"PRINTS, PRINTMAKING, PRINTMAKERS-it sometimes seems as if they pass through the art world unnoticed. The print world is on its own tangent. And in that world, there are figures who carry great significance-master printers such as William Stanley Hayter, for instance, or Aldo Crommelynck. Some are also artists in their own right, but they are legendary more for what they've enabled others to do than for the works they've signed."
"Among the names spoken with the greatest reverence is that of Robert Blackburn. Born in 1920 to Jamaican immigrant parents, he grew up in Harlem, where as a teenager he took art classes at WPA-sponsored community arts centers and other local organizations, studying with Charles Alston and Augusta Savage, among others; his junior high English teacher was Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen."
Prints and printmakers often occupy a marginal position within the broader art world, yet master printers carry outsized influence through technical skill and collaborative practice. Robert Blackburn, born in 1920 to Jamaican immigrant parents, grew up in Harlem and trained in community WPA arts programs, studying with Charles Alston and Augusta Savage; his junior high English teacher was Countee Cullen. Blackburn learned lithography from Riva Helfond and studied at the Art Students League under Will Barnet, who encouraged an experimental, painterly approach to printmaking. The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop continues his legacy, with recent work at the James Gallery showcasing artists such as Chakaia Booker and Maren Hassinger.
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