Blackman, Charles (1928-2018), an Australian artist, made many drawings based on the theme of the schoolgirl. He later acknowledged that he was indebted to the Australian poet John Shaw Neilson for his interest in the theme. Blackman’s sensitive and melancholy drawings of the schoolgirl evoked a world of fantasy that led to a series of large paintings inspired by the English author Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Masterpieces of literature, such as the works of the French writer Marcel Proust, continued to inspire many of Blackman’s paintings, drawings, and designs for tapestry. Much of his work also featured studies of the nude body. Blackman’s wife and children were frequent subjects in his work. In addition, he painted somber moonlit landscapes. Blackman drew mainly in charcoal on large sheets and often emphasized black in his paintings.
Charles Raymond Blackman was born on Aug. 12, 1928, in Sydney. He studied at East Sydney Technical College and worked as an artist for the Sydney Sun. In 1952, he moved to Melbourne, where the Australian art collector John Reed brought Blackman’s work to the attention of critics. In 1960, Blackman won the Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship and traveled to Europe. Blackman was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 for his services to art. He died on Aug. 20, 2018.
