Provenance
Sherman Galleries, Sydney
The Mecenat collection, Sydney
Private collection, Sydney
Exhibitions
'The Mecenat Collection', Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney, 21 Jan-21 Feb 1998, cat. No. 2.
'Escape Artists: Modernists in the Tropics', (curated by Gavin Wilson), 30 May-30 August 1998 and then touring to five regional galleries.
'The Rose Crossing', Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane; Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore' Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth; S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney; Campbelltown Biencentennial Art Gallery, New South Wales (curated by William Wright), 1999-2000
'Pulse: Paintings by John Olsen 1961-2005', TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria, 22 May – 23 Oct 2005
Literature
Wilson, Gavin, 'Escape artists : Modernists in the Tropics', Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, Queensland, c1998.
'Pulse: Paintings by John Olsen 1961-2005', exh.cat., TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2005, p12
In this extraordinary painting, John Olsen offers us a rare glimpse of one of his most admired artists in one of his most treasured landscapes. 'Nolan at Broome' captures the iconic Australian artist sitting meditatively on Lord McAlpine's verandah at his home in Broome. Paradoxically, Olsen renders this quiet, simple scene in an electrifying dance of complex linework. The landscape is given Olsen's signature treatment whereby several vantages are collapsed together, creating the effect of being viewed from both above and within. The artist also imbues the environment with a fascinating psychological force, as if the inner-workings of Sidney Nolan's mind have been splayed across the canvas.
It is thought that Olsen and Nolan likely crossed paths in Broome in 1989 when they each had major exhibitions in Western Australia. Painting the portraits of artists he admires has been an important strand of Olsen's practice, and one that serves to pay homage to artists he considers as forbearers in the tradition to which he aspires. Nolan joins Australian artists such as Lloyd Rees, Ian Fairweather and John Passmore as the subject of Olsen's portraits, as well as a wider circle of international influence including Rothko, Degas and Renoir. Monumental in scale, this oil on canvas also serves as a moving memorial to Sidney Nolan. Olsen completed the work the year that Nolan passed away.
Image courtesy of Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney and the artist