In 1953 Margaret Olley (24 June 1923–2011) returned from travelling abroad to her family home ‘Farndon’ in Morry Street, Hill End (now West End). By this time still lifes were a major part of Olley’s creation. Many of her still lifes from the late 1950s and 1960s, such as Allamandas I c.1955–58 (illustrated) and Lemons and oranges 1964 (illustrated) have a lovely informal feel enhanced by the random placement of flowers and fruit and the colourful, broad application of paint across a large canvas.
In the first few years after her return to Brisbane, Olley travelled to Sydney to meet new artists and renew friendships, while in Brisbane a lively art circle surrounded Brian and Marjorie Johnstone’s Gallery. The 1960s was a decade of tremendous success for Olley, in 1962 she became perhaps the country’s best-known female artist after her sell-out exhibition at the Johnstone Gallery selling 38 paintings for £3000, doubling the record set by Australian women painters.1
Margaret Olley painting at ‘Farndon’ 1966
In her 1960 exhibition at the Johnstone Gallery, local art critic Dr Gertrude Langer remarked of Olley’s work: ‘Her flower pieces, not by number but by achievement dominate the show. Olley is at her lyrical best when she expands a bouquet of large flowers across a large canvas. These paintings will appeal to lovers of flowers as well as lovers of paintings.’2 Langer mentioned ‘the beautifully handled blues, and objects divested of their weight establish the soft, dreamy mood of ‘Alamanders’.
Margaret Olley ‘Allamandas I’ c.1955-58
In his introduction to the catalogue for her solo exhibition at the Johnstone Gallery in 1964, artist and critic James Gleeson wrote: ‘I can think of no other Australian painters of the present time who orchestrate their themes with such uninhibited richness as Margaret Olley. She is a symphonist among flower-painters; a painter who calls upon the full resources of the modern palette to express her joy in the beauty of living things. There is nothing skimped, cramped, lean, undernourished or impoverished in her pictures. They invariably give you an impression of such fullness and abundance that you are reminded of a harvest festival.’3
Margaret Olley at the Johnstone Gallery 1957
Olley has remarked: ‘I can feel for flowers as I can for people. Painting flowers is almost like painting a portrait. I couldn’t care less for them as botanical specimens — in fact, I don’t know the names of many of the flowers I paint’.
The branches of citrus fruit and the flowers that appear in paintings are those that could be gathered in virtually any of Brisbane’s sub-tropical gardens. In fact Olley often gathered such casual assemblages of flowers and foliage in her walks through her suburb for use in her paintings.
‘Farndon’ c.1950–60s
Oranges, lemons and other citrus fruit were a consistent theme in Olley’s work. In these paintings branches were cut from the fruit trees in her own garden, placed in a cane basket and arranged on a cloth with some simple bottles and jugs. Because of the random placing of the fruit on the branches and their angularity, these works have an informal quality.
Margaret Olley ‘Lemons and oranges’ 1964
Endnote
1 ‘Margaret Olley top woman painter’, Courier-Mail [Brisbane], 22 October 1962.
2 Langer, Dr Gertrude. ‘Show by M. Olley’, Courier-Mail [Brisbane], 9 October 1960.
3 Gleeson, James. Introduction to ‘Paintings by Margaret Olley’ [exhibition catalogue], The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane, 1964
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