Elizabeth Blackadder is widely recognised as one of Scotland’s most significant twentieth century artists. Awarded the Carnegie Travelling Scholarship and an Andrew Grant Postgraduate Scholarship, Blackadder’s travels founded a passion that is reflected in her art, the attention to detail she applied to her surroundings bringing her paintings to life. Working mostly in oils and watercolours, Blackadder was also a prolific printmaker. The inspiration she took from different mediums can be seen throughout the sketchbooks from this bequest.
This sketchbook consists of an eclectic combination of studies from landscapes, to people, architecture, to still life. Her companion during her travels around Italy and France, Blackadder used this sketchbook to record her observations of Sacré Cœur (page 30), and Basilica Santa Maria Novella (page 4), capturing these iconic landmarks in recognisable detail. Her appreciation for the smaller features of these colossal buildings can also be seen, the delicate sketches of stone carvings (such as page 49) showing the unique attention to detail Blackadder put into her work, combining the monumental with the minute.
