Charles Edward Blackwood (1916

Charles Edward Blackwood (1916 - 1995)

Stone Lithograph print - "San Marine Yacht Basin"
Image Size: Approximately 14" x 10.5"

Charles Edward Blackwood is still being remembered every year at Furman University's School of Art. They provide an art scholarship in his honor. Blackwood was on the forefront of the visual arts in Greenville, SC. He served as the head of Furman's Fine Art Department and a founder of Greenville's Art Association. It has been difficult to find detailed information on Blackwood, but I have been able to gather enough to give you a broad scope of his life (provided below).

Blackwood was a skilled stone lithographer. For this blog I have provided two illustrations of his work: San Marine Yacht Basin and Still Life with Chair (below). Blackwood's stone lithography is based on natural antipathy of oil and water. His images were made on a stone with a greasy crayon. The texture of the stone was such that, if moistened, the water adhered to it in an even film except where the grease has been applied. When a roller charged with heavy ink was applied to the moistened surface, the ink adhered only to the greasy areas. After printing only the greasy image remains on the stone and the process of moistening, inking, and printing may be repeated. His drawing skills are illustrated by his stone prints.

Stone Lithograph - "Still Life" with Chair

Below are the broad details of Professor Blackwood's life:

1916 - Born: Blue Mountain, Tippah, Mississippi

Received his BFA from the University of Oklahoma (his schooling was interrupted by WWII - where he served in Europe and the Pacific)
1948 Founded the Fine Arts Department at Furman University
1954/56 Attended Graduate School at the University of Georgia
Served as the Head of Furman’s Fine Art Department until 1959
Helped start the Greenville Art Museum
1959 - 1979 Director of Graphic Arts, Rutgers University, NJ
1983 Retired and Moved back to Greenville, SC
Served a Founder and an early President of the Greenville Art Association
June/July 1994 Major exhibit of his work at the Greenville County Museum of Art

1995 - Death: Age 79, Greenville, South Carolina

Furman University has an endowed scholarship in his name

Example of Blackwood's Signature

Sources: Greenville News and Ancestry.com

Would love to know more.

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