Click an Image below to Enlarge
Margaret Hannah Olley was born in Lismore, in northern New South Wales, on 24 June 1923. * Margaret was the eldest of three children born to Joseph & Grace Olley. In 1925, the family moved to Tully, between Cairns and Townsville in far north Queensland, where they established a sugarcane farm. Olley attended boarding school at St Anne’s in Townsville from 1929 until 1931, when the family re-located back to northern NSW, purchasing a sugar cane farm at Tygalgah, near Murwillumbah. To attend the local primary school in Murwillumbah, Margaret and her siblings crossed the river in a rowboat to meet the bus which took them into town. The family were self-sufficient, growing their own vegetables, raising chickens, making preserves and cakes. Olley’s favourite subject at school was art and her independent Aunt Mary, who often visited the family, was a great mentor. **
In 1935, Olley attended Somerville House, a girls’ boarding school in Brisbane. It was during her time at secondary school that her talent for painting and drawing was noticed, particularly by her art teacher, Caroline Barker. Ms Barker persuaded Olley’s parents to send their daughter to art school to further her studies. In 1941, Olley commenced classes at Brisbane Central Technical College. Then, in 1943, she enrolled in an Art Diploma course at East Sydney Technical College (later the National Art School), graduating with first-class honours in 1945. **
In the late 1940s, she worked as a set designer in the theatre, including on productions of Jean Cocteau’s Orphée with fellow artist Sidney Nolan. Other artists in her circle included Russell Drysdale and Donald Friend. With Friend, she was among the first artists to paint in the Hill End area near Bathurst in western New South Wales. *
Olley left for Europe in 1949. She lived for a while in France, during which time she studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, went on weekend painting excursions with fellow expatriates David Strachan and Moyra Dyring, and travelled extensively in Europe and to London. *
Olley returned to Brisbane in 1953, after the death of her father. ** She lived and painted at her mother’s home, ‘Farndon’, in Morry St, Hill End, Brisbane. In 1954, Olley and Friend travelled to north Queensland, where they painted together at Magnetic Island, before Olley continued solo to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Cambodia and Bali. * She returned to her mother’s home and remained in Brisbane for ten years, painting for exhibitions, designing theatre sets and murals, and opening an antique shop in Stones Corner. **
In 1964, Olley bought a terrace house and adjoining former hat factory in Duxford Street, in the inner Sydney suburb of Paddington. This home and studio became almost as famous as the artist herself. With richly coloured walls, it was jam-packed with thousands of objects, many of which featured as subjects in her artworks. It appeared chaotic; but actually, was arranged by the artist like a still life.
In the 1970s and 80s she visited America, Crete, Egypt, China, Russia, Italy, France and England. Despite her travels, her subject matter remained focused on her immediate surroundings and the evidence of her experiences appeared in the objects included in her still-life arrangements. *
Olley continued to paint and exhibit into her 80s. She died in Sydney on 25 July 2011, aged 88. * A state memorial service was held at the Art Gallery of NSW. The myriad contents of her home and studio were recorded and parts have been recreated at the Tweed River Art Gallery on the New South Wales north coast, where Olley spent her childhood years. She is known as one of Australia’s most significant still-life and interior painters. *
In 1948, Olley held her first solo exhibition at Sydney’s Macquarie Galleries, from which the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of NSW both purchased works. Her first European exhibition, at the Galerie Paul Morihien in 1952, was of monotypes, including expressive images of landscapes and rural life. * From then, Olley held over 90 solo exhibitions, as well as numerous group exhibitions, throughout Australia as well as in Paris, London and Papua New Guinea. ***
The first retrospective of her work was held at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney in 1990, accompanied by the launch of a monograph written by Christine France. The Art Gallery of NSW held another retrospective exhibition, curated by Barry Pearce, in 1997. **
Olley received the inaugural Mosman Art Prize in 1947. In 1953, Olley was commissioned to produce a number of murals, first of the Place de la Concorde for the opening of the French Art Today exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery, and others for the Grosvenor and Lennon’s hotels in Brisbane and the Leagues Club in Phillip Street, Sydney. *
A widely recognised figure in Australian art, she was a major benefactor to public institutions, and the subject of two Archibald Prize winning portraits. In 1948, she was the subject of William Dobell’s Archibald Prize winning portrait – Margaret Olley 1948 – which brought her unwelcome public attention. Another portrait of her, by Ben Quilty, won the Archibald Prize in 2011. *
She was awarded the Order of Australia in 1991 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2006 “for service as one of Australia's most distinguished artists, for support and philanthropy to the visual and performing arts, and for encouragement of young and emerging artists”. She was awarded Life Governor of the Art Gallery of NSW in 1997 and the Margaret Olley, Twentieth Century European Gallery was named in her honour in 2001. ** In 1997, she was declared an Australian National Treasure.
Olley never conformed to artistic trends. She showed little regard for contemporary modernism and abstraction, instead persisting with the subject of still-life. Olley’s richly textured and colourful compositions were in sharp contrast to the minimalistic art trends of the mid-twentieth century. It is an incredible feat that her paintings were so well received by the public at a time when abstraction was rising and painting as an art form was arguably in decline. ****
Although Olley did paint landscapes and portraits, she is best known for her still-life. Olley drew inspiration from her home and studio and the beauty of the everyday objects she gathered around her. Many of her paintings feature arrangements of fruits and flowers, set amid the pottery, art and exotica of her travels. *
Her paintings revel in brilliant colours and shapes. The artist and critic James Gleeson commented on her full palette, and the uninhibited richness of the work: “there is nothing skimped, cramped, lean, undernourished or impoverished in her pictures.” ***
Similarly, art dealer and friend of Olley, Philip Bacon says: “She really was one of Australia’s best-loved and most sought-after artists … But what history will remember best is her life-affirming paintings, full of colour, joy and love.” *****
Olley’s works are represented in Collections across Australia, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Tweed Regional Art Gallery and many other state and regional galleries, corporate, university and significant private Collections throughout Australia. *
* Margaret Olley, Featured Artists, The Art Gallery of NSW ** Biography of Margaret Olley, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre *** It’s all about the light: works by Margaret Olley from public collections, Essay, Exhibition catalogue, Christine France, 2013 **** Olley’s knack for improving with age, C Allen, 20 July 2019, The Australian ***** The chaos, generosity and genius of Margaret Olley – ‘one of Australia’s best loved artists’, Kelly Burke, The Guardian, 17 June 2023
Copyright © 2008 Art Nomad. All rights reserved. Click here to view copyright statement