John Olsen (artist)

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John Olsen AO OBE (b. 1928) is an Australian artist. John Olsen's work is represented in all Australian state gallery collections, including the National Gallery of Australia. His self-portrait (Self portrait Janus Faced) won the 2005 Archibald Prize.

The title of the Archibald winning portrait derives from the Roman God Janus who in art is depicted with two heads facing in opposite directions. Olsen said of his self-portrait "Janus had the ability to look backwards and forwards and when you get to my age you have a hell of a lot to think about." Olsen had previously protested the Archibald Prize being given for the seventh time to William Dargie in 1952.

Olsen studied at the Julian Ashton Art School and later in Paris, London, and then independently in Spain.

During the 1950s he was seen as a pioneer of Australian contemporary painting.

In 1969 Olsen won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting for The Chasing Bird Landscape. He won again in 1985 for A Road to Clarendon, Autumn. He won the Sulman Prize in 1989 with Don Quixote Enters the Inn

Olsen was commissioned by the Dobell Foundation to paint the Sydney Opera House mural Salute to Five Bells, inspired by a poem by Kenneth Slessor and completed in 1973.

His autobiography Drawn from Life was published in 1997.

In 2000, the National Gallery of Australia paid $550,000 for the large triptych Sydney Sun (1995) for their Centenary of Federation exhibition. Olsen was presented with the Painters and Sculptors Association Medal by John Howard in 2001.

He is an artist who depicts great environmental awareness and concerns in his recent works. Changes in the environment, animal characteristics and plant life in an ever changing desert are represented with energetic and fiery significance. Olsen explores the emptiness of Lake Eyre in many of his more recent paintings. He signifies that the great lake is the plughole for Australia and when filled with water (Only twice in the history of white man's civilisation) it is a scene of beauty and wonder.

The influence for Olsen's amazing work is said to be derived from when he travelled to Spain and picked up on their outstanding culture. He then returned to Australia and wanted to represent the Australian Culture in such a way that the whole world would see the diversity between the changing seasons.

External references

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