Saturday 20th June – Saturday 14th November 2026
Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LT
Press View: Thursday 16th July 2026
Marking five years since the death of Elizabeth Blackadder, Dovecot Studios will present Elizabeth Blackadder: A Life in Colour – a vibrant and celebratory exhibition exploring the artist’s lifelong fascination with colour.
Bringing together works from the Royal Scottish Academy collection alongside textiles created by Dovecot’s renowned studio, the exhibition showcases the richness and vitality of Blackadder’s visual language. Paintings and drawings are displayed alongside tapestries and rugs, highlighting a shared sensitivity to colour, texture and composition.
At the heart of the exhibition is Blackadder’s long-standing creative relationship with Dovecot Studios. Spanning over five decades, this collaboration resulted in more than 30 tapestries and hand-tufted rugs, translating her distinctive use of colour into richly textured forms.
A major highlight of the exhibition is the debut of a newly created hand-tufted rug The Red Bouquet, inspired by the 1975 painting of the same name. Made by Dovecot’s studio team, this vibrant work will be shown publicly for the first time in this exhibition. Its bold colour and dynamic composition epitomise Blackadder’s practice and marks a fresh chapter in the Studios’ ongoing engagement with her work.
Renowned for her luminous still lifes, delicate botanical watercolours, and innovative printmaking, Blackadder was a quiet radical. She pushed the boundaries of composition, space, and above all, colour. Her work was driven by a restless curiosity, unfolding across mediums with subtle intensity and precision.
Elizabeth Blackadder: A Life in Colour highlights the vitality of Blackadder’s palette and its common language across different media. It provides an opportunity to showcase Blackadder’s distinctive relationship with colour and how it became a unifying force throughout her practice.
Heather Carroll, Curator at Dovecot Studios, said,
Presenting Elizabeth Blackadder’s work at Dovecot is particularly meaningful. Her collaboration with the Studios spans more than fifty years and represents an extraordinary dialogue between painting and textile. The unveiling of a new rug inspired by The Red Bouquet is especially significant—it reflects both the vibrancy of her work and Dovecot’s commitment to reimagining important artistic legacies through contemporary making.
Dame Elizabeth Blackadder (1931–2021) was one of Scotland’s most significant modern artists and the first woman elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy (1972) and the Royal Academy of Arts (1976). The breadth of her work in oil, watercolour, and printmaking techniques has long been celebrated for its new perspectives in contemporary art.
Marking the RSA’s bicentenary in 2026, the exhibition forms part of a wider celebration across Scotland, RSA200 which recognises the Academicians who have shaped the nation’s cultural life. Blackadder stands out as one of its most vibrant and influential contributors. Alongside RSA200, the exhibition will form part of the Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026.
All works in the exhibition are available for sale.
The post Major Edinburgh Exhibition Celebrates Elizabeth Blackadder’s Legacy appeared first on Edinburgh Magazine – Positive Local News in Edinburgh, Scotland.
