ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-1-1
Bob Camblin YES
A Sixty Year Retrospective 1950-2010
Just when the Renaissance painters began to figure out their trade, along came neoclassicism and its new theories. This in turn was upended by Romanticism which was eventually eclipsed by the introduction of Modern art. It didn’t take long for Modern art to give way to Contemporary art. It is within this milieu that we find this retrospective – 130 pieces that cover almost all the movements from Dada to Post-Impressionism.
We do not know exactly what moved Bob Camblin toward painting, but we do know he was influenced by reading Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and Lao-tzu. He also had a calling to impart direct, personal, and unmediated experiences into his artwork. A writer at heart, he nevertheless discovered his original relation to the universe was through painting. He believed that literature and art were not separate, but rather intertwined in a seamless whole that included science and religion. In his journal he wrote, “Some say Picasso said, ‘paintings are not to decorate the walls of a room or apartment, but are instruments of war against brutality and darkness’.” Camblin sought to unite art, literature, and philosophy in his battle with brutality and darkness as well. He chose the only weapon he had training in – the paintbrush.
The publication of an artist’s oeuvre is always an interesting endeavor. This retrospective catalog takes us from the 1940s when Camblin began to discover his artistic talent, through his fusion of philosophy and drawing shortly before his death in 2010. Beginning at an early age with both parents interested in painting and drawing, he inadvertently began his career as the art director of his local high-school newsletter. Attending the Kansas City Art Institute gave him the intellectual expansion and opportunity to take advantage of a variety of professors, among whom was Tom Cavanaugh who was instrumental in urging him to give a try at new techniques and mediums. Both were awarded Fulbright Scholarships to Italy. After being awestruck by what he saw at the Uffizi Gallery and at The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, he began a career as an artist and teacher that spanned an ever-evolving creative lifetime. Anyone interested in the development of late 20th century art will enjoy viewing Bob Camblin’s A Sixty Year Retrospective 1950 – 2010.
color 76 pages 136 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-0-4
Family Portrait
The Lost Sketchbooks of BOB CAMBLIN
1956 – 1974
In 1974, this renowned artist’s artist, packed and sealed with rope and wax, a dynamite crate of Atlas Powder’s. The top carved: “All Fool’s Day 1974 closed Open 2000”
Was it his intent the crate not be opened until his death? Perhaps. It remained unopened for forty years, contents unknown. Wrapped in fishing nets, protected by hooks and anchors was artistic gold – his sketchbooks from 1956-1974. Widely known, controversial, iconoclastic and often imitated by those in his sphere, little is known of his immense body of work. Literally thousands of oils, acrylics, watercolors, drawings, prints, and painted paper are scattered to the four corners – yet none can be found for sale. The rare instant a Camblin shows up on eBay or other sites, it is immediately snatched up, price never questioned. Like his explosive, time capsule crate, it is an adventure many undertake to uncover an original. Those in museums, private collections, and the Smithsonian are never for sale. Like all beautiful, masterful and unique art, they remain closely held. Like a modern-age pirate, his treasures were often hidden and abandoned, left to be discovered by future treasure hunters. This book is an effort to give this extraordinary artist a wider recognition – to bring him to an audience of those with discriminating sensibility, who will know, “Yes, he is the real thing.” Adept in all mediums, it was the ink line, the fundamental line, pure and shaded, that took him above and beyond the every-man ability: intimate drawings and musings never intended for the public eye, unmediated, spontaneous expressions of joy in free hand.
B & W 226 pages 220 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-2-8
Bob Camblin
DRAWriting The Late 20th Century
At the close of the 1980s, and free from the commercial constraints of signing his own name to artwork and gallery representation, he immersed himself in his vision of art. Camblin took working trips to Paris, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands creating an even broader series of paintings, watercolors, and pen/ink drawings he called DRAWritings. This monograph explains through drawings what one artist saw in the late 20th century.
B & W 400 pages 350 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-3-5
Bob Camblin N Compleat Workes
Ruminations About Life in The
Late 20th Century Vol I
American-born painter Bob Camblin has achieved considerable acclaim with his oeuvre of elegant and humanistic modern art. Bob Camblin: N Compleat Workes VOL I examines this 20th century master’s career from 1948 to 1968 including the origins and development of his body of work, including the artist’s early drawings, paintings, sketchbook ruminations, and folklore.
Color 178 pages 125 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-4-2
Bob Camblin N Compleat Workes
Ruminations About Life in The
Late 20th Century Vol II
American-born painter Bob Camblin has achieved considerable acclaim with his oeuvre of elegant and humanistic modern art. Bob Camblin: N Compleat Workes VOL II examines this 20th century master’s career through the early 1970s, including the origins and development of his body of work, including the artist’s early drawings, paintings, sketchbook ruminations, and folklore.
Color 124 pages 100 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-5-9
Bob Camblin N Compleat Workes
Ruminations About Life in The
Late 20th Century Vol III
American-born painter Bob Camblin has achieved considerable acclaim with his oeuvre of elegant and humanistic modern art. Bob Camblin: N Compleat Workes VOL III examines this 20th century master’s career through the latter 1970s, including the origins and development of his body of work, including the artist’s early drawings, paintings, sketchbook ruminations, and folklore.
Color 126 pages 123 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-6-6
Bob Camblin N Compleat Workes
Ruminations About Life in The
Late 20th Century Vol IV
American-born painter Bob Camblin has achieved considerable acclaim with his oeuvre of elegant and humanistic modern art. Bob Camblin: N Compleat Workes VOL IV examines this 20th century master’s career in the 1980s, including the origins and development of his body of work, including the artist’s early drawings, paintings, sketchbook ruminations, and folklore.
Color 122 pages 91 illustrations
ISBN-13: 978-0-9988949-7-3
Bob Camblin N Compleat Workes
Ruminations About Life in The
Late 20th Century Vol V
American-born painter Bob Camblin has achieved considerable acclaim with his oeuvre of elegant and humanistic modern art. Bob Camblin: N Compleat Workes VOL V examines this 20th century master’s career through the 1980s and 2000s, including the origins and development of his body of work, including the artist’s early drawings, paintings, sketchbook ruminations, and folklore.
Color 138 pages 116 illustrations