Beschreibung:

Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016) Coloured Rain, 2001 Charcoal and oil on canvas, 153 x 121.7cm (60� x 48'') Signed; also signed and inscribed verso Exhibited: Belfast, Ulster Museum, 'Basil Blackshaw Paintings 2000-2002' Literature: Eamonn Mallie (ed.), 'Blackshaw', pl.177, p.388. � Uniquely well regarded among his peers and by a wide public, Basil Blackshaw is a major, exceptional figure in modern Irish art history. To mark his 70th birthday in 2002, and aware that there had been a major retrospective seven years previously, SB Kennedy curated an exhibition of his recent work at the Ulster Museum, with the artist�s keen cooperation. Far from resting on his laurels, Blackshaw produced a superb, career-crowning show based on just two years� work. The paintings on view marked a shift into a late style of majestic austerity, with a pared-down, flawless palette and stark, flattened forms. This painting was part of that exhibition, as was its clear companion-piece, Coat, dated November 2000. The composition, a close-up, frontal view of a figure in a buttoned coat with arms outstretched, is shared by both paintings. One significant difference is the rain referred to in the title of the second. Blackshaw enlists charcoal to indicate a downpour in profuse diagonal strokes (the colour arrives as bursts of yellow and red). He also uses the charcoal to enhance the definition overall in a vibrant, lyrical work. Born in Co Antrim, Blackshaw grew up in a rural world of horses and dogs � his father was a horse-trainer � and remained a country-dweller all his life. Both parents were supportive of his precocious artistic talent and he was accepted at art college aged just 16. His 1953 painting, The Field, is a work of amazing maturity indicative of his subsequent direction. It established his distinctive mode of spare, informal realism, rooted in his immediate life and surroundings: the local landscape, closely observed horses, dogs and other animals, the human figure (usually his long-term model, Jude Stevens) and many fine portraits, with C�zanne and Giacometti as important influences. As one observer noted, the spontaneity of his work captures the excitement of seeing something for the first time. � Aidan Dunne August 2021 Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016) Coloured Rain, 2001 Charcoal and oil on canvas, 153 x 121.7cm (60� x 48'') Signed; also signed and inscribed verso Exhibited: Belfast, Ulster Museum, 'Basil Blackshaw Paintings 2000-2002' Literature: Eamonn Mallie (ed.), 'Blackshaw', pl.177, p.388. � Uniquely well regarded among his peers and by a wide public, Basil Blackshaw is a major, exceptional figure in modern Irish art history. To mark his 70th birthday in 2002, and aware that there had been a major retrospective seven years previously, SB Kennedy curated an exhibition of his recent work at the Ulster Museum, with the artist�s keen cooperation. Far from resting on his laurels, Blackshaw produced a superb, career-crowning show based on just two years� work. The paintings on view marked a shift into a late style of majestic austerity, with a pared-down, flawless palette and stark, flattened forms. This painting was part of that exhibition, as was its clear companion-piece, Coat, dated November 2000. The composition, a close-up, frontal view of a figure in a buttoned coat with arms outstretched, is shared by both paintings. One significant difference is the rain referred to in the title of the second. Blackshaw enlists charcoal to indicate a downpour in profuse diagonal strokes (the colour arrives as bursts of yellow and red). He also uses the charcoal to enhance the definition overall in a vibrant, lyrical work. Born in Co Antrim, Blackshaw grew up in a rural world of horses and dogs � his father was a horse-trainer � and remained a country-dweller all his life. Both parents were supportive of his precocious artistic talent and he was accepted at art college aged just 16. His 1953 painting, The Field, is a work of amazing m