MARGARET OLLEY & DONALD FRIEND 21 January – 19 March 2006

KINDRED SPIRITS The careers of Donald Friend and Margaret Olley intersected in such a way that they can be seen both in the sense of their distinctive personalities, and at the same time as siblings of a visual culture with a fluorescence peculiar to Sydney between the 1930s and 50s. They were both at once observers and essential participants of this culture.

Both had an emotional attachment to Queensland, where they travelled and worked together: he once the Sydney-Warialda adolescent following his first fantasy of love up north jumping freight trains in the early years of the Depression and establishing a spiritual connection with a Torres Strait Islander family in Cairns; she born in Lismore and growing up in Brisbane where she received her first training as an artist in the early 1940s. They were both escapists, seeking throughout their lives magic and stimulation from the broader worlds of Europe and Asia. For one bizarre moment – mentioned by Friend in his diaries and recounted by Olley later in her biography – they almost considered marriage, whilst she was staying with him in Hill End in 1948. They had first met in Sydney a few years earlier when she moved down from Brisbane to study at the National Art School.

But perhaps the most fascinating comparison between these two charismatic individuals lies in their respective works. Friend undoubtedly distinguished himself as the consummately gifted figure draughtsman, whilst Olley has concentrated nearly all her life on the subject of still life. Yet their ambiences are not as far apart as might be imagined. There is a sort of jouer les naifs in much of Friend’s painting evident in Olley’s earlier work; part of a generational yearning to break through flirtation with an informal style, from the constraints of academia that still hovered ominously in the official domains of Australian art. Others pursued abstraction, but these two were, quite simply, young figurative modernists.

Of course Friend could also indulge himself shamelessly in a brilliant instinct for the decorative, whereas Olley has tended to select her motifs with the readymade pattern: the chequered table-cloth, the incised jug, the Persian rug, the natural rhythm of leaves and flowers. But both share the same love of objects and nature and how the painterly imagination must be submitted to them to extract their mystery. Indeed there is the odd picture on which either of their names could be placed and fool all but the most expert eye for a moment.

Friend died in Sydney near the end of 1989 before he could witness his first retrospective, organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and opened just a few months later. Olley was one of the few to persist visiting him in his last difficult months of pain and decline. She continues to live and work in Sydney. Somewhere is to be found, amongst the interior of her Paddington house, in the jumble of furniture, pictures, books, rugs, Balinese and Asian objects, and the memorabilia of her long rich life, a precious echo of her old painting companion.

Barry Pearce Head Curator of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales DONALD FRIEND Born in 1915, Donald Friend commenced art classes under Sydney Long in 1930 and studied under Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo from 1933 until 1935. He spent 1936 in London at the Westminster School under Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler, then travelled to Nigeria, where he lived from 1938-39.

Friend returned to Australia prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, and enlisted in the army in June 1942. He served as a gunner with artillery units based in Australia, and also served with a labour battalion in Queensland and briefly with Army Intelligence. In 1946 following his discharge Friend returned to Sydney to resume his artistic career. He was living in the artist’s boarding house Merioola which was located in Edgecliff. Also around this time Friend and Russell Drysdale discovered the old gold-mining towns of Sofala and Hill End near Bathurst. Together with Donald Murray, a friend from the war, he purchased a cottage for 75 pounds which he retained until 1957.

In 1949-50 and 1952-53 he travelled to Italy and England, where he produced some of his most memorable drawings. On the Italian island of Ischia he met Attilio Guarracino who returned with him to Australia and became a lifelong friend. Ever the restless wanderer he journeyed to far north Queensland in 1954 and 1955 on painting excursions where he was beguiled by the tropics and the relaxed nature of the islander inhabitants.

In 1957 he sailed for Colombo and it was in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where he produced some of his finest works including some marvellous figure studies. He returned to Australia in 1961 but within five years departed again heading this time for Bali where he would remain for thirteen years.

In the early 1980s Friend’s health started to fail and he reluctantly returned to Australia to receive treatment. Settling first in Melbourne with his old friend Attillio Guaraccino and later in Sydney his condition worsened after developing diabetes and suffering a severe stroke. He continued making work although with his right hand (he was left-handed) and produced some astonishing works in his latter years. Donald Friend died in Sydney in 1989 and the following year the Art Gallery of New South Wales mounted a comprehensive retrospective of his work.

