ELIZABETH BLACKADDER
Chinese Still Life with Arum Lilies, 1982
oil on canvas
48 x 48 in. / 122 x 122 cm.
Browse & Darby is delighted to announce our upcoming exhibition of works by Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, in association with the Royal Scottish Academy.
The exhibition will comprise a selection of large and small format oil paintings of still-life and interior scenes, alongside a group of her distinctive floral watercolours and of course depictions of her beloved cats.
Dame Elizabeth Blackadder DBE, RA, RSA, RSW, RGI was a prominent Scottish artist, and the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy. Throughout her lifetime and beyond she has been celebrated for her beautiful and lyrical depictions of flowers and still-life.
Blackadder's fascination with botany began in childhood, during which she collected plants and flowers, labelling them with their Latin names and adding them to her own botanical typology. This fascination lent itself to her work as an artist where her superb draughtsmanship captured the intricacies and delicate nature of her chosen subject matter. Blackadder's compositions are careful studies in the use of positive and negative space. Allowing each object or flower a dedicated space, she encourages the viewer to notice every harmony of colour, and exquisite detail.
Blackadder was born in Falkirk, Scotland in 1931, and studied at Edinburgh College of Art (1949-54) under Robert Henderson Blythe and William Gillies. Whilst there she won scholarships to travel and paint in southern Europe and Italy. In 1956 she married fellow painter John Houston and, from 1962-86, lectured in drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art.
