Charles Blackman

Charles Blackman’s distinctive expressionist style emerged in the early 1950s using poetic figurative imagery exploring the innocence and interior worlds of children. His Schoolgirl series, commenced in 1952 following his move to Melbourne, was inspired by uniformed schoolchildren in his Hawthorn neighbourhood, his underlying fear of isolation, and vivid childhood memories of his mother and sisters. The first truly unique visions to emerge in his painting, these works were pivotal in establishing his reputation as an artist of great individuality.

Blackman grew up in a house devoid of books, attending evening classes at East Sydney Technical School while working at the Sydney Sun. He met avant-garde poet Lois Hunter, who introduced him to modern art and literature, and in 1951 married Barbara Patterson. In 1956, he first encountered Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through a talking book for Barbara, who was legally blind. The resulting Alice in Wonderland series, launched in 1957, is among the best Australian art has to offer, rivaling even Sidney Nolan’s iconic Ned Kelly and establishing Blackman as the outstanding artist of the feminine psyche.