Robert Blackburn
I studied printmaking under Robert at Columbia University.
He was born in Summit, New Jersey in 1920 and grew up in Harlem. As a teenager,
he studied lithography and other print-making techniques. From early prints
which portrayed figures on abstract backgrounds, he moved into more abstract
work. In 1948, he established the Printmaking Workshop. He received a MacArthur
fellowship in 1992.
He died in New York City in 2003.
Creative Graphic Workshop (renamed the Printmaking Workshop c. 1963), founder, 1948-; Cooper Union Art School, teacher, 1949-67; New School for Social Research, teacher, 1950; Universal Limited Art Editions, master printer, 1957-62; New York University, teacher, 1965-71; School of Visual Arts, teacher, 1967-71; Columbia University, teacher, 1970-90.
Writer Dulcie Leimbach of the New York Times called printmaker Robert Blackburn a "mix of artist, teacher, and visionary..." and wrote that there was "nothing quite like" Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop. Having benefitted as a boy from several of the Work Projects Administration's (W.P.A.) artist workshops, Blackburn was inspired to build a place where artists could flourish. An accomplished lithographer and teacher, Blackburn's greatest accomplishment was the longevity and community of the Printmaking Workshop, which was open to all artists who wanted to learn and practice the art of printmaking.
Robert Hamilton Blackburn was born in 1920 in Summit, New Jersey, to Jamaican parents. He began his public school education when his family moved to Harlem in 1926. He was 13 when he took his first formal art class, which was sponsored by the W.P.A., which made it possible for black artists to work during the Great Depression. From 1935 to 1939, Blackburn studied at the Harlem Community Art Center--another W.P.A. project--and apprenticed with artist Riva Helfond, who introduced him in the process of lithography.
In lithography, the artist draws on a stone, which is then wetted, inked, and, along with a sheet of paper, passed through a press. From Helfond, Blackburn learned the entire process--how to operate the press, process and prepare stones, and make prints. Helfond later remembered trying to help build Blackburn's belief in himself. "He was the youngest in the class, but he looked after people," she told the New York Times. "He was self-conscious, lacked confidence. I worked on that."
Though his parents did not encourage their son's interest in art, Blackburn found support in the Harlem community, which, in the face of the Depression, remained somewhat empowered after the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. His years spent in Harlem artist workshops would later influence Blackburn's commitment to his own workshop community.
