Boardman Robinson
Encyclopedia
Boardman Robinson was a Canadian-American
artist
, illustrator
and cartoonist
.
, Canada
. He spent his childhood in England
and Canada, before coming to Boston in the first half of the 1890s. Robinson worked his way through normal school
, following a program to learn mechanical drafting.
Robinson first studied art at the Massachusetts College of Art
in Boston
. He would later go on to study at the Académie Colarossi
and the École des Beaux-Arts
, both in Paris
, where he was influenced by the political cartooning of Honoré Daumier
, as well as Forain and Steinlen.
In 1903, Robinson married Sarah Senter Whitney. The couple moved to Paris where Robinson briefly worked as art editor for Vogue, before returning to the United States in 1904.
, Collier's, Harper's Weekly
, and others.
In 1910, Robinson took a job on the staff of the New York Tribune
drawing editorial cartoons, a position which he retained for four years. With the eruption of World War I
in 1914, Robinson's increasingly radical
anti-militarist political views brought him into conflict with his employer and he quit the publication.
In 1915, Robinson travelled to Eastern Europe
on behalf of the Metropolitan magazine
along with journalist John Reed. The pair saw first hand the effects of the European war in Russia
, Serbia
, Macedonia
and Greece
. In 1916 Reed's account of the journey was collected in a book called The War in Eastern Europe
, to which Robinson contributed illustrations.
On his return from Europe, Robinson worked at the socialist
monthly The Masses
. His highly political cartoons as well as the general anti-war stance of The Masses was deemed to have violated the recently passed Espionage Act of 1917, and The Masses had to cease publication. Robinson, along with the other defendants were acquitted on October 5, 1918. Following The Masses, Robinson became a contributing editor to The Liberator and the New Masses, working with former Masses editor Max Eastman
.
Robinson would later go on to teach art at the Art Students League
in New York City
(1919–30) and head the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
(1936–47). Some of his students include Bill Tytla
, Edmund Duffy
, Jacob Burck
, Russel Wright
, Gerhard Bakker, and Esther Shemitz (who soon after married Whittaker Chambers
: both Burck and Shemitz contributed illustrations to The New Masses as their mentor did.)
Robinson is also known as a muralist. Some of his mural
commissions include Rockefeller Center
, the Department of Justice
building in Washington, D.C.
and a nine-panel mural on the History of Trade for Kaufmann's
flagship department store in Pittsburgh
completed in 1929.
Robinson also illustrated several books, among these are editions of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
(1933), Edgar Lee Masters
' Spoon River Anthology
(1941) and Herman Melville
's Moby-Dick
(1942).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
.
Early years
Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876 in Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He spent his childhood in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Canada, before coming to Boston in the first half of the 1890s. Robinson worked his way through normal school
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
, following a program to learn mechanical drafting.
Robinson first studied art at the Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a publicly-funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools, the only publicly-funded free-standing art school in the United States, and was the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He would later go on to study at the Académie Colarossi
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi is an art school founded by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, it moved in the 1870s to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France....
and the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, both in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he was influenced by the political cartooning of Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century....
, as well as Forain and Steinlen.
In 1903, Robinson married Sarah Senter Whitney. The couple moved to Paris where Robinson briefly worked as art editor for Vogue, before returning to the United States in 1904.
Career
Upon returning to the United States, Robinson worked as an illustrator, drawing cartoons and theater illustrations for the New York Morning Telegraph. He freelanced for a wide range of other popular publications, including Pearson's magazine, Scribner's MagazineScribner's Magazine
Scribner's Magazine was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. Scribner's Magazine was the second magazine out of the "Scribner's" firm, after the publication of Scribner's Monthly...
, Collier's, Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
, and others.
In 1910, Robinson took a job on the staff of the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
drawing editorial cartoons, a position which he retained for four years. With the eruption of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914, Robinson's increasingly radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
anti-militarist political views brought him into conflict with his employer and he quit the publication.
In 1915, Robinson travelled to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
on behalf of the Metropolitan magazine
Metropolitan Magazine
Metropolitan Magazine can refer to:*The Metropolitan Magazine, a London monthly published 1831–1850*Metropolitan Magazine...
along with journalist John Reed. The pair saw first hand the effects of the European war in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. In 1916 Reed's account of the journey was collected in a book called The War in Eastern Europe
The War in Eastern Europe
The War in Eastern Europe is a book that describes John Reed's second trip after the first World War broke out.-References:*Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/warineasterneuro00reeduoft...
, to which Robinson contributed illustrations.
On his return from Europe, Robinson worked at the socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
monthly The Masses
The Masses
The Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the U.S. from 1911 until 1917, when Federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses...
. His highly political cartoons as well as the general anti-war stance of The Masses was deemed to have violated the recently passed Espionage Act of 1917, and The Masses had to cease publication. Robinson, along with the other defendants were acquitted on October 5, 1918. Following The Masses, Robinson became a contributing editor to The Liberator and the New Masses, working with former Masses editor Max Eastman
Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. For many years, Eastman was a supporter of socialism, a leading patron of the Harlem Renaissance and an activist for a number of liberal and radical causes...
.
Robinson would later go on to teach art at the Art Students League
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(1919–30) and head the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is an arts center located just north of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located on the same city block are the American Numismatic Association and part of the campus of Colorado College....
(1936–47). Some of his students include Bill Tytla
Bill Tytla
Vladimir Peter "Bill" Tytla was one of the original Disney animators and is considered by many to be the best character animator to work during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation...
, Edmund Duffy
Edmund Duffy
Edmund Duffy was born March 1, 1899 in Jersey City, New Jersey to a middle class family. Duffy made his name as an editorial cartoonist for The Baltimore Sun. He joined the paper in 1924 and received high praise from H. L. Mencken. He was among the first white cartoonist to attack the Ku Klux Klan...
, Jacob Burck
Jacob Burck
Jacob "Jake" Burck was an American painter, sculptor, and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.-Early years:Jacob Burck was born January 10, 1907, near Białystok, Poland, the son of ethnic Jewish parents, Abraham Burck and Rebecca Lev Burck...
, Russel Wright
Russel Wright
Russel Wright was an American Industrial designer during the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1920s through the 1960s, Russel Wright created a succession of artistically distinctive and commercially successful items that helped bring modern design to the general public.-Designer:Russel...
, Gerhard Bakker, and Esther Shemitz (who soon after married Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers was born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker Chambers , was an American writer and editor. After being a Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent later testifying in the perjury and espionage trial...
: both Burck and Shemitz contributed illustrations to The New Masses as their mentor did.)
Robinson is also known as a muralist. Some of his mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
commissions include Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
, the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
building in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and a nine-panel mural on the History of Trade for Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of 'Fallingwater' and the Kaufmann's Desert House. In the post-war years the store became a regional chain in the eastern United States, and was last...
flagship department store in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
completed in 1929.
Robinson also illustrated several books, among these are editions of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
(1933), Edgar Lee Masters
Edgar Lee Masters
Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist...
' Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River Anthology , by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of short free-form poems that collectively describe the life of the fictional small town of Spoon River, named after the real Spoon River that ran near Masters' home town. The collection includes two hundred and twelve separate...
(1941) and Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
's Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
(1942).
Further reading
- Albert Christ-Janer, Boardman Robinson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1946.
External links
- Student Resource on Boardman Robinson
- Boardman Robinson Internet Archive, at Marxists Internet ArchiveMarxists Internet ArchiveMarxists Internet Archive is a volunteer based non-profit organization that maintains a multi-lingual Internet archive of Marxist writers and other similar authors...
. Retrieved October 19, 2009.