Title
Still life with pink fish
1948
Artist
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Sydney
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New South Wales
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Australia
- Date
- 1948
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on cheesecloth on hardboard
- Dimensions
- 76.3 x 97.0 cm board; 93.0 x 113.2 x 7.5 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l. corner, brown oil "Olley 48".
- Credit
- Purchased 1948
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 8094
- Copyright
- © Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Artist information
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Margaret Olley
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Margaret Olley is renowned for her unique contribution to the tradition of still life and interior subjects in Australian art. The era in which this painting was produced was significant in the early development of her career. She held her first solo exhibition at Sydney's Macquarie Galleries in 1948, from which public galleries purchased works. The following year, after attracting attention as the subject of William Dobell's Archibald Prize-winning portrait, she departed for Europe to explore the international art scene.
'Still life with pink fish' stems from the artist's interest in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century French painters, particularly Cézanne. It presents a tabletop arrangement of fruit, native flowers and pink fish on carefully draped fabrics. Colour is relatively subdued, but used purposefully to create harmony in the composition.
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Places
Where the work was made
Sydney
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Exhibition history
Shown in 10 exhibitions
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953
Women's achievements in the arts, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Sydney, 31 Aug 1960–09 Sep 1960
Margaret Olley Retrospective (1996-97), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Oct 1996–05 Jan 1997
Margaret Olley Retrospective (1996-97), Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane, 17 Jan 1997–23 Feb 1997
Margaret Olley Retrospective (1996-97), Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 19 Apr 1997–08 Jun 1997
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
Margaret Olley and Donald Friend (2006), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, 09 Nov 2005–15 Jan 2006
Margaret Olley and Donald Friend (2006), S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Rocks, 21 Jan 2006–19 Mar 2006
Margaret Olley and Donald Friend (2006), Dell Gallery, South Bank, 22 Apr 2006–28 May 2006
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 06 Apr 2007–20 May 2007
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul, 08 Jun 2007–22 Jul 2007
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, 28 Aug 2007–21 Oct 2007
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Australia, 26 Oct 2007–09 Dec 2007
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Riddoch Art Gallery, Mt Gambier, 15 Dec 2007–15 Feb 2008
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Broken Hill, 26 Mar 2008–05 May 2008
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Manly, 16 May 2008–15 Jun 2008
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, 01 Jul 2008–15 Aug 2008
Cuisine and country: a culinary venture in Australian Art, Artspace Mackay, Queensland, 31 Aug 2008–30 Sep 2008
Fish in Australian art, Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, 05 Apr 2012–26 Aug 2012
Still life, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Jul 2013–23 Apr 2014
A shared obsession: Margaret Olley & Fred Jessup, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, Murwillumbah, 28 Jun 2019–17 Nov 2019
The mystery of things: Margaret Olley & David Strachan, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, Murwillumbah
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Bibliography
Referenced in 7 publications
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Helen Campbell, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Out of Sydney: city and hinterlands', pg. 185-186, Sydney, 2000, 210 (colour illus.), 301.
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Ingrid Hedgcock, A shared obsession: Margaret Olley & Fred Jessup, 'A shared obsession: Margaret Olley & Fred Jessup', pg. 13-34, Murwillumbah, 2019, 15 (colour illus.), 16, 62.
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Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 148
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National Council of Women, An exhibition of women's achievements in the arts, New South Wales, 1960. cat.no. 16; Kindly lent by the AGNSW
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Barry Pearce, Margaret Olley, Sydney, 1996, 16 (illus.), 17.
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Barry Pearce, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Introduction: Convergent Spirits', pg. 10-19, Sydney, 2002, 18 (colour illus.), 19, 132, 145, 147.
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Meg Stewart, Margaret Olley: far from a still life, Milsons Point, 2005, 185.
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