A well-travelled pair, John Houston and wife Elizabeth Blackadder shared regular journeys to Italy. With a particular interest in Venice, many of John’s sketches and paintings took inspiration from these trips.
A stark contrast to John’s other sketchbooks in the collection, this one opens with a series of black and white pencil sketches from one of his many trips to Venice. Sketches feature the Giudecca Canal as well as a local fish market and its wares. As the sketchbook progresses, some of John’s recognisable bold-coloured landscape sketches in pastel can be found. There are also several still lifes featuring flowers and live models including one, on page 17, of fellow artist and wife Elizabeth Blackadder.
