R. O. Blechman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Oscar Robert Blechman (1930-10-01)October 1, 1930 (age 94) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Animator,Cartoonist |
| Awards | Art Directors Hall of Fame, 1999 Emmy Award, 1984 Adweek Illustrator of the Year, 1983 National Cartoonists Society Lifetime Achievement Award 2010 |
| Website | roblechman |
R. O. Blechman (born October 1, 1930)[1] is an Americananimator,illustrator,children's-book author,graphic novelist andeditorial cartoonist whose work has been the subject of retrospectives at theMuseum of Modern Art and other institutions. He was inducted into theArt Directors Hall of Fame in 1999.
Blechman's best-known works include the bookThe Juggler of Our Lady (1953),television commercials forAlka-Seltzer (1967) and other products, the animatedPBS specialGreat Performances:The Soldier's Tale; a minute-long CBS Christmas greeting (1966);[2] and numerous covers forThe New Yorker magazine.
Oscar Robert Blechman, whose professional name transposes the initials of his first two given names,[3] was born inBrooklyn,New York City,New York, and attended theHigh School of Music and Art[3] andOberlin College, where he drew cartoons for thestudent newspaper,The Oberlin Review.[1]Henry Holt published his first book,The Juggler of Our Lady, aChristmas retelling of the medieval legend, in 1953. Five years later, it was adapted into a nine-minuteTerrytoonsanimated short by Al Kouzel andGene Deitch, narrated byBoris Karloff. The short earned aBAFTA Award nomination for Best Animated Film.[citation needed]
After being drafted into theUnited States Army and serving inAsbury Park, New Jersey,[3] he was invited byanimatorJohn Hubley to join the advertising studio Storyboard Inc., where Blechman learned animation.[3] He expanded into spot illustration and sequential-panel illustration for such magazines asHarper's Bazaar,Trump,Punch,Esquire,Humbug,Theater Arts andShow; a humorous print campaign forCapezio shoes; and drawings forIrving Trust bank,The New School, and D'Orsay perfumes, among others. His 1967TV commercial forAlka-Seltzer, for which he created thestoryboard and drawings, "remains a classic of American advertising".[3]
During the 1970s, Blechman pennedVietnam War editorial cartoons for the liberal alternative weeklyThe Village Voice.[3] That same decade, he produced thePBS Christmastelevision specialSimple Gifts (1977), which used his segment "No Room at the Inn", along with segments by fellow illustratorsMaurice Sendak,James McMullan,Seymour Chwast, andCharles B. Slackman.[3] In 1978[4] or 1979,[5] Blechman founded the commercial-animation studio The Ink Tank.
Blechman directed the 1984 PBS specialThe Soldier's Tale, an animated, one-hour adaptation ofcomposerIgor Stravinsky's andplaywrightC. F. Ramuz's theater pieceL'Histoire du Soldat. The special won theEmmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Animated Programming.
The Museum of Modern Art mounted the retrospective "R. O. Blechman and The Ink Tank: A Celebration", beginning January 17, 2003.[4]
Blechman wrote and illustrated the 2007children's bookFranklin the Fly;[6] and wrote the bookDear James: Letters to a Young Illustrator.[7] His graphic stories are collected inTalking Lines.[8] The French publisherDelpire published a collection of his artwork for the series "Poche Illustrateur",[9] and hisgraphic novelGeorgie.[10]
Blechman and his wife, Moisha Kubinyi, the daughter of painters Doris Hall[11] andKálmán Kubinyi, lived onCentral Park West inManhattan[3] through 2003, moving that year to their weekend home inAncram, New York.[5] They have two sons:Nicholas, who at various points was the art editor ofThe New York Times Book Review and the creative director ofThe New Yorker,[12] and Max,[3] who edited the collectionRevolutionary Romanticism: A Drunken Boat Anthology.[13]
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