Ben Quilty draws with Margaret Olley’s teapot cast in chalk

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margart Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools.

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margart Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools. / View full image

Watch our time-lapse as Ben Quilty draws portraits of Margaret Olley on the wall of the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). These large-scale chalk drawings are based on preparatory sketches he made for his Archibald Prize winning portrait of Olley. Quilty has cast in chalk some of the objects she gave him over the years; teapots, jugs, and vases, and used these to draw with.

Watch | Time-lapse of ‘Margaret remembered’

Ben Quilty first met Margaret Olley after she awarded him the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2002. Of course, when Quilty first heard that Olley was going to be guest judge of the Scholarship he was convinced there was no way he could win — his practice was just too gritty and abstract to appeal to Olley’s interests.

Surprised, Quilty struck a friendship with Olley that would endure to her last days. Olley’s mentorship and advocacy certainly bolstered Quilty’s career — and undoubtedly Quilty’s youthful appreciation of Olley’s spirit, tenacity and lifetime achievement was gratifying given her lifelong devotion to her practice.

Ben Quilty ‘Margaret Olley’ 2011

Ben Quilty, Australia, b.1973 / Margaret Olley 2011 / Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales / © Ben Quilty

Ben Quilty, Australia, b.1973 / Margaret Olley 2011 / Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales / © Ben Quilty / View full image

In 2011, he convinced Olley to sit for a portrait that would win the Archibald Prize that same year. His sketchbook from that sitting has now become the source for a delicate yet soaring wall-drawing that connects these two exhibitions in a tribute to Margaret Olley.

Ben Quilty’s sketches of Margaret Olley

Ben Quilty’s sketches of Margaret Olley 2011 / © Ben Quilty

Ben Quilty’s sketches of Margaret Olley 2011 / © Ben Quilty / View full image

Ben Quilty, Australia b. 1973 / Margaret Olley 2011 / Etching on paper / © Ben Quilty

Ben Quilty, Australia b. 1973 / Margaret Olley 2011 / Etching on paper / © Ben Quilty / View full image

Using pastels cast in the shapes of teapots, jugs and vases from Olley’s home studio, Quilty has captured her unmistakable presence one more time. Quilty has cast in chalk some of the objects Olley gave him over the years: teapots, jugs and other vessels, and has used these to draw as series of portraits.

Wall-drawing

Ben Quilty has created a series of site-specific, hand-drawn portraits of Margaret Olley.

Ben Quilty has created a series of site-specific, hand-drawn portraits of Margaret Olley. / View full image

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margart Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools.

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margart Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools. / View full image

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margart Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools.

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margart Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools. / View full image

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margaret Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools.

The pastel mural, a gentle palate of pinks and blues, a homage to Margaret Olley has been made by using objects cast in chalk and using these cast jugs and vases as drawing tools. / View full image

Ben Quilty has created a series of site-specific, hand-drawn portraits of Margaret Olley, using a range of objects cast in chalk such as teapots, jugs and other vessels.

Ben Quilty has created a series of site-specific, hand-drawn portraits of Margaret Olley, using a range of objects cast in chalk such as teapots, jugs and other vessels. / View full image

‘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.

Related Stories

  •
    Read •

    Ben Quilty: Margaret Olley Remembered

    Ben Quilty reflects on his friendship with Margaret Olley, and the lasting influence of her support on his practice. Olley was a generous donor, mentor to emerging artists and a firm friend to many. Watch | Ben Quilty in conversation Olley (1923–2011) was the subject of Quilty’s 2011 Archibald winning portrait. His portrait is of an unflinching close-up of a truthfully aged face, yet her bright eyes command the viewer’s gaze. Olley is the only subject to win the prestigious Archibald prize twice, self portraits by Brett Whiteley and William Robinson aside. An Archibald at the beginning of her career, and an Archibald at the end – the 63-year span between William Dobell’s (1948) and Quilty’s award winning portraits is a true reflection of Olley’s enduring influence on other artists. Olley first met and awarded Quilty the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2002 when he was only 29 – she loved his thick use of paint. Ben Quilty ‘Margaret Olley’ 2011 William Dobell ‘Margaret Olley’ 1948 Featured image: Portrait of Margaret Olley and Ben Quilty, 2011. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy. Image courtesy: AAP. y #QAGOMA
  •
    Read •

