Oral history interview with Robert Blackburn
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 28 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Blackburn, Robert Hamilton, 1920-
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: Barnet, Will, 1911-2012
label: Names
content: Francis, Sam, 1923-1994
label: Names
content: Grosman, Tatyana, 1904-1982
label: Names
content: Harrison, Wallace, 1900-
label: Names
content: Hartigan, Grace
label: Names
content: Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000
label: Names
content: Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
label: Names
content: Vytlacil, Vaclav, 1892-1984
topic: label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Prints -- Technique
label: Topic
content: Art and race
label: Topic
content: African American artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Blackburn, Robert Hamilton, 1920-
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Robert Blackburn (1920-) was a printmaker from New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 52 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1970 December 4
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.blackb70
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: 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.