Lot 30

The painting is in very good condition. There are two minor pigment losses on the left hand side, each approximately 2mm in size. The work is elegantly framed in a solid wood frame, with gold leaf on in the inner angle. Overall framed size is 109 x 101cm
(LEONARD JOEL DELIVERY SIZE: MEDIUM)


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Please note condition reports can be amended during the pre-sale period, so we strongly suggest any interested bidders check the published condition report available on the website before the auction commences. Leonard Joel makes no guarantee of the originality of mechanical or applied components. Absence of reference to such modifications does not imply that a lot is free from modifications.

Gift of the Artist
Private collection, Melbourne

At 93 years of age, John Olsen's career remains one of Australia's most expansive and successful, throughout which he has created an oeuvre with substantial breadth and vitality.

Not content with merely being an observer, Olsen has repeatedly travelled across the far reaches of Australia, exploring regions few have had the opportunity to experience themselves. Through his artworks he is able to take us on a journey through these beautiful surroundings, whether it be a vast dry plain or a majestic body of water.

While the landscape has long inspired Australia's best artists, John Olsen provided a unique approach. Where most landscape artists are preoccupied with humanity's natural vision of the landscape at the horizon, Olsen forced us to see the land from a different perspective - the sky. He pioneered the aerial perspective in modern Australian art, with inspiration from Australian Indigenous artists, and has stuck to this perspective throughout most of his ensuing artwork.
As the artist himself notes:

"The only way to see the landscape is from the air, look at the patterns on the earth, they are like a beautiful skin...it's incomprehensible to most people, but for me it's just as essential to observe the geological lay of the land from an aerial perspective as it is to crawl into the microscopic depths of a pond. The obsessive lyrical interpretations are just the same." (1)

John Olsen truly has a unique understanding and appreciation of the Australian landscape. His works are a perfect blend of poetry and art, resulting in a visual language that is entirely his to transcribe. Much like his artistic subjects, Olsen believes that poetry should be reread and revisited repeatedly with new meanings to be found upon each turn of the page. This appreciation of things everchanging and growing transcends onto the canvas through Olsen's ability to portray movement.

"[Olsen's] longheld view is that the very essence of painting and drawing is movement. "Nature is never static, it is in constant flux"." He was inspired by Paul Klee who spoke of the journey of line, and how form is always growing, developing, just like nature itself." (2)

With his brush, he is attempting to communicate the rhythym of the landscape. "Taking that line for a walk" as Olsen calls it. He very rarely does preparatory drawings as he prefers to make decisions of the brush spontaneously.

In Billabong 1995 we see Olsen's characteristic circular arc to indicate the meeting of water and land. We can imagine John Olsen with brush in hand moving the line in whatever direction feels natural, twisting, writhing and bleeding this way then that way in fluid harmony. There is not a single line that could be seen as static, they are so full of movement and spontaneity that we feel the painting is interacting with us. Forms start to develop, reminiscent of animal shapes - a common theme in Olsen's aerial works. The solidity of the water is felt through the use of block colour and strong yet smooth directional brushlines.
John Olsen manages to draw the viewer in, making us feel as though we are getting a special glimpse into this natural haven seemingly removed of human touch.

For John Olsen, the landscape has always been more than a purely external phenomenon and he approaches his landscape paintings with a poetic sensibility and spiritual understanding of the natural world. In this regard, Olsen's works are timeless and universal.

Olivia Fuller | Head of Art

(1) Zimmer, J., McGregor, K., John Olsen: Journeys into the 'You Beaut Country', Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2007, p.247
(2) Hart, D., John Olsen, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991, p. ix

© John Olsen / Copyright Agency 2021