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Charles Blackman
Born 1928. Lives in Sydney.
Charles Blackman is regarded as one of the most important Australian figurative artists of the late 20th century.
Charles Blackman is regarded as one of the most important
Australian figurative artists of the late 20th century. His
evocative and sensitive imagery has moved its audience from a
traditional viewpoint toward an increased appreciation of
modernity.
His narrative and illustrative works are relevant to his own
experience; delving beneath the surface, Blackman reveals painterly
images which have great strength. In the 1950s he painted the
infamous Schoolgirl series, followed by the Alice in Wonderland
series. In 1951 Blackman married a poet, Barbara Patterson,
who was to become a lasting presence in his work. Over the
years Barbara gradually went blind, and some of his most moving
works are portraits of Barbara during this period.
Blackman was a co-founder of the Melbourne Contemporary Art Society
in 1953 and was one of seven Antipodeans responsible for the
Antipodean Manifesto - a reaction against what they saw as the
meteoric rise of abstract expressionism and non-figurative art in
Australia.
Between 1960-64 Blackman travelled and studied overseas after
winning the Helena Rubinstein Scholarship and lived and painted in
London, exhibiting at Whitechapel and Tate Galleries. In 1975
he occupied the Australian studio, Cite Internationale des Arts,
Paris.
Now in his eighty second year, Blackman's works are still exhibited
throughout Australia and abroad (including the Musee D'Art in
Paris). He is represented in all major public and private
collections.
