How did margaret olley die
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Margaret Olley
Biography
Margaret Olley is one of Australia’s most significant still-life and interior painters. She 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. A widely-recognised figure in Australian art, she was a major benefactor to public institutions, and the subject of two Archibald Prize winning portraits.
Born in Lismore in northern New South Wales, Olley studied art at Brisbane Technical College then 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, producing works such as Backbuildings 1948.
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painter, was born on 22 June 1923 in Lismore, NSW, eldest of the three children of Joseph Olley and Grace, née Temperley. Shortly after her birth the family moved to Tully in Queensland, then to Murwillumbah (NSW) before finally settling in Brisbane. Margaret was educated at Somerville House. She was taught art by Caroline Barker , an enthusiastic teacher quick to recognise ability.
She spent a year at Brisbane Central Technical College, then studied at East Sydney Tech. under Dorothy Thornhill , Jean Bellette , Lyndon Dadswell , Douglas Dundas , Herbert Badham and Frank Medworth , graduating in 1945 with first-class honours. In 1943 she painted sets for John Kay of the Mercury Theatre Group; in 1947 she designed and executed the sets for Sam Hughes’s production of J.E. Flecker’s Hassan ; in 1948 she worked with Sidney Nolan on Hughes’s production of Cocteau’s Orphée and Shakespeare’s Pericles . She began showing her paintings in group exhibitions in 1944 – at the Royal Queensland Art Society Exhibition in Brisbane and the
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15 Jun – 13 Oct 2019
Gallery of Modern Art, Foyer & Gallery 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery)
'A Generous Life’ examines the legacy and influence of much-loved Australian artist, Margaret Olley (1923–2011) who spent a formative part of her career in Brisbane. A charismatic character, she exerted a lasting impact on many artists as a mentor and friend and was also a muse for artists including William Dobell and Jeffrey Smart. The exhibition will profile a life that was immersed in art – her own and those she supported.
Discover more about Margaret Olley with our extensive range of related events, listed below, including talks and tours, to pop-up performances, hands-on workshops and Up Late events. There’s also daily guided tours of the exhibition at 11.00am.
MARGARET OLLEY
Margaret Olley was born in Lismore in 1923 before moving to Brisbane where her love for painting was nurtured by school teacher and Melbourne National Gallery School trained artist Caroline Barker. In 1942 Olley moved to Sydney and enrolled at the East Sydney Technical College (later the National Art
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