Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder, Mrs Houston, (24 September 1931 – 23 August 2021) was a Scottish painter and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

. She was the first woman to be elected to both the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

and the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. In 1962, she began teaching at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

where she continued until her retirement in 1986. Blackadder worked in a variety of media such as oil paints, watercolour, drawing, and printmaking. In her still life paintings and drawings, she considered space between objects carefully. She also painted portraits and landscapes, but her later work contains mainly her cats and flowers rendered in great detail. Her work can be seen at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art National Galleries Scotland: Modern (the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) is part of National Galleries Scotland, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Modern houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1 ...

, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York, and has appeared on a series of

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

stamps. In 2012, Blackadder was selected to paint

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

's official Christmas card.

Early years

Blackadder was born and raised at 7 Weir Street,

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, the third child of Thomas and Violet Isabella Blackadder. Violet Blackadder ensured Elizabeth benefited from a series of promising educational opportunities and, determined to spare her daughter the struggles she had been through, convinced her own father to support Elizabeth's training as a domestic science teacher. Blackadder's father died when she was 10. Her mother died, aged 89, in 1984. She spent a substantial part of her childhood alone, due in part to a keen appetite for reading. During her teenage years Blackadder began meticulously collecting local flowers, compiling the specimens by pressing and labelling them with their full Latin names, a fascination that was to surface much later in her paintings of plants and flowers.

Education

A former pupil of Falkirk High School, she donated one of her paintings to the school on the occasion of its centenary in 1986. She later remembered the pleasure she derived from her art classes in particular, but also enjoying dissecting and drawing plants as part of her botanical studies; she spent the majority of her sixth year in the school's art room. She arrived in Edinburgh in September 1949 to start on the newly approved Fine Art degree and graduated with first class honours in 1954. Blackadder studied early

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome, decline of western Rome and ...

while at university, and one of the most enduring influences on her work was her tutor and prolific painter William Gillies. Blackadder spent the fourth and fifth years of her MA course concentrating on her imminent examinations; it was during this period that she met Scottish artist John Houston who was later to become her husband. The fifth and final year of Blackadder's Fine Art degree was spent at

, where she researched throughout the year for her dissertation on William MacTaggart. She graduated in 1954 with a first-class degree and was awarded both a Carnegie travelling scholarship by the

and an Andrew Grant Postgraduate Scholarship by Edinburgh College of Art.

Career

Flowers on an Indian Cloth In 1954, Blackadder put the money from her Carnegie scholarship towards spending three months travelling through Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy, where she focused on classical and

. In 1962 her painting, ''White Still Life, Easter'' was given the

Guthrie Award The Guthrie Award is awarded annually with few exceptions to at most two recipients by the Royal Scottish Academy and is one of the most prestigious art awards in Scotland. It is named after the artist James Guthrie. Foundation of award The awar ...

for best work by a young artist at the Royal Scottish Academy.
During the 1960s she developed her interests in still life while continuing with her love of landscape by painting landscapes in France, Spain, Portugal, and Scotland, and acquired a growing reputation for her paintings of flowers, ''Flowers on an Indian Cloth'' being a notable example. During her travels to France she became more aware of the artist

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, and under his influence she lightened her palette. In the 1980s, she visited Japan on a number of occasions and many of her paintings at the time showed the influence of these trips. First visiting in 1985, and returning the following year, Blackadder's interest in Eastern techniques and subject matter was realised in a series of vibrant oils and watercolours shown at the Mercury Gallery in 1991. Her desire to avoid the technical vibrancy of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

took Blackadder to the

Zen garden The or Japanese rock garden, often called a Zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and us ...

s of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

; in many ways, her work depicts the principles of

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

which give paramount importance to the idea of empty space. She traveled to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Souvenirs of her travels would appear in many of her paintings. Blackadder began working at

Glasgow Print Studio Glasgow Print Studio is an arts organisation situated in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1972, Glasgow Print Studio is an organisation with charitable status that exists to encourage and promote the art of printmaking; it is supported by Creative ...

in 1985, after being invited to make prints there. She worked with master printmakers from that time until around 2014, working predominantly to produce

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

s and

screenprints Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a Substrate (printing), substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen i ...

with some

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

and

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s. Her subject matter was dominated by cats and flowers but also included images from travels in Europe and Japan.

Honours

Appointed

Blackadder was the first woman to be an academician of both the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Royal Scottish Academy; in 1982 she was appointed an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for her contribution to art she was promoted to a DBE in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. In 2001, she was appointed Her Majesty's Painter and Limner in Scotland.

Elected

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) is a Scottish art society established in 1878. The current patron is Charles III. It is a registered charity based in Glasgow and holds an annual exhibition. The first preliminary meeting ...

Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibiti ...

Honorary degrees

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

(

DLitt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

, July 1989) *

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

(DLitt, July 1998) *

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

(DLitt, October 2001) *

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

( Doctor of the University, 27 June 2002) *

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

(DLitt, 26 June 2003)

Honorary fellowships & memberships

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade II* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition prog ...

