
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