Robert Noel Blair

Robert Noel Blair (August 12, 1912 – June 15, 2003) was an American painter and sculptor from the Western New York-Buffalo area.

Art

Blair is known for his paintings of Western New York,

Blair's watercolors have been exhibited widely in both in the United States and Europe and they have earned many prestigious awards. Blair was honored with over fifty one-man shows in his lifetime.[2]

From 1934 to 1946 his work was exhibited at the

In 2005, an exhibition of his early work (1931–1949) was shown at the Eclectic Art and Objects Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The exhibition of watercolors entitled Robert Noel Blair – A View from the Outside was made up of what Blair had considered to be his best and most important paintings which had been stored in his barn studio until his death in 2003.^[2]

From August to September, 2011, at the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, Pennsylvania, fifty-two of Blair's works were shown in a solo exhibition, "Robert N. Blair: Paintings & Drawings", curated by artist, student and friend Wendy Warner.^[4]

In May 2012, the Benjaman Gallery held an exhibition of the Blair family's work including art and photographs by Robert Blair, Bruce Blair, David Blair, and Jeanette Blair.^[6][7] A tribute to Jeanette Blair, celebrating her own work as a watercolorist, was held at The Benjaman Gallery on June 1, 2012.^[8]

Museums and private collections

Today, his work is represented in many museums and private collections including the

The Ford Motor Company owns ten of his paintings. Blair painted a large mural for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1947.[2]^[5]

Publications

Blair's work has been the subject of articles in

Blair's art adorns pages in Captain and Mate, 1940; St. Lawrence Seaway, 1957; Ford Times Magazine, 1958–61; American Artist Magazine, 1966; and Jeannie's World, 1966.[4]

Education and teaching

Born in Buffalo, New York, Blair is the brother of

Blair was the director of the Art Institute of Buffalo (1946–1949), where he taught art with his wife, Jeannette Blair. In 1955 he taught at the Albright Art School, Buffalo, New York, and from 1955 to 1971 he taught at the Buffalo State University, Buffalo, New York.^[4]

World War II

Although a self-described pacifist, he joined the

Most of his World War II paintings were donated by Blair to the Burchfield Art Center, Buffalo, New York, (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center) after a solo exhibition of these works in 1985 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Watercolor Society.[1] Images of some of Blair's World War II paintings can be viewed online at the US Army Center of Military History, Battle of the Bulge, Artwork and Photography.^[10]

Personal life

Blair married artist Jeanette Ann (née Kenney; born September 22, 1922) on August 8, 1943, in front of his "Sermon on the Mount" mural, one of a trio of murals he contributed to

After Blair's World War II army service, in 1946, the couple settled in Holland, New York, and supported themselves selling their own art and teaching art classes. On June 15, 2003, he died at his home in Holland, New York.

References

Further reading

• "An American Visionary", Watercolor Magic Magazine, pp. 66–69, October 2004.
• Robert N. Blair: The Watercolor Tradition in Western New York. Burchfield-Penney Art Center, 2000.
• Oral History Interview with Robert Noel Blair, 1994 Nov. 30 to 1995 Aug. 27. Smithsonian Archives of American Art, 2 Cassette Recording (2 Hours) - Synopsis at Smithsonian Archives of American Art Website [3]