People
and Animals Possessed by the You Beaut Country 1983
Oil on canvas
Signed “John Olsen” lower left
Inscribed “People & Animals Possessed by the You Beaut Country” to
the reverse
137.0 x 152.5 cm
Since
the 1970s and the 1980s John Olsen’s perspectives on time – space
relationships had been enriched and amplified by experiences of
flying over the country, by participating in journeys across vast
regions of the Australian continent, which in turn required patience
and a slower sense of time, well understood by Aboriginal people.
This shift from the faster pace implied in earlier works was also
informed by Olsen’s feeling for Chinese Sung Dynasty painting,
by the idea of the spaces being as important as the inflections.
Represented
National Gallery of Australia
All Australian State galleries and many regional, institutional and private
collections
