Basil Blackshaw (1932-2016)
The Coat
Oil and paper on canvas, 102 x 86.5cm (40 x 34'')
Dated 'Jun 2000'

 

The Coat is one of a series of works Basil Blackshaw made over the space of a couple of...

Basil Blackshaw (1932-2016)
The Coat
Oil and paper on canvas, 102 x 86.5cm (40 x 34'')
Dated 'Jun 2000'

 

The Coat is one of a series of works Basil Blackshaw made over the space of a couple of years around the turn of the century in which, approaching his 70th birthday, he seems to reconsider his extensive experience of painting and representation. Not for the first time: throughout his career he tried to achieve a state of childlike openness and honesty in making an image, while using his considerable natural facility and skill to sidestep the pitfalls of habit and convention. Not for him the cute or facile.

Central among the works he made leading up to his amazing, celebratory birthday exhibition at the Ulster Museum towards the end of 2002 were two series: Windows and Coats. In the former, light spills around the edges and radiates through the closed blind of a large window. In the latter, coats dominate, flattened outlines with evidence of the figures wearing them banished to the fringes of the canvas. The coat becomes a canvas in itself. The painter is restricting his pictorial language to arrive at the essential elements of the picture. The paintings that result are buoyant in feeling and exude a sense of freedom, economical with form and colour yet immensely atmospheric and rich, classically poised yet casually informal.

The son of a horse trainer, Blackshaw was born into a rural community south of Belfast, in many ways a remote world of "small farms and high hedgerows." Involvement with animals - horses, terriers, lurchers, cockerels and more - was a way of life. Talking to Mike Catto in 1985, the artist dismissed any notion of rural gentility about his background: "Living in the country was bloody hard work." He grew up in the midst of the busy farmyard bustle and later built his life around exactly that environment. His immersion in the countryside is complete and always shaped his vision of life and landscape. An early-blooming talent, he remains exceptional in having won the admiration of both his artistic peers and a wide audience.

Aidan Dunne, March 2026

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