Michael Blackwood (filmmaker)
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Michael Blackwood (July 15, 1934 – February 24, 2023) was a German-born American independent documentary filmmaker who founded Blackwood Productions, now known as Michael Blackwood Productions, in 1966.Rozon, René
''Michael Blackwood and the Filmed Chronicle of Modern Art''
Le Journal Ateliers, 1981.


Early years

Blackwood was born in Breslau, Germany, on July 15, 1934. In 1949, the family relocated to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.Kleihues, Josef Paul and Rathgeber, Christian. “Berlin and New York: A Personal Involvement: Michael Blackwood.” Berlin-New York: Like and Unlike, Essays on Architecture and Art from 1870 to the present, Rizzoli International Publications, 1993.


Career

Blackwood's first film experience came at the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
Special Films Unit where he worked under the editor Isaac Kleinerman to make documentary films such as '' Broadway Express'' (1957–1959). Blackwood's fly on the wall approach in this early short film marked the starting point of the observational filmmaking style he would become known for. Later he worked as a freelance producer-director for German Television to make documentary films about cultural news subjects, which would result in ongoing collaborations with them during his independent film career. With the help of his brother
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, Michael created Blackwood Productions in 1966, a production company dedicated to making films about art, music, and the cultural landscape in New York City. Blackwood's main aim was to document the New York art scene unfolding around him in the 1960s and 1970s. Starting with his documentation of Christo's ''Wrapped Coast'' project in Little Bay, Australia in 1969, Blackwood began a series of monographic films with artists such as
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...
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Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...
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Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...
,
Isamu Noguchi was an American artist, furniture designer and Landscape architecture, landscape architect whose career spanned six decades from the 1920s. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Grah ...
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Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...
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Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
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Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
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George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as '' Ship o ...
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Jim Dine Jim Dine (born June 16, 1935) is an American artist. Dine's work includes painting, drawing, printmaking (in many forms including lithographs, etchings, gravure, intaglio, woodcuts, letterpress, and linocuts), sculpture, and photography. Educ ...
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Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
, and
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954 ...
. He also directed film surveys with dozens of participants, covering subjects such as the New York School of painting, abstract expressionism, pop art, American art in the 1960s and 70s, postmodern choreography, modern sculpture and postmodern architecture. Blackwood's first film on the subject of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
was his silent short film titled ''Broadway Express'' (1959), an intimate, action-filled portrait of the city's subway system, highlighting its diverse ridership. Staying true to his observational filmmaking style, Blackwood hit the streets and made ''Summer in the City'' (1969), a film documenting the culture of the Upper West Side of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. The film, conceived by
Christian Blackwood Christian Blackwood (July 7, 1942 – July 22, 1992) was an American film director and cinematographer. He was initially a child actor, then a cinematographer acclaimed for his work in Charlotte Zwerin's '' Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chas ...
and narrated by
Uwe Johnson Uwe Johnson (; 20 July 1934 – 22 February 1984) was a German writer, editor, and scholar. Such prominent writers and scholars as Günter Grass and Hans Mayer declared Johnson to be the most significant writer to emerge from East Germany. Duri ...
, followed a block party organized by the
Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a socialist political party in the United States which operates mostly in California. It was formed in 1966 from anti–Vietnam War and pro–civil rights movements. PFP operates both as an organization unt ...
, protestors outside City Hall, old age home residents, two heroin addicts, drag pageant contestants, and many others, making it a diverse display of New York City life. In 1985, Michael completed his feature documentation of New York City, the monstrous ''Empire City'' (1985), a look at the political, economic, and social state of Manhattan with appearances from
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, Phillip Johnson,
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, Brooke Astor, and Herman Badillo, among others. The film took an honest look at the economic disparities between the rich and the poor, political struggles, and the ever-present art scene that defined New York City in the 1980s. The Blackwoods might be most well known for their two monographic cinema verité films ''Monk'' (1968) and ''Monk in Europe'' (1968), documenting legendary jazz pianist
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...
. Some of this footage was featured in the Charlotte Zwerin documentary '' Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser'' (1988), which was executive produced by
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
. The original footage of Monk, which followed him in New York, Atlanta, and on tour in Europe, is some of the only existing footage of the musician in action. The two brothers worked side by side until 1982 when Christian decided to go his own way and produce his own films. Michael renamed Blackwood Productions to Michael Blackwood Productions in 1982, and occasionally collaborated with Christian on films even after Christian's departure. With his new production company also based in New York, Christian Blackwood made a dozen films during a ten-year period before his death in 1992. Michael Blackwood Productions expanded to encompass the subject of architecture with the film ''Beyond Utopia: Changing Attitudes in American Architecture'' (1983) and went on to document the works of many other architects including
Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...
,
Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...
,
Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎 新, ''Isozaki Arata''; 23 July 1931 – 28 December 2022) was a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita, Ōita, Ōita. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize i ...
, and
Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...
. Michael Blackwood directed and produced over 50 films between 1983 and 1999 under Michael Blackwood Productions, and since 2000, an even greater number, largely split between the subjects of art and architecture.


Death

Blackwood died on February 24, 2023, at the age of 88.Michael Blackwood obituary
Legacy


Legacy

Michael Blackwood created over 150 films covering art, architecture, dance, music, history, and culture with such figures as
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...
,
Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980) was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. "Guston worked in a number of artistic modes, from Renaissance-inspired figuration to formally accomplis ...
,
Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...
,
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
,
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
,
Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...
, and
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
. Blackwood helped define a cinema verité observational style of filmmaking that was practiced by such contemporaries as
Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films in ...
and D.A. Pennebaker. His diverse array of films and subjects contain a common thread of didacticism and austerity, favoring pure reporting over the art of filmmaking. Blackwood's core belief is that in the cinema lies the power to enlighten the viewer, and thus reconcile the masses with the art of the postwar world.


References


External links


Michael Blackwood Productions Website
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Michael Blackwood Productions Awards and Honors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwood, Michael 1934 births 2023 deaths American documentary film producers Film people from Wrocław Filmmakers from New York (state) Polish emigrants to the United States