Thomas Blackshear

Thomas Blackshear
Born	Thomas Richman Blackshear II (1955-11-14) November 14, 1955 Waco, Texas US
Nationality	American
Occupation	Artist
Years active	1987-present

Thomas Richman Blackshear II (born November 14, 1955)^[1] is an African-American artist, many of whose paintings adorn Evangelical churches. He is also a sculptor and a designer of ornaments, often of African American themes.

Early life

Blackshear was born in Waco, Texas. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.

Blackshear attended the Art Institute of Chicago and then American Academy of Art in Chicago.

Career

Blackshear designed illustrations for numerous postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS),^[2] including four in the Black Heritage stamp series:^[3]

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, Scott # 2249, issued February 20, 1987
James W. Johnson, Scott # 2371, issued February 2, 1988
Asa Philip Randolph, Scott # 2402, issued February 3, 1989
Ida B. Wells, Scott # 2442, issued February 1, 1990
Dorothy Height, #474304 issued February 2, 2017-- in conjunction with Lateef Mangum.^[4]

A touring exhibit of his Black Heritage works premiered in 1992 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.^[5]

Other U.S. postage stamps with Blackshear illustrations include portraits of Joe Louis, Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk for the Jazz Series, and illustrations for stamps commemorating James Cagney, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Beau Geste and Stagecoach for the Classic Hollywood Movies series, as well as several stamps for Classic Movie Monsters. He also illustrated the USPS book I Have A Dream: A Collection of Black Americans on U.S. Postage Stamps (1991).^[2]

Works and publications

Blackshear, Thomas (1993). The African American Tradition: Heroes of Our Heritages. Trumbull, CT: Greenwich Workshop, Inc. OCLC 34829260.
Blackshear, Thomas (painting by); Lessin, Roy (heart reflections written by) (1996). Forgiven: A Collection. Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Publications. ISBN 978-1-884-00988-4. OCLC 883406076.

References

↑ "Thomas Richman Ii Blackshear - Texas Birth Index". FamilySearch. 14 November 1955.
1 2 Biographical notes, Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections. Accessed online 5 November 2006.
↑ Black Heritage Stamp Issues 1978 to 2002, Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections. Accessed 5 November 5, 2006.
↑ Store, USPS. "USPS.com - Store". store.usps.com. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
↑ Thomas Blackshear II, GreenwichWorkshop.com. Accessed online 5 November 2006.

External links

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