Find Lots

• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Fine Australian & International Art
• Sale Date:
  23 Nov 2015 ~ 6.30pm
• Lot #:
  11
• Lot Description:
  Margaret Hannah Olley
  (1923-2011)
  Interior II 1970
  oil on board
  120.5 x 90 cm
  signed lower left: Olley 70; inscribed verso: INTERIOR II 1970; bears Johnstone Gallery label verso
• Exhibited:
  Paintings by Margaret Olley, Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane, 2-24 October 1970, cat. no. 2
• References:
  Related Works: Interior IV 1970, Queensland Art Gallery Collection, Gift of the Margaret Olley Art Trust through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2002
• Notes:
  Interior II belongs to a suite of paintings which all focus on the interior of Margaret Olley's family home Farndon in Hill End, a waterside suburb of Brisbane. Purchased by Olley's mother in 1940, Farndon was an old school building which had been converted into flats, and Olley promptly set up studio in the basement. Her father planted many trees and plants around the property which quickly turned into a lush jungle of tropical delight. In 1943, aged 20, Olley moved to Sydney to live whilst enrolled at the East Sydney Technical College, but Farndon continued to be a refuge on her many return visits. Interiors had long fascinated Olley. She was a great admirer of artists who had themselves painted similar images, such as Sickert, Bonnard, Vuillard and Matisse, stating: 'I've always been intrigued by interiors. You gain a lot of information from a room. .... An interior will always result in a portrait of the person who lives there.'1 From the late 1960s, Olley became a shrewd investor, buying old houses then doing them up in her inimitable fashion before selling at profit and starting the process anew. She was also an inveterate traveller and the interiors (including her mother's) reflected this passion, featuring 'tables, ornate sideboards, shelves cluttered with vases, jugs, artifacts galore, everything from Sepik statues and Egyptian scarabs .... (to) water jars from Thailand, posters, paintings, mirrors, batiks, kelims, toys, treasures, books, catalogues from exhibitions the world over.'2 Evidence of Olley's travels abound in Interior II as does the work of her colleagues, with the painting above the side table being a possible Elaine Haxton, whilst the work in the second room indicates the style of John Molvig.3 This interior is the companion to Interior IV now in the Collection of the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG). In the QAG painting, the view includes a window onto Joe Olley's sumptuous garden, and the end of the chintz sofa which is also featured in Interior II but in this companion work, the room now continues in the other direction to take in the sunroom beyond. It is a bright and companionable scene of domesticity, 'reassuringly cheerful - you just know Mrs. Oll is going to bustle in any minute and offer you tea in a blue and white cup.'4 Painted on treated but uncoloured board, Olley utilises a leaner application than her more expressive work of the 1960s. It is a modest subject but she has imbued it with great detail and rich colour play, focusing on the angles of doors and furniture, creating views within views. 'With their feeling of mystery and introspection, the ten interior studies (at Johnstone Gallery) take the eye (and) have a suggestion of what we cannot see. We look through long perspectives to open doorways framing details of another room .... It is serious work, confident and free.'5 Sadly, Farndon was burnt to the ground in 1980, taking hundreds of Olley's artworks with it. Such was her sense of loss that she did not revisit the site for over twenty years only to find that little remained except 'the paperback trees that Joe Olley planted round the house long ago.'6 Mossgreen thanks Philip Bacon for assistance in identifying this painting 1 Meg Stewart, Margaret Olley: far from a still life, Vintage, NSW, 2012 (revised edition), p.427 2 Janet Hawley, 'Margaret Olley', Encounters with Australian Artists, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1993, p.99 3 The carved Sepik figure is identical to that offered by Mossgreen at the Margaret Olley auction, 30 June 2013, lot.76 4 Meg Stewart, op cit., p.426 5 David Cox, 'Possibly best by Margaret Olley', Courier Mail, Brisbane, 3 October 1970 6 Meg Stewart, op cit., p.450
• Estimate:
  A$45,000 - 55,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

  Can't see the realised price? Upgrade your subscription now!

• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.