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Charles Blackman (B.1928- )
Charles Blackman
"Alice in Wonderland" fetched
$1.2 million,
view the entire article
The
Age, 21 Oct.2006 Melbourne,
the ABC TV National News,
Alice Paintings.
A portrait of Charles
Blackman by
Jon Molvig
won the
Archibald Prize
in 1966.
Blackman
and
Olsen hold
the record of the
highest paid living Australian artists.
view Blackman
Biography
view Charles Blackman
artworks
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Charles Blackman
is only one of two living, most important Australian
artists still alive whose painting sold over one million
dollars.
“Alice in
Wonderland”
Sotheby's sold for
$1.2
million, a record price for a living Australian
artist (fetched
more than twice the previous record for the
artist's work in October 2006).
To
view the entire article click
The
Age, 21 Oct.2006 Melbourne,
the ABC TV National News,
Alice
Paintings.
Charles Blackman (born
August 12,
1928) is
one of the most
important Australian artists still alive.
As a young man, he worked as an illustrator with the Sydney
Sun newspaper while attending night classes
at East Sydney Technical College (1943-46). He
came to notice following his move to Melbourne
in the mid-1940s, where he became friends with
becoming friends with
Joy Hester and
John Perceval as
well as gaining the support of critic and art
patron
John Reed. His
work met critical acclaim through his early
'Schoolgirl' and 'Alice' series, the latter
Blackman's conception of
Lewis Carroll's
most famous character. For some time while
painting the 'Alice' series, Blackman worked as
a cook at a cafe run by fellow artist Mirka
Mora. Blackman married the poet
Barbara Patterson
in 1951. In 1959 he was a signatory to the
Antipodean Manifesto,
a statement protesting the dominance of abstract
expressionism. The manifesto's adherents have
been dubbed the
Antipodeans Group.
His work is associated with dreamlike images
tinged with mystery and foreboding. In
1960 he lived in
London after
winning the
Helena Rubenstein
Art Award-Scholarship,
settling in
Sydney upon his
return six years later.
Charles Blackman is one of only handful
Australian artists whose work attracted
international recognition since 1961 London when
the Helena Rubenstein Award.
After twenty-seven years
of marriage, Patterson divorced Blackman in 1978
and he remarried in
1989. He has won
many prizes and distinctions, culminating in a
major retrospective in 1993 and an
OBE for services
to Australian art in 1997.
A portrait of Charles Blackman by
Jon Molvig won
the
Archibald Prize
in 1966.
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Title:
Japanese
Dinner Party,
1973
Medium: ink on paper
Image size:
50 x 64 cm
signed and dated top right: Blackman 73
Price:$8,250
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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 and its intolerance of figurative
painting. He has exhibited frequently since and
is known for his facility in drawing. In 1951
Blackman married a poet, Barbara Patterson, who
was to become a lasting presence in his work.
Blackman has won many awards throughout his
career, including the Rowney prize for drawing
in 1959, the Helena Rubenstein Scholarship in
1960, the Dyeson Endowment Award and the Crouch
Prize. Blackman's work was included in the
Whitechapel Open Exhibition in 1961 and Tate
Gallery exhibitions of Australian Art 1962-63. A
major retrospective, 'Schoolgirls and Angels,'
was organised in 1993 by the National Gallery of
Victoria, touring to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
In 1997 Blackman was awarded an OBE for his
services to art. His work is held in all Australian
state and most regional galleries,
institutional and private collections. |
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Charles
Blackman
Title: Girl with Flowers
Medium:
Charcoal on paper on board circa
1985
Image size:
75 x 98cm
Framed size: 116 x 140cm
Price:
$29,500
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Charles
Blackman
Title: Girl
with flowers
sitting by the window c.1960
Medium:
pastel on paper
Image size: 72 x 98cm
Framed size: 94 x 118cm
Price: $32,500
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Title:
Crack-Up
1973
illustrated
Medium: oil on canvas
Image size:
91.5 x 96.5 cm
Framed size: 130 x 135 cm
signed top left: Blackman,
1973
Price: $285,000
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Crack-Up,
a museum quality work of art from the era of Charles Blackman
artistic acclaim, it portrays a famous
American
writer,
Scott Fitzgerald
and his wife Zelda. It is an exciting and emotionally moving
painting, a razor sharp, but tender, opening feelings of the
tormented writer, passions and suffering. Crack-Up is only one of four of the
Fitzgerald series of paintings. All four
paintings are illustrated in Blackman
the Lost Domains;
Crack-Up
is
illustrated
and documented on page 128.
