100
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Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (b.1932)
Angel I
Acrylic on canvas, 138 x 153cm (54¼ x 60¼”)
Signed and dated 19(‘89) verso.
Exhibited:
Basil Blackshaw Exhibition,
Royal Hibernian Academy, 1997, label verso
Literature:
Basil Blackshaw - Painter
by Brian Fallon 1995, plate 56, p.89
Basil Blackshaw,
Edited by Eamonn Mallie, 2003, illustrated on p.220, plate 91
At first glance, angels are an unusual subject for an artist better known for his fighting cocks and exercising horses. At
this point Blackshaw had already built a reputation for himself based on his animal paintings and portraits, where the
subject constituted a starting point from which the artist allowed himself to explore the actual act of painting, rather
than just the subject matter. Blackshaw is not a sentimental artist and his portraits of real people - many of whom
he would consider friends - while insightful and empathetic, are not overly emotional.The Angels are unusual in his
oeuvre, and suggest the positive spirit of experimentation in the artist at the time.
Angels have appeared in art for millennia but their treatment here is entirely contemporary.They are not idealistically
painted but still depict a universally recognised archetype.The angels don’t have distinctive characters or detailed fea-
tures and are differentiated by their predominant colours of pink, yellow and blue. Swathes of bright swirling colour
dominate the canvases, at times balanced by thick strokes of black.This exuberance of background colour can also be
found in other works in subsequent years, such as
The Last Walk
.
Each angel fills the large area of the picture plane, the wings curving almost to the confines of the canvas.The ascend-
ing thrust of the figures, with their upturned faces, gives them a sense of dynamism and buoyancy.The hands of each
angel are in a different position, from open to clasped high in prayer.
Many world religions reference triple deities or concepts of trinity, and in the Christian faith the number three, sym-
bolised by the Trinity, has taken on a spiritual meaning. While Blackshaw is not known to be a practising Christian,
the three canvases - not intended to be hung as a triptych - indicate an awareness of the significance of this number.
These Angels, painted at the end of a turbulent decade for the artist when he battled personal problems and endured
the destruction of his studio by fire, suggest an optimism, spirituality or at least a sense of whimsy not previously
explored.
Claire Dalton, 2013
€35,000 - 45,000
