Mr. Blackwell: “Artist of Subtle Witchery”
The inaugural exhibition in the Blackwell gallery, named after designer and donor Mr. Richard Blackwell, featured Blackwell’s own gowns, designs, and advertisements.
Mr. Blackwell, “Artist of Subtle Witchery…”
While known today primarily for his Annual Worst Dressed list, Richard Blackwell (1922-2008) was an innovative designer, who produced successful apparel lines from the 1950s through the 1980s. Crafting his persona as “Mr. Blackwell” and establishing his couture fashion line as the “House of Blackwell”, his design philosophy put great emphasis on creating garments that everyday women could wear. Mr. Blackwell achieved this with classic silhouettes and elegant feminine details.
Mr. Blackwell’s relationship with Colorado State University began in 1989 when he learned of a large donation of his designs to the University by Lum and Montez Jenkins, owners of Cates First Avenue, an exclusive dress shop in Denver’s Cherry Creek. Through the 1990s and early 2000s Mr. Blackwell and his partner Robert L. Spencer added to CSU’s collection, which now numbers over 200 garments.
The Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising is also home to Mr. Blackwell’s extensive business and design archive that chronicles both the artistic and the merchandising aspects of his career. The collection includes master patterns, marketing ephemera, fashion photographs, pastel drawings and a series of working fashion sketches.
We are very proud of our 25 year relationship with Mr. Blackwell, which developed into true friendship, and feel privileged that he came to the CSU campus as a visiting scholar in 1997, where he taught studio classes, gave several public lectures, and presided over a wonderful retrospective of his collections.
In 2010, the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising held a major exhibition of Mr. Blackwell’s creative life entitled Mr. Blackwell: A Retrospective as a tribute to his memory. Richard Blackwell will always be held in the highest esteem at the Avenir Museum and we are pleased to name this gallery in his honor so that his legacy of sophisticated, elegant design can live on for years to come. The exquisite apparel before you is on exhibition for the first time here, with the exception of the black shantung and sequin mermaid evening dress, which was Mr. Blackwell’s personal favorite and also appeared in the 2010 exhibition.
Robert L. Spencer (1920-2014), Richard Blackwell’s business and longtime personal partner, was a quiet man who built, promoted and navigated the business of the House of Blackwell for many years. Putting out fires, smoothing ruffled feathers, Spencer (as he was affectionately known) is the reason we have Blackwell. The Richard Blackwell Gallery equally honors Spencer’s contribution and legacy as part of a remarkable partnership that will continue to inspire students and scholars of design
