Sydney Harbour runs like an artery through John Olsen’s practice. It is the subject of his seven piece suit, ‘Seaport of Desire’, of which this work is part of. In 1973, he completed a sprawling mural of Sydney Harbour for the Opera House. The work was inspired by Kenneth Slessor’s poem ‘Five Bells’, which pays tribute to a victim of harbours waters. While one might find this macabre subject matter for a public mural, Olsen perceives the harbour and its surroundings as neither good nor bad; but rather as a force vital enough to give and take life. In ‘Foggy Morning’ this dynamism is potent. Like a crown, the Opera House nests in the water, surrounded by signs of maritime life.

Anyone who feels connected to the place in which they live recognises that cities are organisms. Tied to the Opera House, harbour and Watsons Bay by a psychic umbilical cord, Olsen’s vision is for the locals. It perceives Sydney as poetry and the sea as an epic, opening a dialogue between self and place. Artisanally framed and ready to hang, this work is not only collectible, its heartfelt.

For admirers of the artist, Sydney-siders and collectors of important Australian art, wake up to ‘Foggy Morning’.

John OLSEN (1928 - )
'Foggy Morning' 2002
soft ground line etching
Edition of 90
Image Size: 44 x 60 cm
Dimensions: 56 x 75 cm
Signed: Numbered, titled, signed 'John Olsen' and dated '02 in margin. With Port Jackson Press Australia Gallery embossed stamp in margin
Comes with Letter of Provenance

LITERATURE:
Ken McGregor, Teeming with Life John Olsen: His Complete Graphics 1957 - 2005, Macmillan Publishers Australia 2005,page 226, illustrated page 226.

Condition: Excellent

(c) John Olsen / Copyright Agency 2024