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Son of the Brush
A memoir
Tim Olsen
(ISBN 9781743318058)| Price A$ 35 |
Allen & Unwin Australia
Tim Olsen is the son of arguably Australia's greatest living artist, Dr John Olsen. Son of the Brush is his fascinating, candid memoir of what it was like to grow up in the shadow of artistic genius, with all its wonder, excitement and bitter disappointments.
Tim's childhood was dominated by his father's work, which took the family to Europe and to communities around Australia as John sought inspiration and artistic fellowship. Wine, food, conversation and the emerging sexual freedom of the 1960s wove a pattern of life for the family. It was both the best and worst of childhoods, filled with vibrancy and stimulation, yet fraught with anxiety and eventual sadness as John separated from Tim's mother Valerie and moved away from the family.
The course of Tim's life has been set by the experiences of his childhood, and by the passion for art he inherited from both his parents (his mother was an acclaimed painter in her own right). Art has always been at the very centre of Tim's world, although he has followed a different path from his parents. Having overcome and recovered from addiction, Tim is today one of Australia's most respected art dealers, with a knowledge of art and artists forged from what is literally a lifetime immersed in the art world.
Son of the Brush is a memoir about a son and his father, and what it takes to forge your own identity and chart your own course in life, but it is also about the wider world of art, artists and the joy, inspiration and sacrifices of the creative life.
John Olsen's Studios
Owlswood and Hidden Lake NSW
Ken McGregor
(ISBN 9781925984798)| Price A$ 44 |
Every artist needs a studio. The photographs in this book show John Olsen working in two studios in New South Wales – ‘Owlswood’ and ‘Hidden Lake’. We see him surrounded by books on artists he admires, the works of inspirational poets and, of course, his favourite Mediterranean cookbooks. Multiple tables are laden, somewhat chaotically, with paints, pencils, crayons and brushes, while he is seen painting at his easel or at a table laid out with precious Torinoko paper.
Author and photographer Ken McGregor reminds us of the significant drawings and prints the artist has created in these two studios.
‘The studio is where the art of contemplation is incorporated into the process of painting’ – John Olsen
George Byrne: Post Truth
George Byrne (ISBN 978-0-578-70516-3)| Price A$ 100 |
This book is from a first edition, self-published run of 1500 copies.
It contains a selection of 56 high-quality monographs, all images that at some point were printed and exhibited internationally by George Byrne between 2015-2020. The book is 120 pages, hard cover, smith sewn, cloth over board. The book is printed on high quality art paper (Magno Satin ) & printed by Dr. Cantz'sche Druckerei in Stuttgart, Germany.
In order to publish this book, George worked with three highly respected collaborators: Producer/Editor - Stephanie Emerson, Designer - Michael Worthington (counterspace.net) and writer - Ian Volner. Ian Volner is a NYC based novelist and freelance architecture/culture writer whose essay introduces the book.
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Des Oiseaux
Leila Jeffreys, Guilhem Lesaffre| Price A$ 80 |
Leila Jeffreys takes us with this book into a journey through tropical forests and jungles all over the world towards astonishing bird species that she has been taking studio portraits of since 2008: “I’ve long noticed how many birds have specific expressions, just like us”, she explains. Jeffreys’ images, which rely on a profound connection with her sitters cultivated over many years, are an exercise in both artistry and empathy. Cultivating the art of waiting, Jeffreys develops a gallery of whimsical and hyper-realist portraits where all the birds come attired in their most beautiful finery with sumptuous plumage colors. One by one, they let their character shine through: graceful, mischievous, shy, proud, timid, poseur, all of which seem to want to chat to the viewer. Her practice underlines how humans anthropomorphize animals and what we really do share.
This publication is part of the Des oiseaux (On birds) collection celebrating, through the vision of different artists, their immense presence in a world where they are now vulnerable. Accompanying these photographs, the ornithologist Guilhem Lesaffre writes a special essay. Titles in this collection include: Graciela Iturbide, Michael Kenna, Yoshinori Mizutani, Bernard Plossu, Pentti Sammallahti, and Terri Weifenbach.
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X COLLABORATIVE PORTRAITS
Gary Heery| Price A$ 150 |
Limited edition of 500. Signed by the artist.
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John Olsen
A Recipe for Art
Leanne Santoro
CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK(ISBN 9780500500859)
| Price A$ 0 |
In the past year I have learned to cook, to make a fire, prepare a canvas ...
- John Olsen, December 1958
Featuring some 40 recipes by or loved by Olsen, 30 related paintings, over 50 sketches and drawings, and over 65 photographs of places, family and friends.
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SURFACE PHENOMENA
(120416 - 150608)
Bartolomeo Celestino
CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK(ISBN 978-0-9943883-3-9)
| Price A$ 55 |
Bartolomeo Celestino has been returning to a particular section of Sydney's coastal fringe - atop an otherwise unremarkable set of cliffs in the eastern suburb of Bronte - day after day, year after year, to undertake the protracted task of setting up his large-format camera and training his lens downward to the fierce waters below.
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John Olsen: The You Beaut Country
Catalogue - National Gallery of Victoria
Edited by David Hurlston and Deborah Edwards
(ISBN 9781925432169)| Price A$ 40 |
John Olsen: The You Beaut Country offers an unparalleled exploration of Olsen’s consummate place in Australian art history. His You Beaut Country series, which followed his return to Australia in 1960 after three years travelling in Europe, began what would be a lifelong interest in representing the landscape and Australian identity.