    Margaret Olley: A muse & artistic subject for others

    Margaret Olley’s friendships with artists are chronicled in their pictures of her, such as William Dobell’s 1948 Archibald Prize–winning painting, works by Russell Drysdale and Jeffrey Smart and, much later, Ben Quilty’s 2011 Archibald Prize–winning portrait. No other subject has won the Archibald twice (self-portraits by Brett Whiteley and William Robinson aside), and the 63-year span between Dobell’s and Quilty’s pictures is a true reflection of Olley’s enduring influence on other artists. Olley had a great capacity for friendship, not only with other artists — with whom she made many convivial sketching and painting excursions — but also with supporters and dealers. These lifelong friendships were strengthened by a process of exchange and mutual recognition. William Dobell Study for ‘Portrait of Margaret Olley’ 1948 William Dobell ‘Margaret Olley’1948 Margaret Olley & William Dobell 1965 Early friendships with artists in Sydney found expression in Dobell’s 1948 Archibald Prize–winning portrait Margaret Olley, which made Olley an unwilling art-world celebrity. Dobell picked Olley for his famous 1949 Archibald Prize–winning portrait after Loudon Sainthill had an exhibition at Macquarie Galleries in Sydney. He sent her an invitation saying, ‘Darling Olley, please come dressed as a duchess’. Fabric, however, was in short supply after the war — only parachute silk was available. Fellow artist Fred Jessup gave Olley the sleeves from his grandmother’s wedding dress, and she pieced them together with parachute silk to make herself an outfit. In the end, she was a very successful duchess. After the exhibition there was a party until dawn at Russell Drysdale’s place in Rose Bay. When Olley and Dobell were going back in the tram together to Circular Quay, he said he’d like to paint her. So she went along to his studio wearing an ordinary beige dress and one of her rather extravagant hats. She only had one sitting. When she finally saw the painting, Dobell painted her in the duchess dress. Her friendships extended to a later generation, too, as she acquired the works of younger artists, including Cressida Campbell, Nicholas Harding and Ben Quilty. Ben Quilty Sketches of Margaret Olley 2011 Ben Quilty ‘Margaret Olley’ 2011 Ben Quilty with Margaret Olley 2011 These artists, in turn, also created portraits of Olley, including Quilty’s 2011 depiction of her which, like Dobell’s before it, won the Archibald Prize. While Dobell’s portrait presents Olley in an almost full-length fancy dress and an elaborate hat, Quilty’s is an unflinching close-up of a sun-damaged and truthfully aged face. In both, Olley’s bright eyes command the viewer. Olley liked Ben Quilty’s work, she judged Quilty in the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship when he was only 29, she loved his thick use of paint. The Archibald Prize–winning portrait he made of Olley in 2011 just thrilled her so much. She said, ‘I’ve got life bookends — an Archibald at the beginning and an Archibald at the end’. Ian Fairweather Olley is also present in Ian Fairweather’s cryptically titled painting MO, PB and the ti-tree 1965, and was one of only a few people invited to visit the reclusive artist on Bribie Island. A bridge connecting Bribie Island to the mainland had opened in 1963, making the pilgrimage to Fairweather’s studio faster and easier for his artworld acquaintances. Olley respected Fairweather’s privacy, and only ever visited him with a few other people she felt would be of interest to the artist. Ian Fairweather ‘MO, PB and the ti-tree’ 1965 Russell Drysdale Olley was a very popular figure in the Australian art scene, her portrait was painted by several Australian modernists. Olley was also the subject of Russell Drysdale’s portrait in 1948, the same year William Dobell won the Archibald Prize, while much later Jeffrey Smart would paint Second Study for Margaret Olley in the Louvre Museum 1994–95. Russell Drysdale ‘Portrait of Margaret Olley in blue dress’ 1940s Russell Drysdale Margaret Olley 1948 Jeffrey Smart ‘Head study for portrait of Margaret Olley’ 1994 Jeffrey Smart ‘Margaret Olley in the Louvre Museum’ 1994–95
Loading...