William Henry Blackman
Glowing Wave Crashing at the Shore - Seascape
c. 1970

About the Item

Highly detailed seascape by William Henry Blackman (American, b. 1930). A wave crashes at the shore, glowing from the sun shining through. Above the wave, a few gulls glide across the scene. The rocks in the foreground and the cliffs in the midground are finely textured, adding a lovely sense of realistic detail. Signed "Wm. Blackman" in the lower right corner. Artist's stamp on verso, along with other inventory markings. Artist's name written on edge of canvas. Presented in an ornate wood frame with a linen liner and fillet. Canvas size: 18"H x 24"W William Henry Blackman (American, b. 1930) was born in San Diego, CA in 1930. He spent most of his early years in West Los Angeles. Blackman began painting at age 12. In high school he majored in art so he could experiment with various mediums to find ways to interpret his ideas. In December of 1948 he joined the Navy and was stationed in Hawaii. He studied at Woodbury College where he learned advertising and graphic arts. In 1960 he bought a home with his wife Shirley in the San Fernando Valley and worked as an advertising manager. His position put him in contact with art directors and they would lunch together and then visit various art galleries in the area. He began oil painting again as a hobby. In 1964 he made an important contact through an associate at his agency. This person was a vice-president at Aaron Brothers Galleries and purchased paintings for them. They had showrooms in various major cities and sold original framed paintings to art galleries and furniture stores. He said they could possibly sell some of his seascapes so Bill began painting in his spare time. Gradually, they sold more than he could produce so Bill made the decision to leave the advertising business and devote his time to painting. Note: the original Aaron Brothers Art Galleries Certificate included with the painting. In 1965 the Blackman's moved to Thousand Oaks, California. He began his career as a fine artist and to this day resides in Thousand Oaks. He contracted with Aaron Brothers to be his exclusive agents and began specializing in seascapes. After a few years he added landscapes and some other subjects. Bluebonnet landscapes and Padre Island seascapes were popular in the Dallas showroom. He was also represented by the Davis Gallery in Honolulu. A good relationship with "Barney" Davis continued after the closing of the Aaron Brothers Wholesale Division in 1980. He painted for the Davis Gallery for about 8 years until they closed due to illness. Afterwards, he was contacted by Kobayashi Art Enterprises and has been represented by them. In 1980 he began teaching in private studios around the country, demonstrating his method of painting. During the latter part of the 80's he was approached by Susan Scheewe Publishing to author and illustrate a book showing his way of painting. The first was published in 1990 and he has authored four other books since then. He provided demonstrates for six different instructional video tapes that were produced by his artist friend Gary Jenkins. William Blackman is a published artist. Twenty subjects have been lithographed, six being limited editions, when he was with Aaron Brothers. One of his Hawaiian paintings "Island Mangos" was published by Kobayashi Art Enterprises. He has been represented by the following art galleries since 1980: Davis Gallery, Honolulu; Simic Gallery, Carmel; Addi Gallery, Reno; Copenhagen Gallery, Solvang, CA; Herbert Arnot, NY; Cosmopolitan Fine Art, La Jolla, CA and Kobayashi Art Enterprises.

Creator:

William Henry Blackman (1930, American)

Creation Year:

c. 1970

Dimensions:

Height: 28 in (71.12 cm)Width: 34 in (86.36 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)

Medium:

Oil,Canvas

Movement & Style:

American Impressionist

Period:

1970-1979