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My Salute to Five Bells
John Olsen (ISBN 9780642278821)| Price A$ 30 |
This book is a deeply personal look at one of the most significant modern artworks in Australia. In this new publication written by the artist himself, John Olsen reflects on his Sydney Opera House mural and Kenneth Slessor’s poem, Five Bells, which inspired it.
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Birdland
Leila Jeffreys (ISBN 9780733631061)| Price A$ 50 |
In Birdland, Australian fine-art photographer Leila Jeffreys presents us with a bird-watching experience like no other, drawing birds out from their leafy shadows and airy territories and presenting them to us with the skill and intricate detail of a portrait painter. The result is a stunning encounter with some of the world's most beautiful birds.
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The King Sun
John Olsen - A portrait at 85
ABC
| Price A$ 35 |
In The King Sun, director Tony Williams and producer Anna Hewgill follow the progress of John Olsen’s mural from the arrival of the 8 blank panels to the transportation, delivery and installation of the giant painting in the Collins Square development in Melbourne.
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John Olsen: Drawing - The Human Touch
Ken McGregor CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE(ISBN 978-1-921394-81-2)
| Price A$ 0 |
John Olsen AO, OBE is Australia's most esteemed living artist. With a career spanning over 60 years, author Ken McGregor has located as many of Olsen’s drawings as possible. This publication illustrates over 400 examples of Olsen's works on paper and paintings.
"A glimpse of any work by John Olsen - be it painting, print, drawing or mural - will immediately reveal the fact that the art of drawing is not only fundamental to his practice, but determines it."- Jenny Zimmer, 2014, John Olsen: Drawing - The Human Touch
John Olsen
An Artists Life
Darleen Bungey
| Price A$ 60 |
This landmark biography by Darleen Bungey, the author of the celebrated biography of Arthur Boyd, graphically depicts the forces that drove John Olsen to become one of the country's greatest artists.
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Culinaria
The Cuisine of the Sun
John Olsen
| Price A$ 30 |
A Collection of John Olsen’s Favourite Dishes Recipes in Collaboration with Andy Harris
50 page full colour catalogue accompanying the exhibition of the same name, 3 - 21 March 2010. $30.00 including postage
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Paul Davies
Hanmer - Exhibition catalogue
Tim Olsen
| Price A$ 15 |
A 60 page full colour catalogue accompanying a exhibition by the same name, 24 March - 11 April 2010
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John Olsen
Journeys into the 'You Beaut Country'
Jenny Zimmer & Ken McGregor
(ISBN 978-1-921394-05-8)| Price A$ 120 |
At 80 John Olsen is widely acknowledged as the grand old man of current Australian art. Yet, writing as someone who has reviewed art over the years in 20 different countries, I cannot help regretting that John's art is still so little known outside this country. Not only does this deprive the artist of the kind of international recognition he deserves but it also deprives a potential world-wide audience of a truly rich and life-enhancing experience.
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Teeming with Life
John Olsen: His Complete Graphics 1957 - 2005
Ken McGregor in consultation with John Olsen and Jeffrey Makin
NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE(ISBN 1 876832 93 2)
| Price A$ 120 |
To say that it is John Olsen's year is beyond dispute. He walked away comfortably with this year's Archibald Prize with barely a hint of the usual animosity and controversy, with most commentators agreeing that regardless of the old man's prestige, it was a winning work all the way. That was closely followed by a brilliantly curated survey exhibition at the Tarrawarra Museum of Modern Art, still on show and well worth the journey to Healesville.
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Michael Johnson
Barry Pearce| Price A$ 110 |
This beautifully produced book gives us for the first time the opportunity to appreciate the full extent of the artist's achievement over four decades and enter more deeply the motivation and ideas behind his work and the style that remains a major force of contemporary Australian painting.
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Drawn From Life - John Olsen
John Olsen OUT OF PRINT(ISBN 1875989 17X)
| Price A$ 60 |
In 1957 a Sydney businessman who recognised the immense talent of the young John Olsen paid him to go to Majorca and paint. The businessman sold most of the paintings for a profit and Olsen was transformed by the influences of European art and the Mediterranean.
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John Olsen
Deborah Hart OUT OF PRINT(ISBN 1 877004 25 1)
| Price A$ 75 |
John Olsen is recognised nationally and internationally as one of Australia's most significant and accomplished artsts. in this major publication on Olsen's art and life, Deborah Hart comprehensively surveys his development from his early work to the present, revealing this artist's extraordinary versatility and breath of creative vision.
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The Land Beyond Time: A modern exploration of Australia's North-West frontiers
John Olsen, Mary Durack, Geoffrey Dutton, Vincent Serventy, Alex Bortignon (ISBN 0333357051)| Price A$ 60 |
Lavishly and profusely illustrated with colour photographs as well as stunning artworks by John Olsen in colour and black and white. The enormous North-West of Australia is a region totally different from anywhere else in the world. It is a world of immense contrasts, seething social ferment, overwhelming natural beauty and terrifying isolation. This large territory is too big to be seen from a single point of view. In this book, 5 different personalities each gives his or her view of the North-West, from Broome to the harsh estuary of the Prince Regent River.