Robert Blackburn, 82; Artist, Lithographer Founded Workshop
Robert Blackburn, 82, an artist and founder of the Printmaking Workshop in New York City who developed a reputation as a leading art lithographer, died Monday.
The son of Jamaican immigrants, Blackburn was a product of Great Depression generation. Through the federal Works Progress Administration, he was introduced to printmaking in 1938 at the Harlem Community Art Center. Among his colleagues and teachers were renowned artists such as Romare Bearden and Augusta Savage.
In 1948, Blackburn started building what would later become the Printmaking Workshop in his Chelsea studio. He organized it as an informal cooperative where he and his friends could experiment with lithographic techniques.
Later, he became the first master printer at Universal Limited Art Editions on Long Island, N.Y. While there, he printed for a new generation of artists who were coming to printmaking for the first time.
He also taught at various schools, including Brooklyn College and Columbia University, where he was on the faculty from 1970 to 1990.
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