We use cookies to remember choices you make on functionality and personal features to enhance your experience to our site.
By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies. Please refer to our
privacy
and cookie policies for more information.
Hawkesbury Wildflowers and Pears I, 1973 signed lower left: 'Olley 73' oil on board 91.5 x 96.5cm (36 x 38in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney Private collection, Sydney
EXHIBITED Margaret Olley, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney, 2 - 20 October 1973, cat. 11 The Art of Margaret Olley, S.H. Ervin Gallery (touring to Brisbane and Lismore), Sydney, 3 August - 9 September 1990, cat. 26
LITERATURE Christine France, Margaret Olley, Craftsman House, New South Wales, 1990, pl. 20 and p. 101 (illus.)
RELATED WORKS Hawkesbury Wildflowers, 1973, oil on board, 82.0 x 102.5cm, in the collection of the Australian National University, Canberra Hawkesbury Wildflowers and Pears II, 1973, oil on board, 76.0 x 101.5cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Margaret Olley's still life paintings from the 1970s exude a calm stillness and appear as an homage to the inherent beauty of simple things. Hawkesbury Wildflowers and Pears I, 1973 is part of a succinct group of still life paintings from a period in which Olley almost exclusively painted arrangements of her white porcelain set among her beloved native flowers, fruits and vegetables. In these works she sought an evenness of tone and subtle colour harmonies all bathed in a soft morning or evening light. The present work features the distinctive blue and white pitcher and comport with pears on a dark sideboard positioned against a blue wall that also appear in Hawkesbury Wildflowers and Pears II, 1973 in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and Hawkesbury Wildflowers, 1973 in the collection of the Australian National University, Canberra, both painted in the same year.
As her friend and admirer Edmund Capon observed of the artist, 'Still-lifes and interiors are her métier, and Margaret Olley is a part of that tradition, from Vermeer in the seventeenth century to Morandi in the twentieth century - two of her most admired artists - which finds inspiration, beauty and a rich spirit of humanity in the most familiar of subject matter.' 1 She was a great arranger of her renowned household 'clutter', most of which was collected on her numerous painting and study trips overseas through Europe, Asia and Oceania. From such a tangle of memento and divers keepsakes she was able to pare back and edit her arrangements so that a balance and harmony was attained leaving only form, colour and light to shape the composition. Not only did she approach her subject with great sensitivity and appreciation for the unassuming beauty of the objects portrayed, she was able to capture a sense of silence and timelessness that resonates throughout her works such as Hawkesbury Wildflowers and Pears I .
1 Edmund Capon, as quoted in Barry Pearce, Margaret Olley, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1996, p. 7
We gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance of The Olley Project, courtesy of The Margaret Olley Trust and Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, in cataloguing this work.
This auction is now finished. If you are interested in consigning in future auctions, please contact the specialist department. If you have queries about lots purchased in this auction, please contact customer services.
Buyers' Obligations
ALL BIDDERS MUST AGREE THAT THEY HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD BONHAMS' CONDITIONS OF SALE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM, AND AGREE TO PAY THE BUYER'S PREMIUM AND ANY OTHER CHARGES MENTIONED IN THE NOTICE TO BIDDERS. THIS AFFECTS THE BIDDERS LEGAL RIGHTS.
If you have any complaints or questions about the Conditions of Sale, please contact your nearest customer services team.
Buyers' Premium and Charges
For all Sales categories excluding Motor Cars and Motorcycles:
Buyer's Premium Rates 23% on the Hammer Price
GST at the current rate of 10% will be added to the Buyer's Premium and charges.
Shipping Notices
For information and estimates on domestic and international shipping as well as export licences please contact Bonhams Shipping Department.