λ Basil Blackshaw (Irish 1932-2016) Mask Head I Mixed media, in artist's frame Signed (upper left) 54 x 41cm (21¼ x 16 in.) Executed in 1990. Provenance: Kerlin Gallery, Dublin Born in Glengormley, County Antrim, and raised in Port Mills in County Down, Blackshaw began his studies at the Methodist College Belfast before going on to the Belfast College of Art between 1948 and 1951, aged only 16. He studied in Paris following a scholarship from the Committee for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, but has spent the majority of his career working in the Lagan Valley. Blackshaw received the Glen Dimplex Award for a Sustained Contribution to the Visual Arts in Ireland in 2001, and had a major retrospective of his work in 1995, organised by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Another major exhibition of his work was organised by The Ulster Museum in 2002, and in 2006 the artist's work was exhibited at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris. In 1977, Blackshaw was elected as an associate of the Royal Ulster Academy of the Arts, and in 1981 he was elected an Academician.