John Olsen (Australian artist)

Olsen in 2015

John Henry Olsen, AO, OBE (born 21 January 1928) is an Australian artist and winner of the 2005 Archibald Prize.[1] Olsen's primary subject of work is landscape.

Early life and training

John Olsen was born in Newcastle on 21 January 1928.[2] He moved to Bondi Beach with his family in 1935 and began a lifelong fascination with Sydney Harbour. He attended St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. After leaving school in 1943, he went to the Datillo Rubbo Art School in 1947 and from 1950 to 1953 studied at the Julian Ashton School in Sydney, and Auburn School from 1950 to 1956. In 1957, a Sydney art critic raised funds for John Olsen to go to England and paint.[3] He studied printmaking in Paris in 1957, followed by two years in Spain. Olsen returned to Sydney in 1960. He wanted to represent Australian culture in such a way that the world would see the diversity in the changing outback seasons.

In 1968, Olsen set up and ran the Bakery Art School and in 1970, he was commissioned by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation to paint a large mural entitled, 'Salute to Five Bells', which was inspired by Kenneth Slessor's poem and completed in 1973. Olsen's work has been marked by a deep engagement with the Australian landscape and he has lived for long periods in different parts of the country and travelled widely in it. He has served on the boards of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Art Gallery.

Works

His artworks include the Lake Eyre series. He is a regular visitor to Lake Eyre, and in 2011 had been invited to be a member of the party in which Paul Lockyer and two other ABC employees died in a helicopter crash at the lake, but declined due to ill-health.[4] He later offered a painting and a poem in memory of those killed.[5]

More recent works include Golden Summer, Clarendon. One of Olsen's most successful murals, Salute to Five Bells, is currently in the Sydney Opera House. Although he has been labelled as an abstract artist, Olsen rejects this label, stating, "I have never painted an abstract painting in my life". He describes his work as "an exploration of the totality of landscape". Olsen published his diaries, under the title 'Drawn From Life', in 1997. Olsen's book My Salute to Five Bells which contains the artist's thoughts, diary entries and his original drawing for the work, was published by the National Library of Australiain 2015.[6][7][8]

Olsen is well known for his paintings of frogs and for including frogs in many of his works. In 2013, he began work on his largest painting since Salute to Five Bells. Eight metres by six metres wide, on eight panels, The King Sun was hung in Collins Square in the Melbourne Docklands.[9] The work depicts a brilliant Australian sun (including three frogs). Olsen and his work on the mural are the subject of 2014 documentary The King Sun, directed by New Zealander Tony Williams.

Awards

In Australia's New Year's Honours of 1977, Olsen was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire,[10] in 1993 he was awarded an Australian Creative Fellowship and in the Australia Day Honours of 2001 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.[11] He was awarded the Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001.[12] He was also awarded the Wynne Prize in both 1969 and 1985.

He won the 2005 Archibald Prize for his portrait Self portrait Janus Faced.[13]

Approach to painting

Olsen has described his approach to painting as "taking the line for a holiday:" He says: "It's really an interrogatory line, you know: I'm asking a question. The line says 'Move me this way,' and I say, 'Yes? Really? Okay. If you want to go this way, okay.' " He waves his hand gently. "Then it says, 'No, little bit that way.' 'All right, I'll move you that way.' 'No.' 'All right, all right. We'll participate.' "[14]

Family and personal life

Olsen lives near Bowral, New South Wales. His son Tim is a gallery owner in Sydney[15] and his daughter Louise designs jewellery.[16] Daughter Jane Olsen (with first wife Mary Flower), died in 2009.[17]

References

  1. ↑ The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australia art, MUP, 2006, p. 746
  2. ↑ "John Olsen - about the artist". Olsen Irwin. 2016.
  3. ↑ p.746 The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australia art, MUP, 2006
  4. ↑ Andrew Taylor, "I was meant to be on that helicopter, says Olsen", Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Aug 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2017
  5. ↑ Sallie Don, "John Olsen offers painting and poetry in honour of ABC's Paul Lockyer, The Australian, , 24 March 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2017
  6. ↑ Olsen, John (2015). My Salute to Five Bells. Canberra: National Library of Australia. ISBN 9780642278821.
  7. ↑ Falconer, Delia (3 October 2015). "My Salute to Five Bells review: How the Slessor poem inspired John Olsen". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  8. ↑ "John Olsen: My Salute to Five Bells". National Library of Australia (audio interview). 19 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Art – Collins Square
  10. ↑ It's an Honour: OBE
  11. ↑ It's an Honour: AO
  12. ↑ It's an Honour: Centenary Medal
  13. ↑ p.747 The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australia art, MUP, 2006
  14. ↑ Hooton, Amanda (3 September 2016). "John Olsen: at home with the Australian artist". The Sydney Morning Herald (Good Weekend). Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  15. ↑ artworks, Olsen Irwin specialising in contemporary Australian art and sculpture and John Olsen. "Welcome to OLSEN IRWIN 63 Jersey Road Woollahra NSW Sydney Australia T +61 2 9327 3922 | Olsen Irwin Gallery Sydney". www.timolsengallery.com. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  16. ↑ Inchley, Natasha (2013). "Colour Theory: at home with Louise Olsen". modafamilia.com. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  17. ↑ Petley, William (20 May 2009). "Joy in making beautiful things". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
Awards
Preceded by
Craig Ruddy		 Archibald Prize
2005
for Self portrait Janus Faced		 Succeeded by
Marcus Wills
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.