John Olsen's paintings have been described as revealing Sydney’s urban landscape in the same way that Russell Drysdale defined the Australian outback. Olsen is recognised as one of the country’s most important exponents of modernism, attending the Dattilo-Rubbo Art School (1947-49) and the Julian Ashton Art School,(1950-52) and studying under John Passmore.
Read MoreFrom 1957 to 1960 he studied in Europe, and returning to Australia in the 1960s, his practice achieved ‘a new kind of figuration’, with its expressive calligraphic marks alluding to a vitality of more universal and spiritual dimensions. Olsen’s landmark exhibition of paintings of Sydney You-beaut Country in 1961 revealed the response of an expatriate, recently returned from Spain who valued both its high culture and larrikin humour in expressive, visionary works that referenced Paul Klee, Zen Buddhism and Jackson Pollock.
In the 1970s and 1980s, his oeuvre subsequently took ‘a line for a walk,’ through the desert of South Australia. Olsen has received numerous awards, including the Wynne Prize (1969 and 1985). A touring retrospective of his work opened at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1991. His work is held in all Australian State galleries and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
