Robert Blue

Robert Dunlap{{cite news |title=Robert D. Blue, dead at 50 |url=https://variety.com/1998/legit/news/robert-d-blue-dead-at-50-1117467179/amp/ |access-date=28 October 2022 |work=Variety |date=29 January 1998}} Blue (1946his Variety obituary gives his age at death as 50 but does not provide a birth year. If he was indeed born in 1946, he would have been 52. – January 22, 1998Art-Mart.com - [http://www.art-mart.com/Robert%20Blue.htm Robert Blue]) was a painter noted for his images of pin-up girls in the 1980s and later his cowgirls of the New West series. He was the son of comedic actor Ben Blue. Blue's work precedes that of Patrick Nagel, as Blue's credits as a commercial artist date as early as 1970. A Blue painting was used for the album back cover art for Iron Butterfly "Metamorphosis" 1970 LP release{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} and he painted fetish pin-ups of icon Bettie Page on canvas as early as 1974, which were collected by the "Pin-up King" Charles G. Martignette.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} (Martignette is co-author of The Great American Pin-Up with Louis K. Meisel). Other notable collectors of Blue's art have included Jack Nicholson, Barbra Streisand, Brian Wilson and Hugh Hefner, as well as numerous corporate collectors, including the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Los Angeles, and the Atlanta Hilton Motel.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Blue's paintings are in the National Archives in Washington D.C. and the permanent collection of the Carnegie Art Museum.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Biography

Robert Dunlap Blue was born, 27 August 1946 in Los Angeles County, California, to Axie (née Dunlap) and Ben Blue,{{cite web |title=Robert Dunlap Blue, Born 08/27/1946 in California |url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/robert_dunlap_blue_born_1946_3123632 |website=CaliforniaBirthIndex.org |access-date=28 October 2022}} and grew up in Beverly Hills.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} He served in the United States Army and attended the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, earning a BFA at the Chouinard Art Institute (1969){{cite web |title=Robert Blue |url=http://www.chouinardfoundation.org/home/grandview-magazine/ |website=Grand View magazine |publisher=Chouinard Foundation |access-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019031712/http://www.chouinardfoundation.org/home/grandview-magazine/ |archive-date=19 October 2016}}{{cite web |title=Chouinard Foundation |url=http://www.chouinardfoundation.org/home/grandview-magazine/ |website=Chouinard Foundation Library |access-date=28 October 2022 |quote=when comedian Ben Blue's son, Robert, appeared at the Grand View school to further his art career. Robert Blue ('69) tragically passed away}} in Los Angeles. Blue served as chairman of fine art at Assn. in Art, Van Nuys.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 1979, Blue joined Brian Davis to form the Davis-Blue Artwork publishing company. This company published a number of dramatic posters, including some by illustrator Major Felten.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Blue, a published painter as early as 1970 worked in many mediums including watercolors, oils and acrylics. Blue's fashion pin-up "Blue Girl" paintings and serigraphs were done in the 1980s, selling to Japan. Compare Blue's artwork to the famous Playboy and commercial illustrator Patrick Nagel, both artists were alumni of the Chouinard Art Institute and painted women during the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Blue's popular 1980s period "Blue Girl" series was easily identifiable. Blue painted eyebrows featuring a signature zig-zag detail, with hair swirls with individual strands (often in a stark violet or gold), hands adorning long painted nails, frequently in cherry red. Some popular paintings include "Monica," "Lauren," "Claudia," and golden-haired "Suzanne," in which Blue painted and printed his female subject's hair strands in micronized 24k gold.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In the early 1990s, Blue painted with more realism. By the mid 1990s Blue began painting Bettie Page.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Blue and Page collaborated on a series of serigraphs which Page also signed. Robert Blue, Dave Stevens and Olivia De Berardinis feature Page.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Blue succumbed to brain cancer in Santa Monica in 1998, and the Robert Blue Foundation to aid brain cancer victims was instituted in his memory.{{cite web |title=Obituary for Robert D. BLUE |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43027617/obituary-for-robert-d-blue/ |website=The Los Angeles Times |publisher=newspapers.com |access-date=28 October 2022 |pages=396 |date=25 January 1998}} He was survived by his wife, Linda, and his brother, Tom.{{cite web |title=ROBERT BLUE, ARTIST AND FLINTKNAPPER |url=https://flintknappingdigest.blogspot.com/2013/04/hrefhttp1.html |website=FLINTKNAPPING DIGEST |access-date=28 October 2022 |date=26 April 2013}}

Blue's art was featured in the 1974 film The Second Coming of Suzanne, and also 1984's Heartbreakers, which was loosely based on Blue himself.{{cite web |title=Heartbreakers (1984) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/57105 |website=Catalog |publisher=AFI |access-date=28 October 2022}}[https://us.imdb.com/title/tt0087397/trivia IMDb.com - Trivia for Heartbreakers] {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}} His work also appeared in the 1982 Richard Elfman film Forbidden Zone.IMDb.com - [https://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0080752/trivia Trivia for Forbidden Zone]{{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}

References

Category:1946 births

Category:1998 deaths

Category:Artists from Los Angeles

Category:Pin-up artists

Category:Chouinard Art Institute alumni

Robert Blue

Biography

Further reading

References