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'This landmark biography by Darleen Bungey, the author of the celebrated biography of Arthur Boyd, graphically depicts the forces that drove John Olsen to become one of the country's greatest artists. An exhilarating book, both trenchant and tender, it strips away the veneer of showmanship and fame to show the substance of a painter driven by a need to depict his country's landscape as Australians had never seen it before.
'Given access to his uncensored diaries and drawing on years of extensive interviews with both Olsen and those who have known him best, she explores his passionate life and follows his navigation though the friendships, rivalries and politics of the Australian art world. How did a shy, stuttering boy from Newcastle, neglected by his alcoholic father, come to paint the great mural Salute to Five Bells at the Sydney Opera House?
'This biography follows that journey - through Olsen's early experiences in the bush, particularly a formative period at Yass (a time previously unrecorded), to years of cleaning jobs to pay his way through art school, to a milestone time spent in France and Spain - and traces his constant travels and relocations within Australia, including his epic journeys into the outback and to Kati thanda-Lake Eyre.
'From a child who was never taken to an art gallery, who learnt how to draw from comics, we come to see the famous artist in the black beret, the writer and poet, the engaging public speaker, the bon vivant - whose life has been defined by an absolute need to paint.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication: to 'The digger'
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Epigraph: 'What am I? I have a brush, I have colours, I see, I smell flowers. One answer to that question is that we're all different. It throws an enormous mystery before your eyes and your feelings.' – John Passmore
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Captain Olsen : A Revelatory Biography of John Olsen
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 369 2015; (p. 44-45)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography -
Japanese Attack on Broome Told with Flair
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 January 2015; (p. 18)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography -
A Fresh Take on a Sunny Spirit
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17-18 January 2015; (p. 34-35) The Age , 17 January 2015; (p. 26)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography -
Darleen Bungey
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15-16 November 2014; (p. 30-31)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography 'A new biography of artist John Olsen paints a vivid picture of the life of ‘‘Australia’s greatest living artist’’.' -
Artist John Olsen's Wandering Lines Traced by New Biographer Darleen Bungey
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15 November 2014; The Age , 15 November 2014; The Canberra Times , 15 November 2014; (p. 19)
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Darleen Bungey
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15-16 November 2014; (p. 30-31)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography 'A new biography of artist John Olsen paints a vivid picture of the life of ‘‘Australia’s greatest living artist’’.' -
A Fresh Take on a Sunny Spirit
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17-18 January 2015; (p. 34-35) The Age , 17 January 2015; (p. 26)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography -
Japanese Attack on Broome Told with Flair
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 17 January 2015; (p. 18)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography -
Captain Olsen : A Revelatory Biography of John Olsen
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 369 2015; (p. 44-45)
— Review of John Olsen : An Artist's Life 2014 single work biography -
Artist John Olsen's Wandering Lines Traced by New Biographer Darleen Bungey
2014
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15 November 2014; The Age , 15 November 2014; The Canberra Times , 15 November 2014; (p. 19)
Awards
- 2016 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Non-Fiction
- 2015 joint winner Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Non-Fiction
- 2015 winner 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature — The Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize
- 2015 shortlisted 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature