Description
When Christabel Blackman’s mother turned ninety, they celebrated by sifting through Barbara’s old documents: diaries, photos, manuscripts – and a fragile old folder, tied with a ribbon. This held letters from a love long past between Christabel’s parents. It was a portal into a decade of art and love between Charles and Barbara Blackman.
Set against the burgeoning cultural art scene of 1950s Melbourne, among the soon-to-become legendary artists of the Heide group, Christabel weaves the story of Charles and Barbara and the influence they had on each other, and on the Australian art world. These handwritten letters vividly conjure the feeling of the time, and breathe life into the names that are now found in galleries around the world. Charles writes descriptive sketches of his encounters and sentiments to his new love Barbara, who is in turn experiencing her own transformations: the loss of her eyesight, life with a matriarchal mother and her growing literary and intellectual ambitions.
In this intimate and immersive account, Christabel reveals her parents’ unswerving devotion and blazing creativity, and shares insights into the iconic people they were becoming. With over 160 artworks from Charles Blackman, as well as never-before-seen sketches, letters, documents and photos, it is a beautiful and revealing portrait of two people, their art, and a world they changed forever.
Christabel Blackman was born in Melbourne in 1959, the daughter of iconic artist Charles Blackman and writer Barbara Blackman. She is a visual artist and a fine art conservator. At a young age she was studio assistant for her father, who taught her painting techniques, composition and the symbolic language of the emotions expressed in art.
In the seventies and early eighties she managed the family business of limited edition graphics in Sydney. Her formal trainings as artist and conservator were in Florence, Paris, Sydney and Valencia. She holds an Italian Diploma in Restoration of Easel paintings and a Spanish Masters Degree in Science for Art Conservation. She has lived half her life in Sydney and her other many lives in Europe and speaks five languages.
Christabel is represented by several major private galleries throughout Australia and has often exhibited in Europe. As an author Christabel published her first article when she was thirteen in the 'Terrace Times'. She has published articles in The Australian, E_Conservation Magazine (where she was the science editor) and many museum and auction catalogues, monographic art restoration publications, international congress papers, and conferences in English, Spanish and Valencian. Christabel has worked as a teacher, photographer, illustrator and gallery consultant. She runs her own private art restoration studio and visual arts practice.
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