Distinguished Australian artist Charles Raymond Blackman OBE (1928–2018) emerged from humble beginnings in Harbord, NSW. Leaving school at age 13, he taught himself to paint, drawing early influence from literature, fantasy, and the modernist milieu. 

By the late 1940s and ’50s, Blackman had developed his signature evocative style, haunting schoolgirls, whimsical Alice in Wonderland figures, and dreamlike interiors, anchored by expressive line, figuration, and emotional depth. 

Blackman received broad recognition for his work after winning the Helena Rubinstein Travelling Scholarship in 1960, which led him to London and significant international exposure. He remained a key figure in Australian art, a signatory of the Antipodeans Manifesto (1959), an inspiration for younger artists, and celebrated in retrospective exhibitions well into the 1990s.