Elizabeth Blackadder
Elizabeth Blackadder is best known for her still life paintings of flowers, cats, and Japanese gardens. Her career of over six decades began at Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art (1949–54). Alongside painting, her practice incorporated a variety of media, including lithography, etching, aquatint, and screen print. Blackadder rose to prominence in the 1960s for her detailed paintings of flowers, usually painted against a simple background. Botany was a significant interest of the artist throughout her life. She spent much of her childhood collecting and meticulously classifying flora. Her carefully-balanced still life paintings – often imagined compositions featuring real-life objects – reflect her desire to master space and proportion within the genre. By the 1970s, travel abroad increasingly inspired her paintings, with Japanese influences particularly prominent from the 1980s. Blackadder was the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Academy (1976) and the Royal Scottish Academy (1972). She taught at Edinburgh College of Art from 1962 until retirement in 1986.
