Basil Blackshaw

Eamonn Mallie (ed.), Basil Blackshaw, Nicholson & Bass, Belfast, 2003, illustrated pl. 190, p.140

Cell is a quietly powerful work by Basil Blackshaw in contemplative mood - marking a contrast from the more familiar unruly and combative paintings, reflecting an artist who lived on the edge of society and often defied convention. 

The inspiration for the painting likely has its origins from a visit Blackshaw made to the 12th century Holycross Abbey near Thurles, Co. Tipperary (finely restored in the 1970s having fallen into disrepair). There is a suggestion of the arched roof of the nave of the church, indicated by the charcoal lines. A window - the source of light in the work - is visible and in the foreground a cross is subtly evoked through modulated colours. Holycross Abbey was presented with a relic of the True Cross by Pope Paschal II at its foundation and became a site of pilgrimage. The relic is displayed in the church today, and perhaps explains Blackshaw’s prominent focus of a cross in the present work.  

Another possible source for the painting lies in stone ‘beehives’ built by monks between the 6th and 12th centuries, many of which are located in Kerry and were also visited by Blackshaw. These are cell-like structures in which monks would pray, and elements of the painting could allude to them as well. 

The overall impression evoked through Blasckshaw’s composition is deeply meditative, yet retains his painterly hallmarks, with broken brushwork, drips of paint and charcoal workings. It reveals Blackshaw’s constant ability to invest power in his subjects, whether they be his dramatic equestrian works or quietly arresting scenes such as the present.