| Robert Noel Blair |
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Robert Noel Blair (American, 1912-2003) was a prolific Western New York artist, painter, sculptor, print maker and teacher. He is best known for his rural life & desert landscapes and World War II scenes. He has painted throughout Western New York, Maine, Vermont and the American Southwest, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Ireland and the Virgin Islands. His paintings are noted for their range of color, fluidity and movement. He is nationally known for his watercolors, but also worked in oils, pen & ink, sculpture, acrylics and drawing.
Chronology:
1912- Born August 12, Buffalo, NY.
circa 1925- Studied privately with Charles E. Burchfield.
1931-1934- Studied Drawing & Sculpting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, under Guthrie, Burns & sculpture under Frederick Allen.
1933- Joined the Patteran Society.
1934-46- Exhibited at the Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY.
1937- First one-man exhibition at the Bredemeier Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1938-55- Taught at the Buffalo Museum of Science, and the Art Institute of Buffalo, NY (except during the war years).
1939- Exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, NY.
1940- Exhibited at the Albright Art Gallery (prize), Buffalo, NY, the Morton Gallery, NY.
1942- Exhibited solo at the Albright Art Gallery, and Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, NY. Entered the U.S. Army, served in the 3rd Regiment in Fort McClellan, the 17th Airborne Division in Belgium and Germany, and the 82nd Airborne Division in Berlin. Allowed to paint a series of watercolors in the field, or war scenes. Also Designed training aids. Most of the paintings were later donated by Blair to the Burchfield Art Center, Buffalo, NY (as it was known then, after a solo exhibition of these works in 1985). Exhibited at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and the Watercolor Society.
1942-44- Exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, IL.
1943- Married Jeanette Kenney (Blair), a fellow painter from the Art Institute of Buffalo. Raised three children; Jeanne (died 1965), David and Bruce.
1944- Exhibited at the Albright Art Gallery (prize), Buffalo, NY.
1945- Commissioned to do a Mural by the U.S. Army at their building in Berlin, Germany.
1946 to 1949- He was the director of the Art Institute of Buffalo, NY.
1947- Exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
1948- Exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago (Watowsky prize), IL. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
circa 1951- Commissioned to do a Mural for the Bethlehem Steel Company Plant in Buffalo, NY.
1953- Exhibited at the Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, OH, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Watercolor National (first watercolor prize), NYC.
1955- Taught at the Albright Art School, Buffalo, NY.
1955-71- Taught at the Buffalo State University, Buffalo, NY.
1966- Exhibited at the Buffalo State University (retrospective), Buffalo, NY.
2003- June 15th, died at his home in Holland, NY.
Other Exhibitions: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Watercolor Institute, Chicago, IL; Western New York Exhibitions; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts National, Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Colgate University (1939 & 1941); Alabama Polytechnic Institute; and University of Alabama (1944).
Publications: Captain and Mate, 1940; St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957; Illustrations for Ford Times Magazine, 1958-61; Illustrations for American Artist Magazine, 1966; and illustrations for Jeannie's world, 1966.
Memberships: The Patteran Society, Buffalo, NY; Guggenheim Fellowships (1946 & 1951); American Watercolor Society; Buffalo Print Club, Buffalo, NY; and the Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), Buffalo, NY.
Honors: Two Guggenheim fellowships (1946-47, 1951-52); 10 Gold & Silver Medals at the Buffalo Society of Artists Annuals; and numerous other prizes and nearly 60 one-man shows.
Works: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY; the Ford Motor Company Collection, Dearborn, MI; and numerous business collections.
For additional information on this artist or for other examples of his works, please visit the AskArt link
(Rewritten & compiled chronologically by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY from sources: With permission from AskArt, prior submissions: the Butler Institute of American Art and the Plein Air Magazine, June 2005. Other sources: The Wayward Muse: A Historical Survey Of Painting In Buffalo, by Susan Krane 1987. Robert Blair & The Watercolor Tradition in Western New York, by Nancy Weekly, Head of Collections at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY 2000. Who was Who in American Art, 1999. Robert Noel Blair interview, 1994 Nov. 30. and 1995 Aug. 27, conducted by Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art, Summary, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560.)
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