Crack-Up
is an important work of art being one of only
few Australian works relating to the important international
Pop-Art
movement, the black outline around two figures epitomizes this
rare tie. Australian artists far from the rest of the world
seldom embodied the significant global
Pop-Art
Andy Warhol style
movement
in the 60's and the early 70’s except few works by Australian international artists who
recognized the worldwide art progress. A portrait of Charles
Blackman by
Jon Molvig
won the
Archibald Prize
in 1966.
However
1961-66 Charles Blackman lived in the centre of international
art in London able to recognize and embrace the important art
movement. In 1961 in London Blackman won
Helena Rubenstein Art Award-Scholarship
which started his period of the
artistic acclaim
and Blackman work attracted the international recognition.
Scott Fitzgerald regarded as
one of the twentieth century's great writers and his wife Zelda
were good friends with the Blackman’s and in
Crack-Up
painting Charles Blackman shows Zelda in warm tones yet, as she
is peeled from mind of her husband, almost as she was Fitzgerald
own creation. Crack-Up is a superb painting and indeed a
brilliant work of art.
Charles Blackman is a major figure in Australian
art of the post-war years. His haunting and enchanting images of
women and girls, absorbed in daydreams or games have an enduring
appeal. Two significant themes in his work have been the
Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland. Deep shadows and the
accentuation of his figure's eyes occur throughout Blackman's
works with a pervasive sense of melancholy. |
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Barbara
and Cat
1969
Medium: oil on canvas
Image size:
91.5 x 96.5 cm
Framed size: 130 x 135 cm
signed bottom left: Blackman 1969
Price: $485,000
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Barbara
and Cat
1969
is a
museum quality work of art from the era of
Charles
Blackman artistic acclaim.
The painting portrays Barbara
Blackman playing with their cat.
Charles
Blackman married
Barbara Patterson
in 1951, a model and a poet.
Barbara
and Cat 1969
is an important work of art being one of only few Australian
works relating to the important international
Pop-Art
movement, the black outline around two figures epitomizes this
rare tie. Australian artists far from the rest of the world
seldom embodied the significant global
Pop-Art
Andy Warhol style
movement
in the 60's and the early 70’s except few works by Australian international artists who
recognized the worldwide art progress. A portrait of Charles
Blackman by
Jon Molvig
won the
Archibald Prize
in 1966.
However
1961-66 Charles Blackman lived in the centre of international
art in London able to recognize and embrace the important art
movement. In 1961 in London Blackman won
Helena Rubenstein Art Award-Scholarship
which started his period of the
artistic acclaim
and Blackman work attracted the international recognition.
Charles Blackman is a major figure in Australian
art of the post-war years. His haunting and enchanting images of
women and girls, absorbed in daydreams or games have an enduring
appeal. Two significant themes in his work have been the
Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland. Deep shadows and the
accentuation of his figure's eyes occur throughout Blackman's
works with a pervasive sense of melancholy. |
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Charles
Blackman
House in the Woods circa
1973
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Image size: 100 x 122.5cm
Framed size:
137 x 160 cm
Price:
$87,500
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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 and its intolerance of figurative
painting. He has exhibited frequently since and
is known for his facility in drawing. In 1951
Blackman married a poet, Barbara Patterson, who
was to become a lasting presence in his work.
Blackman has won many awards throughout his
career, including the Rowney prize for drawing
in 1959, the Helena Rubenstein Scholarship in
1960, the Dyeson Endowment Award and the Crouch
Prize. Blackman's work was included in the
Whitechapel Open Exhibition in 1961 and Tate
Gallery exhibitions of Australian Art 1962-63. A
major retrospective, 'Schoolgirls and Angels,'
was organised in 1993 by the National Gallery of
Victoria, touring to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
In 1997 Blackman was awarded an OBE for his
services to art. His work is held in all Australian
state and most regional galleries,
institutional and private collections. |
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Alice Tea Party,
1962 London
see
Alice paintings
Medium: mixed media on
paper on board
Image size: 135.5 x 150.5 cm
Framed
size: 170 x 185 cm
signed bottom left: Blackman, London 1962
Price:
$285,500
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Alice Tea Party is a
masterpiece from
the period of
Charles
Blackman
artistic acclaim after
wining
Helena Rubenstein Art Award-Scholarship London 1961
giving
Charles Blackman
international recognition.