Checklist DONALD FRIEND (1915- 1989) Mother and child 1938 The musician c.1942 Margaret Olley 1948 pen, ink and gouache pen, ink and wash gouache and ink on composition 52.0 x 37.0cm 25.3 x 36.6cm board Private Collection S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection 38.1 x 27.8cm Bequest of Alan Renshaw New England Regional Art Tinubu Square, Lagos 1939 Museum, Gift of Chandler oil on board The Fisher Boy 1945 Coventry 1979 51.0 X 71.0cm oil on composition board University of Sydney Art 50.0 x 59.5cm (Hill End) Collection, Gift of Lucy Swanton Courtesy Savill Galleries oil on board 29.7 x 39.7cm Private Collection Self portrait 1939 Boy seated pen & ink, wash pen & ink, wash 37.8 x 25.5cm (Hill End) 33.3 x 20.1cm Art Gallery of New South Wales, oil on board 14.3 x 25.9cm S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection Purchased 1946 Private Collection Bequest of Alan Renshaw Sofala 1947 San Marino c.1949 Self portrait at age 24 years oil, pen and ink on canvas ink and wash on paper 1939 51.5 x 61.2cm 46.7 x 39.2cm pen & ink, wash Art Gallery of New South Wales, S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection 32.8 x 21.3cm Gift of Margaret Olley 1995 Bequest of Alan Renshaw S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection Bequest of Alan Renshaw The Cottage c.1947 Porta San Frediaro, Firenze pen, ink & wash 28.2 x 39.0cm c.1949 Leiba, little girl from Hill End Private Collection ink & wash c.1940 31.2 x 47.7cm oil on panel 29.0 x 30.0cm Portrait of Margaret Olley 1948 S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection The Holmes à Court Collection, pen and wash 34.2 x 24.0cm Bequest of Alan Renshaw Heytesbury Private Collection Porta San Fernando Florence Crab farm, Coombabah Creek Boys watching beetle (c.1960s) c.1949 1954 pen and ink with blue wash watercolour and mixed media crayon, ink, gouache on board 69.0 x 50.0 cm 47.0 x 30.0cm 31.0 x 47.5cm University of Sydney Art Courtesy Savill Galleries Gold Coast City Art Collection, Collection, Bequest of Alan Purchased 1994 with funds Renshaw The studio stairs, Firenze 1949 provided by the Gold Coast City ink and wash on paper Art Gallery Advisory Panel and Three athletes no date 46.7 x 29.7cm Primrose, Couper, Cronin, ink & wash on board Private Collection Rudkin Solicitors and Notary 77.0 x 55.5cm University of Sydney Art Rolando I 1949 Crew of the Norena 1956 Collection, Bequest of Alan ink and wash on paper oil on canvas on board Renshaw 29.7 x 46.7cm 39.0 x 49.0cm Private Collection Reserve Bank of Australia, Jindasa (study of two Ceylonese Purchased 1956 boys) c.1960 The studio in Firenze 1949 ink and wash 48.8 x 32.8cm ink and wash on paper Untitled c. 1956 S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection 46.7 x 29.7cm oil on canvas Bequest of Alan Renshaw Private Collection 76.0 x 101.0cm Courtesy Savill Galleries The house next door (Bali Hill End c.1951 series) not dated oil on canvas 75.0 x 101.0cm Hill End. 1956 ink ,wash & gouache Art Gallery of New South Wales pen, ink & pastel 74.4 x 54.1cm Gift of Margaret Olley 1992 30.0 x 46.0cm S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection Courtesy Savill Galleries Bequest of Alan Renshaw Hill End landscape c.1951 oil on board, 29.5 x 39.8cm The flute players, Ceylon The lagoon c.1975 Bathurst Regional Art Gallery c.1957-62 watercolour, ink and pen, ink , gouache, gold leaf Gift of John Bedwell 2000 wash on hardboard 46.8 x 69.0cm 38.7 x 56.0cm Private Collection Hill End children 1951 S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection pastel & chalk 47.0 x 30.5cm Bequest of Alan Renshaw The sewing machine c.1985 Private Collection watercolour 51.0 x 64.0cm Sunbathers II not dated Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney The fortune teller 1953 watercolour, ink & wash on oil on canvas on hardboard paper Avocadoes and aubergines with 65.4 x 96.5cm 53.0 x 73.0 image carved emu eggs 1986 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Private Collection watercolour, 55.0 x 75.0cm Purchased 1956 The Holmes à Court Collection, Flute players (c.1960s) Heytesbury Pty Ltd The Piesley gang bailing up the pen, wash & watercolour coach, Monkey Hill 1953 38.7 x 56.0cm Tamarillo harvest 1987 oil and gold leaf on board University of Sydney Art watercolour on white wove paper 40.0 x 30.0cm Collection, Bequest of Alan 56.5 x 75.5cm Bathurst Regional Art Gallery Renshaw Art Gallery of New South Wales Purchased 2004 Purchased 1987

MARGARET OLLEY (b.1923)

Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales in 1923, and commenced art classes in Brisbane before moving to Sydney to study at the National Art School from 1943-5. It was in post-war Sydney where she met fellow artists such as Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend, David Strachan and William Dobell all with whom she formed longstanding friendships.

Following the completion of her studies she worked painting sets for theatrical productions to help pay the rent on her flat in McMahons Point. Olley’s first solo Sydney exhibition was held at the prestigious Macquarie Galleries in 1948 and from that exhibition both the National Art Gallery of New South Wales and National Gallery of Victoria acquired works for their collections. In August 1948 she famously sat for Dobell in an old silk parachute fashioned into a dress, and the portrait was awarded the Archibald Prize in January 1949.

At the same time that the portrait was being feted in Sydney, Olley was on her way to Europe – on the first of what would be many adventures. She visited London, Paris (where she attended the Académie de la Grand Chamière), Cassis, Italy and Spain. In Europe she met up with other Australian artists including Jocelyn Rickards & Alec Murray, Margaret Cilento, Robert Klippel, Mitty-Lee Brown, Fred Jessup, David Strachan, Wolfgang Cardamatis, Justin O’Brien, Moya Dyring, Jeffrey Smart, Donald Friend. Olley eventually returned to Australia in 1953.

Since that time until the present day, Margaret Olley has been committed to her art practice, and dedicated to painting still life. She has held over 75 solo exhibitions, and important surveys of her work have been organised by S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney (1990) and the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1996). Although Olley has remained living permanently in Australia she has travelled widely, collecting works of art and objects d’art.

In 1990 she established the Margaret Olley Art Trust which has acquired works of art for the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Queensland Art Gallery, and many regional galleries including Newcastle, Armidale, Bathurst and Maitland. She has become one of Australia’s most generous benefactors to the visual arts and also of other organisations connected with music and medicine.

Margaret Olley has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Macquarie University, appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia and nominated as a National Living Treasure. These days she is instantly recognisable around Sydney.pushing her Zimmer frame, nicknamed Moses for its ability to part crowds.

MARGARET OLLEY (b.1923) Still life in green 1947 Cane farmer’s house, North Still life with cornflowers 1981 oil on cardboard 63.0 x 72.0cm Queensland 1956 oil on board 74.5 x 100cm Art Gallery of New South Wales oil on canvas 60.0 x 75.5cm Private Collection Jean Cameron Gordon Bequest UNSW Art Collection, The Fund in memory of her mother University of New South Wales Aubergine and jug c.1982 Mary Gordon 2001 oil on hardboard The tiled stove 1956 67.3 x 90.0cm Era landscape c.1947 pen, ink & pastel University of Queensland oil on canvas 60.5 x 76.5cm Private Collection Gift of Margaret Olley 2000 Private Collection Eucharist lilies 1963 Homage to Manet 1987 North Sydney c.1947 oil on hardboard 72.5 x 98.5cm oil on hardboard 76.0 x 102.0cm oil on canvas 55.5 x 77.5cm Private Collection Art Gallery of New South Wales Private Collection Gift of the artist 2001 Banksia 1970 Backbuildings 1948 oil on board 120.0 x 97.5cm Yellow interior 1989 oil on canvas 36.0 x 62.0cm Maitland City Art Gallery oil on hardboard Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of William Bowmore 61.0 x 75.0cm Gift of the artist 2001 Private Collection, Courtesy Mandarins and kippers 1973 Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane Portrait in the mirror 1948 oil on board oil on hardboard 75.0 x 100.0cm Pomegranate and Chianti Bottle 54.5 x 72.0cm Private Collection 1994-95 Art Gallery of New South Wales oil on hardboard Gift of the artist 2001 Kitchen still life 1976 53.0 x 82.0cm oil on board Private Collection Still life with pink fish 1948 69 x 91cm oil on cheesecloth on hardboard University of Sydney Art Chinese screen and yellow room 76.3 x 97.0cm Collection, Gift of Margaret Olley 1996 Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2001 oil on hardboard 90.0 x 90.0cm Purchased 1948 Art Gallery of New South Wales White still life 1977 Purchased 1996 Self portrait 1952 oil on hardboard ink & wash 31.5 x 26.5cm 69 x 91cm Still life with artichokes not dated Private Collection Philip Bacon, Brisbane oil on board 76.0 x 101.2cm Collection of Sir James & Lady Still life with kettle 1955 Apples 1980 Cruthers oil on hardboard oil on hardboard 68.0 x 90.0cm 64.5 x 77.0cm Still life with mandarins and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, pears not dated Margaret Hannah Olley Art Trust Gift of the artist by exchange oil on board 75.0 x 120.5cm 2001 1998 Private Collection