Prints of artist/printmaker Robert Blackburn

Purposeful Mastery: A Detailed Look into Robert Blackburn’s Early Color Lithographs

Members-only, In Person
May 25, 10:45 am
Library of Congress,
Madison Building

A presentation by Library of Congress curator Katherine Blood and paper conservator Basia Nosei on the prints of artist/printmaker Robert Blackburn. The program will be members-only and held at the Library of Congress.

Robert Blackburn (1920-2003) changed the course of American art through his innovative graphic work; his contributions as master printer at Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE); and his own Printmaking Workshop, which was celebrated in the Library of Congress Creative Space exhibition in 2003. Basia Nosek, the Library’s Harper-Inglis post-graduate conservation research fellow, is now taking a deep look at Blackburn’s visually stunning early color lithographs and all the careful choices in his creative and technical process to reverse engineer such virtuoso, hallmark works as Girl in Red and Heavy Forms. Basia will discuss her research while the Library’s fine print curator, Katherine Blood, provides context drawing from Blackburn’s wider body of work as well as selected works by his students, collaborators, and friends including Emma Amos, Will Barnet, and Romare Bearden.

This program is in person and members only. Registration is limited to 20 people. You may register up to two people. All attendees must be registered in advance of the program. Registration is first come, first served and this program will fill quickly.

The registration deadline is May 15. Masking is recommended and visitors will be asked to complete a self-screen health questionnaire in advance of their visit. The program will take place in the Prints and Photographs Division, located in room LM337 on the third floor of the Madison Building. Further logistical information will be sent to registrants.