Bio & Information
Charles Raymond Blackman OBE (1928 – 2018)
Charles Blackman was one of the most important post WW2 Figurative Artist in Australia his painting “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” 1956 sold for over $1.8 Million & also his painting “The Game of Chess” 1956 selling for over $1.7 Million Charles brought mystic and poetry to the art world through his work and receive International recognition for his works such as the Schoolgirl, Avonsleigh and Alice in Wonderland series of the 1950s He was a member of the Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painters that also included Arthur Boyd, David Boyd, John Brack, Robert Dickerson, John Perceval, and Clifton Pugh He was married for 27 years to author, essayist, poet, librettist and patron of the arts Barbara Blackman Charles born in Sydney left school at 13 and worked as an illustrator with The Sun newspaper while attending night classes at East Sydney Technical College (1943–46) though was principally self-taught He was later awarded an honorary doctorate Charles came to notice following his move to Melbourne in the mid-1940s, where he became friends with Joy Hester, John Perceval and Laurence Hope 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 For some time while painting the Alice series, Charles worked as a cook at a café run by art dealer Georges Mora and his wife, fellow artist Mirka Mora Ursula Dubosarsky’s novel The Golden Day was directly inspired by Charles’s 1954 painting Floating Schoolgirl, which is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra Charles was a co-founder of the Melbourne Contemporary Art Society in 1953 In 1959 he was a signatory to the Antipodean Manifesto a statement protesting against the dominance of abstract expressionism The manifesto’s adherents have been dubbed the Antipodeans Group Charles own work is associated with dreamlike images tinged with mystery and foreboding In 1960 he and his family lived in London after Charles won a Helena Rubenstein travelling scholarship, settling in Sydney upon his return five and a half years later In 1970 he moved to Paris, when awarded the atelier studio in the Cité des Artes He lived there for a year at the same time as John Coburn, and subsequently returned often, as Paris was for him a lasting source of inspiration A portrait of Charles by Jon Molvig won the Archibald Prize in 1966 Charles was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Australian art in 1977 In August 2010, the Blackman Hotel opened in St Kilda Road, Melbourne It features 670 digitally reproduced fine art prints by Charles He is represented in all state Galleries and most regional public galleries, as well as in many private collections in Australia and abroad
1960 Helena Rubinstein Art Scholarship
1970 Awarded the Atelier studio in the Cité des Artes
1997 OBE Award
1993 National Gallery of Victoria Retrospective
2002 Galeria Aniela Retrospective
2006 National Gallery of Victoria Alice Wonderland
