Curated by Deborah Cullen and organized by Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in cooperation with the Trust for Robert Blackburn and The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts’ Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program, this exhibit explored the life and work of master printmaker Robert Blackburn.
Robert Blackburn (1920-2003) was a key artist in the development of printmaking in the twentieth century. His innovative, masterful expertise with the medium helped define the overall aesthetic of the American “graphics boom.” This new exhibition examines Blackburn’s life and work, which touched the Harlem Renaissance and the WPA; the Art Students League and the New York School; Paris in the 1950s; the venerable print workshop Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) and the graphic explosion of the 1960s. Blackburn forecasted and participated in the proliferation of collaborative, non-profit workspaces in the early 1970s, the rise of multiculturalism, and, ultimately, globalism.
The exhibition includes 70 framed original prints by Robert Blackburn and artists with whom he collaborated, including Robert Rauschenberg, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Grace Hartigan, and Will Barnet. Plus large format photographs; text panels; vinyl wall quotes; object labels; and an exhibition video (projector provided).
This exhibition toured from 2020-2022.
Tour Itinerary
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA
The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
