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Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016)
Lurcher (1997)
Oil on canvas, 51 x 41cm (20 x 16¼'')
Literature: Blackshaw edited by Eamonn Mallie, Full page illustration Plate 126, Page...
Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016)
Lurcher (1997)
Oil on canvas, 51 x 41cm (20 x 16¼'')
Literature: Blackshaw edited by Eamonn Mallie, Full page illustration Plate 126, Page 291.
Provenance: The collection of Brian and Anne Friel
This work by Basil Blackshaw has all the power of a Paul Gauguin or a Roderic O Conor - the only difference being, it is better!
I am declaring my hand. I consider this painting of 1997 to be one of Blackshaws masterpieces. It has got everything, the power and the glory of an artist at his height - I suspect the figure portrayed here is Basil himself. This man adopts a similar stance to other figures who have appeared in several Blackshaw paintings down the years. In a work A Dog and Two Men (2001) Basil originally titled it The Vet, the Dog and the Humpy Hoor and Im the Humpy Hoor.
What we witness here, in this 1997 creation, is an owner and his dog moving in absolute harmony. They are like a happy couple lost in an ideal landscape. Interestingly Basil does not obsess with physical details. He is pursuing the spirit of his subjects. This is a feature of Blackshaws work which developed around the late Seventies, early Eighties, partially influenced by a conversation between Basil and Sligo artist Patrick Collins who adjudged Basils work to be too forensic. Go for the spirit of your subject he advised. Basil took that advice seriously. This is a gem from Blackshaw.
Eamonn Mallie, August 2018
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