Paintings that find words for the land
Sydney Morning HeraldSteve Meacham
13 October 2004
After a delicious pea risotto which he has cooked himself, John Olsen is back in the studio on his Southern Highlands property. It's a beautiful afternoon and the 76-year-old often described as Australia's greatest living painter can afford to relax. He has just delivered 14 oil paintings and water colours to his gallery-owning son, Tim, for framing. Next week, they will go on show in Paddington, his first exhibition of new works for two years.
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John Olsen - Clive James
clivejames.comClive James
For all Australians, the name of John Olsen is part of the furniture of the Sydney Opera House, because his exultant painting “Five Bells” – based on the poem by Kenneth Slessor – was hanging in the foyer when the building set sail into the world. But John Olsen’s story is bigger and more complicated than a single impact,
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John Olsen's and John Wolseley's Journals
National Library of Australia - ArticlesSasha Grishin
Why do so many Australian visual artists keep journals? Do these journals constitute a specific genre which would distinguish them from autobiographical diaries, sketchbooks and artist's books? What are the implications of these journals for their private audiences
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An Artist Celebrates Life
The Age, Page 13, A3Ashley Crawford
1 May 2003
Lake Eyre continues to inspire artist John Olsen, writes Ashley Crawford. Standing on the edge of the wind-blasted Lake Eyre in late 2001, artist John Olsen flung his cane to the side. "Isn't this fantastic?," he cried, grinning broadly.
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Back in stride at 75, Olsen sullies the age ceiling
The Sydney Morning Herald, Page 3, News and FeaturesJo Roberts
30 April 2003
The man regarded as Australia's greatest living artist, John Olsen , last night unveiled his first majorexhibition in four years and he was literally climbing the walls.
The 75-year-old took advantage of his improved mobility following knee surgery to complete a sprawling ceiling installation, The Source, for his show at the Metro5 gallery in the inner Melbourne suburb of Armadale _continue reading
John Olsen: A Wandering Minstrel
Sunday Programme, Channel 9Reporter : Max Cullen Producer: Catherine Hunter
30 June 2002
Painter John Olsen is unquestionably one of our greatest living artists and not only is he a great artist, but he has a reputation for good living. As NSW Art Gallery Director Edmund Capon says, "John is the most naturally gregarious spirit that has ever been created. It is his natural way to be an incurable optimist, to embrace everything and I think it was from him that I learnt my regular New Year's resolution which is to give up nothing and take up everything!"
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National Gallery of Australia acquires John Olsen's Sydney Sun
Press ReleaseNational Gallery of Australia
7 December 2000
The Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Dr Brian Kennedy, today announced the purchase of one of John Olsen's most significant paintings, Sydney Sun 1965. 'The Gallery is delighted that this magnificent work by one of Australia's most distinguished artists is now part of the National Collection for all Australians to enjoy', he said.
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Worthwhile after all, Olsen celebrates record sale
The Sydney Morning Herald, Page 3, News and FeaturesCynthia Banham
30 June 2000
"I felt like the horse that won the Melbourne Cup," the artist John Olsen declared yesterday. He was describing how he felt when his painting, Salute to Cerberus, fetched the highest price paid for an Olsen $486,500 at a Christies auction on Wednesday night. It went to a private buyer.
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John Olsen and Tim Olsen
The Sydney Morning Herald, Page 8 Good WeekendInterviewed by Janet Hawley
8 January 2000
John Olsen, 71, is a major Australian artist. His son Tim, 37, runs Tim Olsen Gallery in Paddington, Sydney. John Olsen has been married four times and has three children. Tim is the son of his second wife, artist Valerie Olsen.
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Olsen's Five Bells Sells for $258,000
The Sydney Morning Herald, Page 3, News and Features4 August 1999
The Art Gallery of NSW last night paid an auction-record price of $258,000 for a 1963 John Olsen painting which the artist hailed as one of his four or five best works. Art Gallery spokesman Mr Barry Pearce said Five Bells was "one of, if not, the Olsen masterpiece of thesixties". "We were overwhelmed by its freshness and its clarity of expression. It is an art-museum picture and a Sydney picture."
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Olsen's frog spawns mobile-phone covers
The Australian Financial Review, Page 33, ComputersDavid Crowe
13 August 1996
Australian artist John Olsen last night brought aesthetics to electronics, introducing new artworks that apply his trademark style to the latest digital mobile phones.
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John Olsen "1969 Landscape"
The University of AdelaideStephen Beaumont
1993
The Library is the proud possessor of a work by John Olsen which was kindly donated to the Barr Smith Library in 1991 by Mr and Mrs Max Harris. Born in Newcastle in 1928, John Olsen moved to Sydney in 1935. Between 1947 and 1953 he studied under John Passmore, painting portraits and still-lifes with a marked 'Cezanne-style cubism', a reaction to what he described as the prevailing 'boutique art' of the early 1950s.
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John Olsen at the AGNSW
Art in AmericaRobert Berlind
April 1993
During an early sojourn in Europe between 1957 and 1960, Australian painter John Olsen absorbed the influences of, among others, Hayter, Dubuffet, COBRA artists Lucebert, Jorn and Alechinsky, and Tapies. His work also shows affinities with Far Eastern art and demonstrates an interest in literature, particularly such Anglo-Celtic writers as Yeats, Thomas, Joyce and Beckett.
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Ballads of the Dead and Dreaming
Gone at Dusk2011
For your latest series you close a darkly poetic title, Ballads of the Dead and Dreaming. What are some of the ideas behind the work?
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Built in Translation
HousesColin Martin
October, 2014
Suburban Domestic architecture fascinates Australian artists. Jenny Watson documented street views of five Melbourne houses in which she had lived, titling them by suburb, for example 'Mont Albert' (1975-77). Howard Arkley titled his depictions of suburban housing ironically, including 'A Splendid Superior Home' (1989). In his first solo exhibition in London, held at the Fine Art Society COntemporary gallery, Paul Davies ups the architectural ante, depicting exteriors of archetypal modernist houses.
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Laura Jones | Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar AustraliaEliza O'Hare
May 2017
Laura Jones visits the home and studio of Brett Whiteley, reflecting on the profound impact the late artist made on her life as a painter.
Colors and Patterns Without Boundaries - Brent Hallard Interviews Claudia Damichi
WidewallsBrent Hallard
14/03/2019
Claudia Damichi‘s paintings are characterised by vivid colours, elaborate patterns and distorted spatial proportions. Her paintings evoke a sense of 1920s pattern design clashing with the 1960s domestic interiors, all turned upside down with her unique sense of contemporary colour and unexpected relationships. I had a chance to talk with her.
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Things We Do Together | Paper Profile Scissors
MCA ARTBAR Eventcurated by Lara Merrett
01/02/2019
_continue readingMelbourne based artist, Jacqui Stockdale will cut silhouettes freehand with scissors, in the traditional portrait style that was very popular before photography was invented. The audience will be enticed to sit for 10 minutes to have their profile rendered out of a piece of black paper. Each portrait will be added to the collection of heads and displayed in the ‘pop-up’ studio as part of the performance.
7 Women Shaking Up The Australian Art Scene
The Design FilesElle Murrell
15/01/19
The art world has been, and sadly continues to be, a man’s. This isn’t a feisty feminist generalisation, but a well-documented case across the globe. And from representation to remuneration, Australia is no exception.
Championing the progress that has being made, here we highlight seven women artists making their mark on Australia’s creative landscape.