Final Works of Margaret Olley

The last works renowned artist Margaret Olley completed before her death will go on exhibit in Sydney tonight. Olley was working on the exhibition right up until the night before she died in July last year, aged 88. The show features 27 new works which feature recognisable objects from Olley’s home studio, including flowers and other interiors. Most of the paintings have already been sold, but one of the few still for sale has a price tag of $440,000.

Curator Barry Pearce says there has been an immediate escalation in price after Olley’s death, but their value will only continue to rise. ”Because now there’s a finite, a finiteness to the work. There’s no more work coming out of her studio, out of her house,” he said.

He says the works are very recognisably Olley’s work. ”The flower pieces, the tables with objects, pots, lampshades, tablecloths, interiors,” Mr Pearce said. ”But the painting style has changed a little bit. It’s far more vigorous than some of her previous shows and I think that’s due to the kind of amazing speed and energy she put into them.”

The proceeds from the show will go to a trust set up by the artist and also towards the new Margaret Olley Art Centre at Murwillumbah on the far north coast of New South Wales.

LINK: Final Works of Margaret Olley

Ben Quilty: Australian War Memorial, Official War Artist

After winning Australia’s top art prize – The Archibald –  the last place Ben Quilty expected to wind up was the middle of the desert. But that is what the Australian War Memorial had in mind when they invited him to become an official war artist. In April Quilty won the Archibald prize for his painting of esteemed artist Margaret Olley. So when he got the call from a Memorial representative, he was hesitant. Read the full article »»»»

And the Winner is…

Sydney: A portrait of the celebrated painter and one-time Dobell muse Margaret Olley by the artist Ben Quilty has won the $50,000 Archibald Prize. Quilty’s work was chosen from more than 800 entries and 41 finalists to win the coveted portrait prize, now in its 90th year.

The 88-year-old doyenne of Australian art, who was also the subject of an Archibald winner by William Dobell in 1948, said: “Ben’s been wanting to paint me for years. But I kept on saying no.