11 January 2007

Robert Blackburn

"Red Inside" - woodcut by Robert Blackburn

In February of 2003, the Library of Congress had an exhibit called Creative Space: Fifty Years of Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop and although the exhibit is over, information and samples are posted online. Introduced to lithography at the Harlem Community Art Center, in 1948 Blackburn opened his own studio in Chelsea, printing for artists and encouraging his friends to experiment in lithography. Although many of the pieces displayed on the website are lithographs, there are also quite a number of woodcuts and lino prints. The Print Workshop appears to have survived into the 1990s. Robert Blackburn passed away in 2003 at the age of 83.

3 comments:

Lena said...

great link. thanks!

Amy Stoner said...

That's a beautiful, stark piece...I will have to check out more of his work as I have never heard of him before.

You asked about my press..it is a Richeson 11" baby press. Barbara Mason from Baren also has one too...among a few others, but I forget who specifically. The press is 11" wide, but 10" is the widest you can print...technically, they say 9.75", but I tried a 10" block I have and it worked just fine. The length of the bed is about 18" long and they say you can do a print that long, but I haven't tried that yet.

The press is very sturdy and seems very well made. My press bed was a tad warped and gets stuck in the press sometimes, but when I called them they sent me a new one no questions asked right away. I should get it any day now. Great customer service so far..and I think the bed was warped cause the art store may have stored it inproperly or something. But I can still use it, so I am making use of it!

The press cost $400 in Portland, OR and the catcher and pusher blankets cost another $20 total...but I know of several places online that also sell it. I am just tickled to finally have a press!

Anonymous said...

I was researching a Blackburn woodblock print to sell on Ebay, and found the beautiful print on your blog. Thanks for posting.
thirtyby40@aol.com