1972-4 – Laser-Chromason Mk II – J. S. Ostoja-Kotkowski (Polish-Australian)

Not quite an "art robot", but Kotkowski's Laser Chromason Mark II impressed me greatly in 1974 in terms of Electronic art and Laser art. Its design even has a robotic look about it. The above images sourced from here, and flipped for correct orientation. MEANJIN QUARTELTY Vol 68 No. 1, 2009. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/82683/20090515-0729/www.meanjin.com.au/editions/volume-68-number-1-2009/article/light-becomes-the-medium/index.html Light Becomes the Medium …

1895 – Mechanical Toy Artist – Caroline Spilsbury Pocock (British)

[Source: A Century of Toys From The London Toy & Model Museum, 1982, Exhibition Catalogue] Blurb from Youtube: A very rare and clever toy produced in Germany approximately 1885 until about 1905. The little hand-cranked tin artist draws with a graphite stick onto paper via 'programmed' double-cams (x and y axis). I read about it …

1955-62 – Painting Machine – Raymond N. Auger (American)

Press Photo of Raymond Auger's Painting Machine 1962. ROBOT ART: "Take home a machine-made painting while U want it," reads the sign over the door of the "Automatic Art Show" in a shop in New York's Greenwich Village. Presiding over it is Raymond Auger, a bearded painter who believes in giving art a new mechanical  …

1909c – Walking Machines (Fictional) – Harry Grant Dart (American)

"Orient Express" is one of my favourites, showing Luggage with arms and legs! Robot with attitude! Harry Grant Dart (1869 – 1938) Unlike many illustrators who graduated from newspaper art departments to the more lucrative magazine markets, Harry Dart continued to work in both fields.  Beginning with the Boston Herald, he was sent to Cuba …

1966 – R/C Tortoise – François-Xavier Lalanne (French)

VIDEO CLIP There are a few wonderful period French newsreel clips showing Lalanne's Tortoise and other sculptures found here Gaumont Pathe Archives . You have to be registered (free) and logged in to see the preview.  Search for "lalanne" without the quotes and look at all three clips from 1966-1970. François-Xavier Lalanne's Radio controlled tortoise (Tortue Bar Angelique). …