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| Margaret Olley at home in her studio ..Steven Siewert...The Age Newspaper June 2006 |
Margaret Olley's ( b1923) passion for her work and for life is an inspiration to us all.
known for her colourful , sensitive still lifes of fruit, flowers and vases....you can see some here... she has been immortalized once again as the winning subject in the 90th Archibald Prize, beating nearly 800 other entries.
this is the second time she has been the winning subject.....
in 1948 William Dobell caused an upset when this painting won the Archibald Prize .......
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| Margaret Olley painted by William Dobell Archibald Winner 1948 |
I found some fabulous images here at 'a hazy moon'....have a look.....
And as for the artist.... this work by Ben Quilty is utterly delicious.
he slathers on paint as if it's butter....
you just want to stroke his canvases , and scoop up the paint with a finger and pop it into your mouth!
many of his previous works are quite dark and macchismo.... he paints about 'the darkness of being a young man in today's society '....and he cheerfully admits Margaret has asked him constantly for years to stop painting ugly skulls , to paint something beautiful......'why not paint the beauty of living in the world?' And as he said on radio...he thought 'it's a very valid point.... why don't I try that on.'
but this portrait is gorgeously understated.
concentrating on the intelligence behind the eyes, on the friend and mentor he knows and loves, he has left much of her face unpainted, ignoring the obvious signs of age that bedevil us all, daubing only the essentials, and used a higher key, lighter, cheerier colour palette in respect to Margaret's work and life.
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| Ben Quilty with his son and Margaret Olley Archibald Winner 2011 |
a worthy winner, utterly gorgeous, and my pick of the bunch!
Jo x
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