Basil Blackshaw, H.R.H.A

The Dawson Gallery, Dublin;
Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast

Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy, Basil Blackshaw, Arts Council of Northern Ireland tour, 1997

Brian Ferran (intro.), Basil Blackshaw - Painter, 1995, pl.10, illustrated p.32;
S.B. Kennedy, 'Basil Blackshaw at Eighty: An Overview' in Blackshaw at 80, 2012, exhibition catalogue, p.19 

Original canvas. The work appears in excellent overall condition with strong passages of impasto. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held in a wood frame with a linen inset.
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Tom Caldwell played a significant role in supporting and promoting Blackshaw's artistic career. Their relationship was at times acrimonious and at other times humourous, but with energy and passion Caldwell raised the artist's profile, organising exhibitions from the 1970s onwards. In the following three lots we see the scope of Blackshaw's work, which is defined by his response to the landscape and the rich, painterly surfaces he employs. 

Road to Clough, from 1956, reveals the influences that informed Blackshaw's early career, notably Giacometti and Cézanne. As Kennedy wrote, 'From Giacometti he derived a feeling for subtle expression, producing, in [Kenneth] Jamison's phrase, works that are "taught as high tension wires in a summer landscape"' (Blackshaw at 80, p.19). Such tension and sensation are clearly felt in the present work, which belongs to a number of landscapes characterised by long empty roads, high horizons and a sense of isolation, such as Man with Dog, 1955 and No Birds Sang, c.1957. However in the present work, the sombre mood is lightened by the pale yellows, blues and dashes of orange, which create an altogether harmonious and uplifting painting.