Born in 1948 in Newton Kansas, Robert Chapman moved with his family to Phoenix Arizona at the age of nine. At that early age Chapman's interests centered around science and he was sure he was headed for a life as a chemist. At the age of twelve however one suddenly clarifying experience crystalized Chapman's desires. He was sure from that moment that he was going to be an artist and he has never swerved from that course.
Chapman studied art in high school where he received first place honors in printmaking in the Scholastic Art Awards competition. Although Robert's college career was interrupted by military service serving for two years in the Phillipines, he returned to Arizona State University and graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in printmaking, specializing in etching and woodcuts. It was during his studies that Chapman developed a real reverence for art and the process of printmaking and acquired an expansive knowledge of his craft.
Robert Chapman's work has been seen in exhibits in the United States and Europe and has been collected by admirers on both continents. One consistent point in all Chapman's work is his patient attention to detail, his fidelity to his ideals of quality and his love of his craft.