Ink, gouache and wash on paper
Signed with initials and dated ’87 lower left
Inscribed with title and inscription: “Working all his life on a few objects
he found he could dance on a pin’s head” lower right
76.0 x55.5 cm
Provenance
Australian Galleries, Sydney
Private collection, Melbourne
This portrait of the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi (1890 –1964) is part
of a series that is something of a homage to artists Olsen recognised for “their
great talent, their discipline and above all, their passion for their life’s
work, their art”. As Olsen notes (in one of his journal entries from 1986)
regarding this series:
As portraits I have sought a likeness, likeness though is not found by analysing
proportions but by divining the spirit of the sitter. As you will see I have
the greatest admiration for these men. I would like young artists to share
in this tribute and have therefore called the series ‘Letters to a Young
Artist’. (Hart 1988)
Represented
National Gallery of Australia
All Australian State galleries and many regional, institutional and private
collections
Reference
Hart, Deborah 1988, John Olsen - Encounters with Drawing, Australian Galleries,
Sydney, pp.34,37, pl.66.
