Robert Frederick Blum (July 9, 1857 — June 8, 1903) was an American artist born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 9th of July 1857.

He was employed for a time in a lithographic shop, and studied at the McMicken Art School of Design in Cincinnati, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Artsin Philadelphia, but he was practically self-taught, and early showed great and original talent.

He settled in New York in 1879, and his first published sketches of Japanese jugglers appeared in St. Nicholas. His most important work is a large frieze in the Mendelssohn Music Hall, New York, Music and the Dance (1895). His pen-and-ink work for the Century Magazine attracted wide attention, as did his illustrations for Sir Edwin Arnold’s Japonica.

In the country and art of Japan he had been interested for many years. He was an admirer of Fortuny, whose methods somewhat influenced his work. Blum’s Venetian pictures, such as A Bright Day at Venice (1882), had lively charm and beauty. He died on the 8th of June 1903 in New York City.

He was a member of the National Academy of Design, being elected after his exhibition in 1892 of The Ameya; and was president of the Painters in Pastel. Although an excellent draughtsman and etcher, illustrator-lithographer, it was as a colorist that he chiefly excelled.

Robert Blum drawings executed and produced by lithography, signed in the image. Only Published in 1891, after his sketch first executed during his trip to Japan. Text as published. This Drawn work measure 6 by 5 inches in good condition with little discoloration OUTSIDE of the art work.

Art (paintings, prints, frames)