Royal Watercolour Society The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...

Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was ...

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) is the professional body for architects in Scotland. History Previously the (lapsed) Architectural Institute of Scotland, it was re-founded in 1916 as the Incorporation of Architects in ...

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

Family

In 1956 she married painter John Houston. The couple took up residence in a large villa in The Grange district of Edinburgh, which she continued to occupy until her death in 2021. She was widowed in 2008.

Death

Dame Elizabeth Blackadder died on 23 August 2021, aged 89.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*57 Gallery, Edinburgh, 1959 *The Scottish Gallery, Aitken Dott, Edinburgh, 1961 *Mercury Gallery, London, 1965 *The Scottish Gallery, Aitken Dott, Edinburgh 1966 *Thames Gallery, Eton, 1966 *Mercury Gallery, London, 1967 *Reading Art Gallery and Museum, 1968 *Lane Art Gallery, Bradford, 1968 *''New Paintings'', Mercury Gallery, London, 14 October 1969 – 8 November 1969 *Vaccarino Gallery, Florence, 1970 *Scottish Arts Council Retrospective Touring Exhibition; Edinburgh, Sheffield, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Cardiff, London, 1981–82 *Theo Waddington Gallery, Toronto, Canada, 1982 *''New Paintings'', Mercury Gallery, London, 14 October 1988 – 19 November 1988 *''Elizabeth Blackadder'', Aberystwth Arts Centre, 8 April 1989 – 20 May 1989, the Gardener Centre, Brighton, 3 June 1989 – 8 July 1989, Oriel Bangor Art Gallery, 15 July 1989 – 19 August 1989 *''New Oils and Watercolours'', Mercury Gallery, London, 22 May 1991 – 22 June 1991 *''New Work, Oils and Watercolours'', Mercury Gallery, London, 22 September 1993 – 23 October 1993 *''New Oils and Watercolours'', Mercury Gallery, London, 16 October 1996 – 16 November 1996 *''Elizabeth Blackadder'', Mercury Gallery, London, 20 October 1999 – 20 November 1999 *''Paintings, Prints and Watercolours 1955-2000'', Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh 28 July 2000 – 15 September 2000

Selected group exhibitions

Source: * ''Contemporary Scottish Painting,'' Toronto, Canada, 1961 * ''Fourteen Scottish Painters,'' Commonwealth Institute, London, 1963-1964 * ''Three Centuries of Scottish Painting,'' National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1968 * ''The Edinburgh School,'' Edinburgh College of Art, 1971 * ''Edinburgh Ten 30,'' Scottish Arts Council Exhibition touring Wales, 1975 * ''British Paintings 1952-1977,'' Royal Academy, London, 1977 * ''Painters in Parallel,'' Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh College of Art, 1978 * ''Scottish Paintings and Tapestries,'' Offenburg, West Germany, 1979 * ''The British Art Show,'' Arts Council of Great Britain touring exhibition, 1980 * ''Master Weavers, Dovecot Studios' Tapestries,'' Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, 1980 * ''Six Scottish Painters,'' Graham Gallery, New York, 1982 * ''Portraits on Paper,'' Scottish Arts Council, 1984 * ''One of a Kind,'' Glasgow Print Studio, 1985 * ''Still-Life,'' Harris Museum, Preston, 1985 * ''Scottish Landscapes,'' National Gallery of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, 1986 * ''The Flower Show,'' Stoke-on-Trent Art Gallery, touring show, 1986 * ''Flowers of Scotland,'' Fine Art Society, Glasgow * ''Scottish Art Since 1900,'' Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art * ''Images of Paradise,'' Rainforest Fund, 1988 * ''Within These Shores,'' a selection of works from the Chantrey Bequest, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 1989 * ''Scottish Monotypes,'' Glasgow, Print Studio * ''Salute to Turner,'' National Trust, London, 1990 * ''Brush to Paper, 3 Centuries of British Watercolours,'' Aberdeen Art Gallery touring exhibition, 1991 * ''Writing on the Wall,'' Tate Gallery, London, 1993 * ''The Line of Tradition,'' National Gallery of Scotland, 1993 * ''Celebration,'' Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 1999 * ''Liberation and Tradition, Scottish Art 1963-1975,'' Aberdeen Art Gallery, McManus Gallery, Dundee, 1999

Collections

* Heriot-Watt University *

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

References

External links

*
Artist's profile
at the

National Galleries Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

Artist's profile
at the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

Obituary
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackadder, Elizabeth Violet Royal Academicians 1931 births 2021 deaths Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Royal West of England Academy People from Falkirk Royal Scottish Academicians Scottish printmakers Scottish watercolourists 20th-century Scottish women painters 20th-century Scottish painters People educated at Falkirk High School British women printmakers Scottish women watercolourists British printmakers 21st-century British women artists Guthrie Award winners