Dame Elizabeth Blackadder RSA was known for exploring many different themes within her work, one of the most popular being her feline friends. Cats are notoriously difficult to draw, and she filled a number of sketchbooks with studies of her own cats in many different poses. She tested a range of different media - drawing in pencil, pastel and charcoal to watercolours and oil paints as well as creating limited edition prints.
Blackadder also drew the cats she encountered on her many trips to Europe, producing prints of Venice cats and Roman cats.
In 1995, she was commissioned by Royal Mail to produce a series of drawings of cats for 5 postage stamps. She created seven cats for the final stamps, three individuals and two sets of pairs.
The highest value stamp featured Fred, a black and white cat who had been the subject of Elizabeth’s works for a while. Colin Greenslade, RSA Director, has fond memories of meeting Fred on his visits to Elizabeth and her husband, the artist John Houston RSA. Fred was a friendly cat and happy cosy up on any available lap.
The Blackadder Houston archive contains photos of Fred, Kikko and Coco sitting in all sorts of places around their house. We hope, in time, to identify Elizabeth’s other felines, and highlight all of the works they feature in.
