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An image of Nightfall, when wattle stains the doubting heart by John Olsen

John Olsen

(Australia, England, Spain, Portugal 21 Jan 1928– )

Title
Nightfall, when wattle stains the doubting heart
Place of origin
Wagga Wagga → New South Wales → Australia
Year
1980
Media category
Painting
Materials used
oil on canvas
Dimensions

167.0 x 167.0cm stretcher; 168.5 x 169.0cm frame

Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r. corner, blue oil "John Olsen ’80".
Credit
Purchased 1981
Accession number
45.1981
Copyright
© John Olsen. Licensed by Viscopy,Australia
Location
Not on display
Further information

This noctural landscape is based partly on the environment around Wagga Wagga where Olsen lived in 1980 and was to remain until his move to Clarendon in South Australia in July the following year.

Inspired by the poem 'Terra Australis' by Australian poet James McAuley, 'Nightfall, when wattle stains the doubting heart' is more sombre in mood than his work of the previous decade. Ochres, yellows and browns have been replaced by the cool liquid colours of water and night, shot through with iridescent yellow.

Concerned with concepts of 'the void' and 'the edge', which were important for the artist in the 1970s and early 1980s, Olsen has created an atmosphere of serenity - a highly restrained and contemplatory apprehension of the Australian landscape.

In a 1993 interview, Olsen declared:
"I've learned that life isn't about travelling from peak to peak; life is the ability to travel in the valleys as well."

Australian Art Department, AGNSW, 2000

Bibliography (10)

Gavin Wilson (Australia) (Author), The Big River show: Murrumbidgee Riverine, Wagga Wagga, 2002, 54, 55 (colour illus.), 83.

Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Peter Pinson (Australia, b.1943) (Author), Gavin Fry (Author), Sasha Grishin AM (Australia) (Author), Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), Australian painters of the twentieth century, Roseville, 2000, 201, 205 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 251 (colour illus.), 301.

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Author), 10 Masterpieces of Australian Painting, Domain, 1993, colour illus..

David Malouf (Australia) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Hendrik Kolenberg (Netherlands; Australia) (Author), Patricia McDonald (Author), Hetti Perkins (Australia) (Author), Art treasures: candidate citites for the 2000 Olympic Games: Beijing, Berlin, Brasilia, Istanbul, Manchester, Sydney, Lausanne, 1993, 178, 179 (colour illus.). cat.no. 10 Sydney

Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), John Olsen, East Roseville, 1991, 150 (colour illus.), 151. cat.no. 98

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 32.

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Two centuries of Australian painting: a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, New South Wales, 1986, 46 (illus.). cat.no. 54

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 80 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Three years on: a selection of acquisitions 1978-1981, Sydney, 1981, 20 (illus.). cat.no. 30

Exhibition history (11)

John Olsen (1980), Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 27 Oct 1980–08 Nov 1980.

Three years on: Acquisitions 1978-81, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 Oct 1981–01 Dec 1981.

Two centuries of Australian painting, a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Orange Regional Gallery, 19 Apr 1986–15 Jun 1986.

John Olsen - in search of the open country (1986), Heide Park and Art Gallery, 05 Aug 1986–14 Sep 1986.

John Olsen retrospective (1991-92), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 01 Nov 1991–02 Feb 1992.

John Olsen retrospective (1991-92), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 May 1992–28 Jun 1992.

Art Treasures of Olympic Cities, Lausanne Olympic Museum, 22 Jun 1993–03 Oct 1993.

Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.

The Big River Show - Murrumbidgee Riverine, Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery, 11 Oct 2002–01 Dec 2002.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012.