Dan Robbins: An inventor of paint by numbers dies at age 93

Dan Robbins, the artist behind the craze for painting by numbers who swept America, died in Sylvania, Ohio at the age of 93, his son said. the AP press agency.

He was working in a paint products business in the 1940s when he invented the kits.

In the 1950s, millions were sold each year in the United States.

His idea came from Leonardo da Vinci, who used a similar method to teach his apprentices to paint.

The kits contain canvases with printed numbers corresponding to numbered paintings.

A collection of works painted by number was on display at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution in 2001.