Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016)The Big House Oil on canvas, 88 x 73cm (34¾ x 28¾'')Signed; also inscribed with title and dated July (19)'92Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 1992/93, where purchased by the present owners.Literature: ‘Blackshaw’ edited by Eamon Mailie, page 254, Plate 108; ‘Basil Blackshaw - Painter’ by Brian Ferran, page 129, Plate 71.The early 1980s brought an artistic shift to the paintings of Basil Blackshaw. In ’83, following a period spent in hospital, Blackshaw determined that he had lost the connection with his subject matter and he set about trying to rekindle the joy which he had once found amongst his canvases. He began to embark along a route that took him further from figural studies and nearer to the abstraction which would later typify his work. Two years later, a studio fire consumed everything but, as with the flames that remove old growth in a forest, a space was cleared in which Blackshaw’s talent could grow afresh. From this point, Blackshaw hurled himself along his new path. His models became colour, texture and shape. With each seemingly hurried and spontaneous sweep of his brush, Blackshaw peeled away the exterior layers of his subject matter and revealed its inner form. By doing this, Blackshaw encouraged an appreciation for his subject which was devoid of association. His works sought an exploration of paint, movement and expression and they strove to imprint an experience on the viewer as opposed to a static representational image.As Blackshaw approached a new decade, he was influenced by the work of the neo-expressionists and this further enhanced his pieces. Blackshaw’s canvases became awash with violent, rapid brushstrokes, vivid, contrasting colours and distorted forms.The culmination of these factors is evident in ‘The Big House’. As with his barn series of the previous year, Blackshaw utilises a saturated colour palette in his approach to this building. The brash yellow arrests the viewer, its strength intensified by the contrast of deep blue in the upper corner. White dashes to the front subtly illustrate a gated entrance and this allows our mind to develop the structure beyond. Presented with the bare minimum, sketched marks roughly delineate the house’s form allowing our eye to skid and dash along the paint marks, creating a symphony of movement around a stationary construction.In such a manner, the viewer is immersed in the mind of the artist. We are enveloped in his brusque nature and shown a starkly different world to the one that we are used to. ‘The Big House’ is a bold and unapologetic painting that beautifully holds its place in the progression of Blackshaw’s oeuvre. A painter that refused to commit to any one style, ‘The Big House’ immortalises a period in which Blackshaw’s artistic voice could be likened to a bellow and is, consequently, a painting that cannot be ignored. Helena Carlyle, February 2020The proceeds of the sale of this painting are being generously donated to the Adsum Foundation, a charity with a goal of investing money in people and communities in the developing world and in particular Madagascar.