Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016)
The Bedlington Cross
Oil on canvas, 122 x 136cm (48 x 53.5'')
Signed and inscribed with title verso

Exhibited: 'Basil Blackshaw Retrospective',...

Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016)
The Bedlington Cross
Oil on canvas, 122 x 136cm (48 x 53.5'')
Signed and inscribed with title verso

Exhibited: 'Basil Blackshaw Retrospective', travelling exhibition, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Ormeau Baths Gallery, November - December 1995, Model Art and Niland Gallery, Sligo, February 1996 and the RHA Gallery, January 1997 (label verso); Vincent and Noeleen Ferguson Collection, RHA Gallery, Dublin, January - March 1993, Cat. No. 4.

Literature: 'Basil Blackshaw: Painter' by Brian Ferran, illustrated; Basil Blackshaw by Eamonn Mallie, illustrated Plate 44, p.127.

 

Basil Blackshaw HRUA (1932-2016) was born in Glengormley but his family moved soon after to Boardmills, Co. Down. He studied at Art College in Belfast in the late 1940s. In 1951 Blackshaw was awarded a scholarship by the Committee for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, to study in Paris. It was at this time that he encountered the work of a number of artists that were to have an enduring impact on his career.

 

A major retrospective of Blackshaws work was held in 1974 at the Arts Council Gallery in Belfast, and another in 1995 was organised by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The latter was exhibited at the Ormeau Baths, Royal Hibernian Academy, Crawford Municipal Gallery, and a selection of the works travelled to the United States for a further tour. In 2001 he was the recipient of the Glen Dimplex Award for a Sustained Contribution to the Visual Arts. He exhibited at the Ulster Museum, Belfast in 2002 and a monograph was published on the artist by Eamonn Mallie in 2003. In 2012 the Royal Hibernian Academy in conjunction with the F.E. McWilliam Gallery organised a substantial retrospective of the artists work entitledBlackshaw at 80. He was a member of Aosdana, RUA and Associate Member of the RHA.

 

Eamonn Mallie writes of this work:-

 

I don't ever recall when Basil Blackshaw hadn't at least one dog.In fact 'Jet' his last faithful dog was at his feet the evening before he died. Not alone did Basil love dogs but dogs loved him. He'd meet a dog along the road or in a street and there was a good chance the dog would end up going home with him.

 

He had a soft spot too for the breeds of dogs many people hate such as Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Pitbull Terriers etc.He had a great affinity too with lurchers like this 'Bedlington whippet cross.' He was always happiest in the company of horsey and doggy people whether at the race track or simply chasing rabbits across a field with one of his lurchers.

 

What makes this work so dramatic is the scale of it. Clearly the artist felt that the dog needed the space.In this space Blackshaw affords a monumental status to the dog but as in so many of his animals paintings he appears to let form become almost less important choosing instead to let the eye speak for the life and energy in his subject. The 'eye' has it in this painting - there is no doubt about that!

 

E.M.

 

 

 

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