A new exhibition at the Jenna Burlingham Gallery in Kingsclere, Hampshire, showcases early works by Scottish painter Elizabeth Blackadder (1921-2021), focusing on wintry Tuscan landscapes and minimalist still lifes from the 1950s through the 1970s. Most pieces are exhibited for the first time, revealing a less familiar side of the artist known for her accessible paintings of flowers and cats. The show includes gouache and watercolour landscapes Blackadder painted after winning a travelling scholarship, as well as pared-back oil still lifes from the 1960s and 1970s.
The exhibition matters because it challenges the public perception of Blackadder, who was the first woman elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy of Arts. By highlighting her early, more austere work—described by art writer Anna Brady as reflecting the harsh reality of a young woman painting alone through a bitter Italian winter—the show expands understanding of her artistic development. It also underscores the ongoing reappraisal of women artists who were previously pigeonholed by their most commercially successful subjects.