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Lot 25

John Olsen
(born 1928)
Kenya

Important Australian Art

22 April 2021, 18:30 AEST

Melbourne, Armadale

Sold for AU$39,360 inc. premium

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John Olsen (born 1928)

Kenya
signed and titled lower left: 'John Olsen / Kenya'
mixed media on paper
80.0 x 80.0cm (31 1/2 x 31 1/2in).

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Sydney, commissioned directly from the artist

'In 1978 John Olsen travelled to Africa: to Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. The animal life in this country provided a special fascination for the artist, particularly the giraffes and monkeys - the African equivalents of the emus and frogs... Olsen continued to draw these creatures on visits to Australian Zoos in the 1980s and towards the end of the decade, after another visit to Africa.

Perhaps more than any other Australian artist, John Olsen has invested the animal world, in his many drawings, prints, gouaches and watercolours, with a zestful energy and sometimes tender, often humorous insights. Occasionally the images were quite charming and elegant, while in other instances they were as daring and as erratic as some of the creatures themselves. The aim was not for perfection but discovery.' 1

1 Deborah Hart, John Olsen, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991, p. 146

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