Only few rare paintings from this period have
returned to Australia.
Charles Blackman Alice in Wonderland sold by
Sotheby's
fetched
$1.2 million,
to
view the entire article click The
Age, 21 Oct.2006 Melbourne,
the ABC TV
National News,
Alice Paintings.
Charles Blackman holds the record of the
highest paid living Australian artists.
Charles Blackman spent his
childhood in the Depression days in Sydney. His father left when
he was only four and his mother worked long hours to send
him and his sisters to school. Blackman hard upbringing gave him
a profound insight into the feminine mind. As women shaped his
life, Blackman is at ease painting feminine subject's
schoolgirls, Alice and his famous paintings of Zelda Fitzgerald.
His friend, Joy Hester, said "The hand and the eye of the
painter is what love is to a poet" and so Blackman's art has the
infinite power and universal appeal, Blackman is loved by all. |
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Title: Harp-Song
(Orpheus Suite series) 46/70
Image size:
75 x 100cm
Framed size: 105 x 135cm
$7,500 -
gilded frame included
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Title: Girl with
Plaits 8/80 (Girls and Flowers suite)
75 x 100cm
$3,900 - unframed
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Charles
Blackman
Quartette 8/80
(Girls and Flowers suite)
75 x 100cm
$3,900 - unframed
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School Girls 8/80
(Girls and Flowers suite)
75x100cm
$3,900 - unframed
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Transformation
8/80
(Girls and Flowers suite)
75x100cm
$3,900 - unframed
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Charles
Blackman
Young
Woman circa
1973
Charcoal on paper
77.5 x 53.5cm
SOLD
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Artist:
Charles Blackman
(B. 1928- )
SCHOOLGIRL
1952,
from
the original Schoolgirls series
Medium: Charcoal on
paper
Image Size: 21.5 x
34.5cm
Signed
lower
right: BLACKMAN
SOLD |
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Charles Blackman
Title:
Girls in Boat
Medium:
Charcoal on paper
Image
Size: 47.5 x 38.5cm
Signed:
BLACKMAN
lower right
SOLD |
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Charles Blackman
Title:
HOUSE in the Bush
1973
Medium:
oil on canvas
Image
Size:
Signed:
BLACKMAN
top left
SOLD |
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Charles Blackman
Title:
PELICAN and Butterfly
1970
Medium:
oil on canvas
Image
Size:
Signed:
BLACKMAN
top left
SOLD |
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Charles Blackman
Title:
RAINING DOGS AND cats
1972
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Image
Size: 50.5 x 74.5cm
Signed:
BLACKMAN
lower right
SOLD |
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Charles Blackman
Girl in the Window
1968
Mix Media
on paper
Image
Size:
Signed:
BLACKMAN
lower right
SOLD |
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Charles Blackman
Girl with
a CAT
1985
Charcoal
on canvas
Image
Size:
Signed:
BLACKMAN
lower right
SOLD |
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Blackman, born in
Sydney,
left school at thirteen or fifteen and worked
as an illustrator with the
Sydney Sun newspaper
while attending night classes at
East Sydney Technical College
(1943-46). He came to notice
following his move to Melbourne
in the mid-1940s, where he
became friends with becoming
friends with
Joy Hester
and
John Perceval
as well as gaining the support
of critic and art patron
John Reed.
His work met critical acclaim
through his early 'Schoolgirl'
and 'Alice' series, the latter
Blackman's conception of
Lewis Carroll's
most famous character. For some
time while painting the 'Alice'
series, Blackman worked as a
cook at a cafe run by fellow
artist Mirka Mora. Blackman
married the poet
Barbara Patterson
in 1951.
In 1959 he was a signatory to
the
Antipodean Manifesto,
a statement protesting the
dominance of abstract
expressionism. The manifesto's
adherents have been dubbed the
Antipodeans Group.
His work is associated with
dreamlike images tinged with
mystery and foreboding. In
1960
he lived in
London
after winning the Helena
Rubenstein Scholarship, settling
in Sydney upon his return six
years later. After twenty-seven
years of marriage, Patterson
divorced Blackman in 1978 and he
remarried in
1989.
