Dan Robbins, an artist who created the first paint-by-numbers pictures and helped turn the kits into an American sensation during the 1950s, has died. He was 93.

Robbins, whose works were dismissed by some critics but later celebrated by the Smithsonian Institution91裸聊视频檚 National Museum of American History, died Monday in Sylvania, Ohio, said his son, Larry Robbins.

He had been in good health until a series of falls in recent months, his son said.

Robbins was working as a package designer for the Palmer Paint Company in Detroit when he came up with the idea for paint-by-numbers in the late 1940s. He said his inspiration came from Leonardo da Vinci.

91裸聊视频淚 remembered hearing that Leonardo used numbered background patterns for his students and apprentices, and I decided to try something like that,91裸聊视频� Robbins said in 2004.

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He showed his first attempt 91裸聊视频� an abstract still life 91裸聊视频� to his boss, Max Klein, who promptly told Robbins he hated it.

But Klein saw potential with the overall concept and told Robbins to come up with something people would want to paint. The first versions were of landscapes, and then he branched out to horses, puppies and kittens.

91裸聊视频淚 did the first 30 or 35 subjects myself, then I started farming them out to other artists,91裸聊视频� said Robbins, who mainly stuck to landscapes.

While the Craft Master paint-by-numbers kits weren91裸聊视频檛 embraced initially, sales quickly took off and peaked at 20 million in 1955. Within a few years, though, the market was flooded, sales dropped and Klein sold the company.

Together, Robbins helped create slices of Americana that are still collected and are found framed in homes across the nation. Palmer still sells at least two kits: one remembering the Sept. 11 attacks and the other depicting the Last Supper.

91裸聊视频淲e like to think dad was one of the most exhibited artists in the world,91裸聊视频� said Larry Robbins. 91裸聊视频淗e enjoyed hearing from everyday people. He had a whole box of fan letters.91裸聊视频�

He noted his father91裸聊视频檚 accomplishments are still on display at the Detroit Historical Museum, 91裸聊视频渞ight down from Henry Ford,91裸聊视频� his son said.

Robbins, who spent much of his life in the Detroit area, was modest about his work and didn91裸聊视频檛 get too bothered by those who mocked the paintings.

Critics came to view the paint-by-numbers kits as a metaphor for a commercialized, cookie-cutter culture and fretted that they far outnumbered the original works of art hanging in American homes, said William Lawrence Bird Jr., curator of the 2001 exhibition at the National Museum of American History.

Some within the museum questioned the idea of celebrating the paint-by-numbers craze and its impact on art, at least until the crowds showed up, Bird said.

91裸聊视频淗e would say, 91裸聊视频業 didn91裸聊视频檛 think of this, Leonardo did,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� Bird said. 91裸聊视频淗e was amused that people were collecting them.91裸聊视频�

When his paint-by-numbers days were over, Robbins continued to work in product development, including designing Happy Meal toys for McDonald91裸聊视频檚, Bird said.

Robbins, who wrote a book, 91裸聊视频淲hatever Happened to Paint-by-Numbers,91裸聊视频� said at the exhibition91裸聊视频檚 April 2001 opening in Washington that his creation survived despite the critics.

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91裸聊视频淚 never claim that painting by number is art,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淏ut it is the experience of art, and it brings that experience to the individual who would normally not pick up a brush, not dip it in paint. That91裸聊视频檚 what it does.91裸聊视频�

Robbins is survived by his wife, Estelle, sons Michael and Larry, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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