Artists Registry

Dan Robbins might well be the most widely exhibited artist that ever lived. Lierally hundreds of thousands or even millions of his designs were bought and painted by an enthusiastic art-starved public back in the 1950's. Art starved because of the elitist, bewildering developments of Pollack and Kline and of "Modern Art," in general.

Dan worked for Palmer Paint Company in Detroit then, and there he porduced thirty six of the company's original and best selling images using a technique he devleoped known as "The CraftMaster System." Other artists were soon hired by Dan, whose duties became more administrative, but he continued to contribute ideas and make final approval for most of their early line of pictures.

The demand for paint-by-numbers exploded in the early 50's and Palmer Paint Company produced 12 million kits a year to meet this demand. Soon more than 30 other companies had entered the arena, and by the end of the '50's, the craze died as suddenly as it had been born. Some companies folded, others sold.

Over the decades that followed, millions of pictures left their walls, and were relegated to attics, basements and dumpsters. AT the same time a new breed of collectors emerged; "PBN Collectors" they called themselves, buying the remaining castoffs at yard sales and thrift shops. By the 1980's a gallery or two across the country had exhibitions of "pbn's." Then late in the '90's a major exhibition was staged at the Smithsonian, calling attention to these works primarily as social artifacts.

Dan Robbins Today
Today, Robbins is being rediscovered in a whole different context. His early images, painted with varying degrees of precision by their original owners, have become quite collectible as icons of the genre. His historical importance in the development of contemporary art is being recognized

His book, "Whatever Happened To Paint By Numbers?", is a wonderful, humorous account of his life at Palmer Paint Co and shortly after.

Dan has appeared on ABC's Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Today, and narrated a public television presentation on Paint-By-Numbers. Numerous newspaper and magazine articles have been written about him. Dan's no stranger to the art scene, and getting more all the time.