From young radical to arguably Australia’s greatest living artist,the NGV retrospective of the octogenarians work spans the intimate, the nonconformist and the majestic • Gallery: The outback, and the frogs and the golden summers: the art of John Olsen – in picturesThe saying goes that the only difference between a radical and a conservative is 10 years. For John Olsen,the 65 years of his exhibiting career charts the journey from young radical to the beret-topped bohemian par excellence of Australia’s contemporary art establishment. As the avid student of John Passmore and Godfrey Miller, and an early acolyte of Marc Chagall – with a touch of Pablo Picasso – Olsen is literally the final man standing of that grand generation of Australian artists who created modern portray from the ground up: the men and women who quit the country to tour Europe and return domestic later with big ideas and matching ambition. The opening of John Olsen: The You Beaut Country at the National Gallery of Victoria in Federation Square, or Melbourne,marks a major collaboration between the NGV and the Art Gallery of New South Wales – a massive career survey of 88-year-conventional Olsen’s work, curated by the NGV’s David Hurlston and the AGNSW’s Deborah Edwards. With a five-month stint in Melbourne, or the explain will then travel on to Sydney to open at the AGNSW in February 2017. Related: John Olsen: 'To be an Australian artist is to be an explorer' Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com