Newcastle-born painter John Olsen (1928-2023) was known for his beret-wearing, his vibrant lyrical landscapes, his deep generosity, his charisma and his infectious joie de vivre.
Olsen died on Tuesday evening (11 April) surrounded by family and loved ones. He was 95.
In the flood of tributes that have rolled out following the news, Olsen has been described as ‘a landscape poet’, a ‘titan of the Australian art world’, ‘the Picasso of Australia’ and, by the late Director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Edmund Capon, as ‘up there in the stratosphere’ of Australian artists.
In an earlier ArtsHub conversation, artist Ben Quilty described Olsen as ‘an unbelievably optimistic human being’.
Sitting in Olsen’s kitchen at Bowral, on the occasion of the last major solo exhibition to be mounted during his lifetime, John Olsen: Goya’s Dog, Olsen was – as always – delighted to share his life passions of art, food and poetry.
The Goya’s Dog exhibition was conceived by the late curator William Wright AM and bought to life years later by National Art School (NAS) Director Steven Alderton. It showed there in June 2021, before touring to Bowral last year, at the regional gallery Ngununggula. Olsen had studied at NAS (then East Sydney Technical College) where he also taught in 1960 after returning from his travels. In 2008 he was made a National Art School Fellow.
This love of teaching and sharing continued at the Bakery Art School, which he set up in 1968.
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