Lot 200
DAME ELIZABETH BLACKADDER O.B.E., R.A., R.S.A., R.S.W., R.G.I., D.Litt (SCOTTISH 1931-2021) §
SHRINE, FUSHIMI
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale | Lots 109 to 207 | Thursday 04 December 2025 from 6pm
Description
Signed and dated 1999, oil on canvas
Dimensions
91cm x 122cm (36in x 48in)
Provenance
The Collection of Gillian Raffles
Exhibited:
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Elizabeth Blackadder, 2 July 2011 - 2 January 2012, cat. no. 73, illustrated in colour
Footnote
Elizabeth Blackadder and her artist husband John Houston found much creative inspiration in travelling. As Philip Long has explained:
Blackadder’s interest in collecting objects from around the world and her fascination with the art of non-Western cultures had inspired and helped her to develop her own approach. She first became aware of the rich tradition of Japanese screen painting in Chicago in the late 1960s, and her tendency to stylise and abstract from objects and paint them within flat undefined space drew her naturally towards Oriental art. (Philip Long, ‘Elizabeth Blackadder: The Inspiration of Japan’, Elizabeth Blackadder, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2011, p.80)
Such was Blackadder’s love of Japan that she visited the country in 1985, 1986, 1992 and 1993. Long continues: ‘The architecture of Kyoto (formerly the Imperial capital of Japan) and the preciousness of its shrines provided a special stimulus’ with Blackadder finding visual stimulation in ‘the elegance of these Buddhist buildings’ grid forms and the transparent nature of Japanese screen architecture.’ (Long, op.cit., p.81) Significant paintings, such as Shrine, Fushimi resulted. Japanese subjects abounded in the artist’s work for years after her final visit.
The present painting formerly belonged to Gillian Raffles (1930-2021), who was one of a very small number of pioneering woman gallerists in Britain’s post-war art scene. She founded the Mercury Gallery in 1964, which became a famous fixture on London’s Cork Street and expanded to Edinburgh in 1982 with a branch on The Mound. It provided a vital platform for Scottish artists and played an important role in the city’s cultural landscape for nearly twenty years.
The gallery showcased a diverse range of works, including paintings, sculptures and works on paper, with a particular emphasis on Scottish artists such as Blackadder, Houston and their Edinburgh College of Art student John Bellany.
Gillian's relationship with Blackadder was to become the most enduring of the gallery’s tenure. Mercury Gallery held as many as 14 solo shows of the artist’s work, approximately every two years from 1965 to 1998. The two women maintained a long and fruitful relationship and carefully avoided inflating prices to ensure accessibility for collectors. As Raffles noted ‘You never read about Elizabeth in the gossip columns or hear her work is selling for record prices... But I don’t think she has any regrets.’
The acquisition by Raffles of Shrine, Fushimi for her private collection is a testament to their friendship; both women died in 2021.