Our major exhibition celebrating the work of leading Australian artist Margaret Olley (1923-2011), ‘Margaret Olley: A Generous Life’ features more than 100 paintings and drawings highlighting the colourful life, legacy and influence of a much-loved Australian artist.
This free exhibition is a celebration of Olley’s extraordinary life as an artist, mentor, muse, passionate collector and donor, and ‘A Generous Life’ will be shown alongside ‘Quilty’, featuring 70 works by Olley’s good friend Ben Quilty.
RELATED: Margaret Olley
SIGN UP NOW: Subscribe to QAGOMA Blog for the latest announcements, recent acquisitions, behind-the-scenes features, and artist stories.
These two exhibitions by two different yet equally committed artists have been programmed so audiences can consider their respective depth of practice, and Olley’s influence, legacy and connection to Quilty. Olley awarded Quilty the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2002, and whose portrait he painted to win the Archibald Prize in 2011, on display in the exhibition.
Tribute to Margaret Olley
Quilty was at GOMA to create a series of site-specific, hand-drawn portraits of Olley. These large-scale chalk drawings are based on preparatory sketches he made for the Archibald portrait. Quilty has cast in chalk some of the objects Olley gave him over the years; teapots, jugs, and vases, and used these to produce the wall drawings.
Subscribe to YouTube to go behind-the-scenes / See what’s on in Brisbane / Hear artists tell their stories / Read about your Australian Collection
Feature image detail: Margaret Olley Pomegranates in a basket 1967
‘A Generous Life’ at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) 15 June – 13 October 2019 examined the legacy and influence of much-loved Australian artist Margaret Olley, who spent a formative part of her career in Brisbane. A charismatic character, whose life was immersed in art, she exerted a lasting impact on many artists as a mentor, friend and muse.
#OlleyGOMA MargaretOlley #QAGOMA
