Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Robert Blackburn

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.blackb70
Creators:
Blackburn, Robert Hamilton, 1920-
Cummings, Paul
Dates:
1970 December 4
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
52 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Robert Blackburn conducted 1970 December 4, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Blackburn speaks of his early life in Jamaica and New York; the influences of his youth including school, gangs, religion, art, music, and culture; the Harlem Community Art Center; studying with Charles Alston; the difficulties suffered by Black artists trying to gain recognition in a white-dominated art world; attending the Art Students League and studying under Vaclav Vytlacil and Will Barnet; his work with children; his film work at the Harmon Foundation; financial problems; the Printmaking Workshop; attending New York University's School of Visual Arts and the Cooper Union School; Black people in the arts; and the influence of music on his paintings. He recalls Jacob Lawrence, Will Barnet, Vaclav Vytlacil, Wallace Harrison, Tatyana Grosman, Grace Hartigan, Sam Francis, and Robert Rauschenberg.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Robert Blackburn (1920-) was a printmaker from New York, New York.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 28 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Prints -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art and race Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Francis, Sam, 1923-1994 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grosman, Tatyana, 1904-1982 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harrison, Wallace, 1900- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hartigan, Grace Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vytlacil, Vaclav, 1892-1984 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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