About Charles Blackman
Australian · 1928–2018
Australian[1] figurative painter whose Alice in Wonderland and Schoolgirl series defined a distinctly unsettling strain of mid-century expressionism.
Museums2
Countries2
Most worksNational Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne · 16 works
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Where to see Charles Blackman
Ranked by works you can see in person.
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16 works
National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
Also here (6)
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1 works
Museum & Art Swindon
Swindon, United Kingdom
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Charles Blackman?
Charles Blackman was an Australian[1] self-taught painter, born in Sydney in 1928[1]. He is known for his figurative paintings and was a signatory of the Antipodean Manifesto in 1959[1], which argued for figurative painting as a serious art form. Charles Blackman died in Sydney in August 2018[1] at the age of 90.What is Charles Blackman known for?
Charles Blackman is best known for his *Alice in Wonderland* series, painted throughout the 1950s. These paintings depict dreamy, unnerving scenes with wide-eyed figures in environments where scale and logic are disrupted. He is also known for his *Schoolgirl* paintings, which portray anonymous girls in straw hats in unsettling urban settings.What was Charles Blackman's art style?
Blackman's paintings refused the confident gestures of abstract expressionism. His *Alice* series features dreamy, unnerving canvases in which wide-eyed figures float through environments where scale and logic have broken down entirely. The *Schoolgirl* paintings also depict an unsettling urban world.
Sources
Where to See guide aggregates verified holdings of Charles Blackman's works across the following collections.
- [1] wikipedia Wikipedia: Charles Blackman Used for: biography.
- [2] book Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author, Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author - The Art Book_ New Edition, Mini Format Used for: biography.
- [3] book guggenheim-australianvision00wald Used for: biography.
- [4] book Martin Gascoigne, Rosalie Gascoigne: A Catalogue Raisonné Used for: biography, stylistic analysis.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-07-28. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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