Self Portrait with Cat

	Artist: Elizabeth Blackadder
	Title: Self Portrait with Cat
	Year: 1976
	Medium: oil on canvas
	Dimensions:
	Suggested topic: Portraiture
	Source: RSA Diploma Collection
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© the artist
Description: Elizabeth Blackadder works in a variety of media including oils, watercolours and etchings. Her best-known themes are her cat and flower paintings.Self Portrait with Cat is one of a few self portraits made throughout a long career. Unusually, it shows the artist in profile, whereas her Abyssinian cat appears to look out of the painting. In fact, the cat is actually looking at its own reflection in a mirror. This device teases the eye, and confuses our understanding of the space represented in the painting. The furniture at the bottom of the canvas reminds us that we are looking at a framed mirror on a wall. The diagonal line of the white curtain divides the reflection unevenly. The figure and the cat seem very small within the frame reflecting such a large room. This is unusual, in that the focus of the painting (from the title) is given such a small amount of space within the area of the canvas.It is obviously quite difficult to make a self-portrait in profile. Perhaps the artist used another mirror to see her reflection side-on, or maybe she worked from a photo of herself in profile. It is unusual that the main subject of the painting, the artist herself, is looking away from the viewer, while the cat is apparently looking straight at the viewer. Does this suggest that the artist is shy? Or is she suggesting that her cat is such an important part of her life that she would prefer to draw attention to the cat rather than herself? What is the true subject of this painting?The mood of the painting is whimsical, and light. The cat seems quite comical in the way it peers from the canvas. The bright floral wallpaper which is featured quite prominently also adds to the cheerful mood. But another mood is present; the artist is thinking about something or looking at something. Perhaps she is worried, or is remembering something emotional. We cannot see what is outside the window, which the woman seems to be staring at. Do you feel you know more about this woman from looking at this painting? Or do you feel it creates more questions than answers about this person?