19.75 by 23.75in. (50.2 by 60.3cm)

Title: EDDIE MACKEN ON ROYAL LION, 1970
Note: Eamon Mallie, biographer of the artist and author of Blackshaw, 2003, wrote about the present work:"Basil Blacksaw, the acclaimed Northern Irish artist had a passion for horses, his father was a trainer and he grew up around them, riding from an early age. They were a subject that he returned to time and again throughout his career, inspiring some of his finest works. He painted them with an understanding and spontaneity only achievable by someone with an intimate knowledge of the subject, managing to capture the drama of a race or, in this case, the moment of clearing a fence, the horse flying through the air, rider braced forward over its neck. The present work dates from the 1970s and it is likely that this was a commission. The paint is thinly and deftly applied, in places the raw board showing through to the viewer, a characteristic of his work."

oil on board

signed lower right