Basil Blackshaw
Encyclopedia
Life
Born in GlengormleyGlengormley
Glengormley or Glengormly is the name of a townland and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Glengormley is within the urban area called Newtownabbey and the wider Newtownabbey Borough.-Location:...
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and brought up in Boardmills, County Down, Blackshaw attended Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast
Methodist College Belfast , styled locally as Methody, is a voluntary grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one of eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and is a member of the Independent Schools Council...
and studied at Belfast College of Art
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
(1948-1951). In 1951 Blackshaw was awarded a scholarship by the Committee for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, to study in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
He was initially acclaimed for his mastery of traditional approaches to painting. He continued to develop as an artist becoming most highly regarded for his very loose gestural application of paint and a very distinctive and subtle use of colour. His paintings of such sports as horse racing and boxing have made him particularly popular but Blackshaw is also a talented portrait painter.
Blackshaw's painting are very often figurative in form, but with a non-naturalistic palate which rebalances the composition in an expressionist, even abstract, way. His themes are very Irish and often rural; greyhounds, Irish Travellers and the landscape. He has also produced portraits and has designed posters for Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
's Field Day Theatre Company
Field Day Theatre Company
The Field Day Theatre Company began as an artistic collaboration between playwright Brian Friel and actor Stephen Rea. In 1980, the duo set out to launch a production of Friel's recently completed play, Translations. They decided to rehearse and premiere the play in Derry with the hope of...
.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland....
organised a major retrospective of his work in 1995, which travelled from Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
to Dublin, Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
and many galleries in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 2001 he received the Glen Dimplex
Glen Dimplex
Glen Dimplex is an Irish-based consumer electrical goods firm. It is the world's largest electrical heating business and holds significant market positions in the domestic appliance industry worldwide...
Award for a Sustained Contribution to the Visual Arts in Ireland. The Ulster Museum held a major exhibition of his work in 2002 and a major book was published by Eamonn Mallie on the artist in 2003.
For a 2005 exhibition at the Fenton Gallery in Cork, Blackshaw worked exclusively over the previous 20 months creating a dramatic collection of 15 new paintings. His choice of arguably mundane subjects, The Studio Door, Car, Wall, Six Trees, express both an engagement with tradition and a watchful detachment.
In 2006 Basil Blackshaw's work was exhibited at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Blackshaw was elected as an associate of the Royal Ulster Academy
Royal Ulster Academy
The Royal Ulster Academy has existed in one form or another since 1879. It started life then, as The Belfast Ramblers' Sketching Club...
of the Arts in 1977, and elected an Academician in 1981.
Works in Collections
- The Arts Council of Northern Ireland including:
- The Arts Council of IrelandArts Council of IrelandThe Arts Council of Ireland was founded in 1951 by the Government of Ireland to encourage interest in Irish art and channel to funding from the state to Irish artists and arts organisations...
including: - The Ulster Museum
- The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, including:
- Niall's Pony
- Irish Museum of Modern ArtIrish Museum of Modern ArtThe Irish Museum of Modern Art also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution exhibiting and collecting modern and contemporary art. The museum opened in May 1991 and is located in Royal Hospital Kilmainham, a 17th-century building near Heuston Station to the west of Dublin's city...
, Permanent Collection including:- Female Nude
- Anna on a Sofa
- Windows I-IV
External links
- Brian McAvera (2002), Basil Blackshaw: A New Vision, Irish Arts Review Vol 19 No 3.
- Aosdana - Basil Blackshaw