David Blackwood

Who is David Blackwood?

David Lloyd Blackwood, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian artist.

Blackwood is known chiefly for his intaglio prints, often depicting dramatic historical scenes of Newfoundland outport life and industry, such as shipwrecks, seal hunting, iceberg encounters, and resettlement. He considers himself a "visual storyteller," and also produces paintings, drawings and woodcuts.

Born in Wesleyville, Newfoundland, David Blackwood opened his first art studio in 1956, and in 1959 was awarded a scholarship to study at the Ontario College of Art. After graduating in 1963 he remained in Ontario, where he became Art Master at Trinity College School in Port Hope. Blackwood was involved in establishing an art gallery at Erindale College, now called The Blackwood Gallery in his honour. In 1976, the National Film Board of Canada produced a documentary film about the artist, Blackwood, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1993, and of the Order of Ontario in 2002. In 2003, he became the first practising artist to be named Honorary Chairman of the Art Gallery of Ontario, which maintains a Blackwood Research Centre and a major collection of his work. Blackwood currently resides in Port Hope, Ontario and keeps a studio in Wesleyville, Newfoundland and Labrador.