Margaret Olley OAM - Lemons and ginger jar

Margaret Olley OAM (1923-2011), Lemons and ginger jar circa 1980, oil on board, 49.5 x 75 cm, Lismore Regional Gallery Permanent Collection, Gift of the Estate of Margaret Olley, Margaret Olley Art Trust/Philip Bacon, 2013. Photo: Carl Warner.

About the artwork
This work was originally gifted by Margaret Olley to Robert Haines (1910-2005), who was an influential mid-Twentieth Century gallery director. To Olley’s irritation, Haines later tired of the work, and sent it back to her where it remained in her collection until gifted to Lismore Regional Gallery.

Margaret Olley brought objects into her home, like those in Lemons and Ginger Jar, which she chose for their potential to translate into paintings. Olley paints the relationships between objects to produce compositions that convey what she called a ‘dialogue between the purity of shapes and their spatial relationships.'

About the artist
Margaret Olley held over 90 solo exhibitions during her life time. She was appointed an Officer Order of Australia (AO) in 1991, and awarded Life Governor of the AGNSW in 1997. She was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2006. Margaret was awarded Honorary Doctorates from Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the University of Queensland, Southern Cross University, Lismore and Griffith University, Brisbane.

Conserved by ICS / International Conservation Services
Conservation notes: Dry surface cleaned and aqueous clean; consolidation to edges; losses to edges were inpainted; final varnish; reframed in new frame.

ArtVenture is presented by Lismore City Council’s Destination and Economy Team in collaboration with Lismore Regional Gallery.