He has won many prizes and
distinctions, culminating in a
major retrospective in 1993 and
an
OBE
for services to Australian art
in 1997.
A portrait of Charles Blackman
by
Jon Molvig
won the
Archibald Prize
in 1966.
Charles Blackman (born
August 12,
1928) is an
Australian artist.
Early life and initial success
Blackman, born in
Sydney, left
school at thirteen (some sources say fifteen)
and worked as an illustrator with the Sydney
Sun newspaper while attending night classes
at East Sydney Technical College (1943-46). He
came to notice following his move to Melbourne
in the mid-1940s, where he became friends with
becoming friends with
Joy Hester and
John Perceval as
well as gaining the support of critic and art
patron
John Reed. His
work met critical acclaim through his early
'Schoolgirl' and 'Alice' series, the latter
Blackman's conception of
Lewis Carroll's
most famous character. For some time while
painting the 'Alice' series, Blackman worked as
a cook at a cafe run by fellow artist Mirka
Mora. Blackman married the poet
Barbara Patterson
in 1951. In 1959 he was a signatory to the
Antipodean Manifesto,
a statement protesting the dominance of abstract
expressionism. The manifesto's adherents have
been dubbed the
Antipodeans Group.
His work is associated with dreamlike images
tinged with mystery and foreboding. In
1960 he lived in
London after
winning the
Helena Rubenstein Scholarship,
settling in
Sydney upon his
return six years later. After twenty-seven years
of marriage, Patterson divorced Blackman in 1978
and he remarried in
1989. He has won
many prizes and distinctions, culminating in a
major retrospective in 1993 and an
OBE for services
to Australian art in 1997.
A portrait of Charles Blackman by
Jon Molvig won
the
Archibald Prize
in 1966.
Later life:
After years of alcohol abuse, Blackman has been
severely disabled by
Korsakoff's syndrome, a brain disorder
affecting memory. After suffering a
stroke and
heart attack in
1994, Blackman has subsequently been under
full-time care. He owns none of his original
paintings, rents his home and survives on a
stipend arranged by his accountant of forty
years from the sale of his prints. The subject
of ownership of Blackman's paintings has been a
controversial issue, though his former wife
maintains that her possession of some of them
has been for the sake of preservation and that
she intends to donate them to galleries.
References:
Charles Blackman at
Australian Art Wilmoth, Peter.
An artist in wonderland.
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia.
Even though
Blackman has shown the sustaining power to
originate a wide supply of superb images over a
period of five decades many of
Blackman early
paintings were destroyed during the Melbourne
fire except for some
which live to tell the tale.
The
work
Alice's
Journey was rediscovered in Perth in
May following a public appeal from the National
Gallery of Victoria. The painting is part of the
artist's
Alice in
Wonderland series and fetched $1.2
million. Mark Fraser from auction house
Sotheby's is remaining tight-lipped about who
the painting's new owner is.” It will go into a
very good private collection here in Melbourne,"
he said.” They’ve already bought other major
paintings from us this year, also record
breaking paintings. "It's going to be an
exceptional collection. I don't know if there
are any plans for it to be made available to the
public, but it's in very safe hands." Mr. Fraser
says he was not expecting records to tumble. "I
would have been perfectly happy with a result
around the $700,000 or $800,000 level - that
would still be twice the old record, but this
result is extraordinary," he said.” The old
record was also for an
Alice in
Wonderland painting set four or five
years ago, but it was a much smaller painting.”
This one was really considered the masterpiece
of that series and since the Alice series is
considered Charles Blackman's most famous
series, this is the Blackman to beat all
Blackman's." Tuesday, November 21, 2006 . |
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Charles Blackman is one of only handful
Australian artists whose work attracted
international recognition since 1961 London when
the Helena Rubenstein Award. His most famous
series of Alice paintings came about after
listening to the classic Lewis Carroll book in
taped form with his sight-impaired writer wife,
Barbara. Being the inner and romantic painter
Blackman is able to translate the inner world of
childhood magic - the fairy tale, taking us to
the world of fantasy and joy. His Alice
paintings have universal appeal with her
fantasy, romantic spirit, beauty and mystery.
Blackman is one of those artists whose work
remains compelling for a large audience like
Nolan’s Ned Kelly, a fractured Picasso woman or
a Dali | |