Title

Nightfall, when wattle stains the doubting heart

1980

Artist

John Olsen

Australia, England, Spain, Portugal

21 Jan 1928 –

Artist profile

Details

Place where the work was made

Wagga Wagga → New South Wales → Australia

Date

1980

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

167.0 x 167.0 cm stretcher; 168.5 x 169.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed and dated l.r. corner, blue oil "John Olsen ’80".

Credit

Purchased 1981

Location

Not on display

Accession number

45.1981

Copyright

© John Olsen/Copyright Agency
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Artist information

John Olsen
Artist profile

Works in the collection

131

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About

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 Ochres, yellows and browns have been replaced by the cool liquid colours of water and night, shot through with iridescent yellow.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
Exhibition history
Shown in 12 exhibitions
- John Olsen (1980), Australian Galleries, Melbourne, Collingwood, 27 Oct 1980–08 Nov 1980
- Three years on: acquisitions 1978-81, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Oct 1981–01 Dec 1981
- Two centuries of Australian painting, a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, 19 Apr 1986–15 Jun 1986
- John Olsen - in search of the open country (1986), Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne, 05 Aug 1986–14 Sep 1986
- John Olsen retrospective (1991-92):
  - National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne 01 Nov 1991–02 Feb 1992
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 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, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
- The Big River Show - Murrumbidgee Riverine, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Australia, 11 Oct 2002–01 Dec 2002
- Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales:
  - Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011
  - Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012
- Destination Sydney, Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman, 05 Dec 2015–07 Feb 2016
- John Olsen The You Beaut Country:
  - Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne 16 Sep 2016–12 Feb 2017
  - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 10 Mar 2017–12 Jun 2017
- John Olsen: Goya's Dog:
  - National Art School, Darlinghurst 11 Jun 2021–27 Nov 2021
  - Ngununggula Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, Bowral 19 Mar 2022–15 May 2022
Bibliography
Referenced in 12 publications
- Edmund Capon AM, OBE, 10 Masterpieces of Australian Painting, Sydney, 1993, colour illus..
- Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, 'Australian 20th Century Art', pg. 71-89, Sydney, 1984, 80 (colour illus.).
- Betty Churcher, Australian notebooks, 'Art Gallery of New South Wales', pg. 45-90, Melbourne, 2014, 82, 83 (colour illus.), 84, 254.
- Deborah Edwards, Two centuries of Australian painting: a selection from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Introduction', pg. 8-14, Sydney, 1986, 46 (illus.). cat.no. 54
- Deborah Hart, John Olsen, Sydney, 1991, 150 (colour illus.), 151. cat.no. 98
- Deborah Hart, Australian painters of the twentieth century, 'John Olsen', pg. 196-207, Sydney, 2000, 201, 205 (colour illus.).
- David Hurlston and Deborah Edwards (Editors), John Olsen: the You Beaut Country, Melbourne, 2016, 147 (colour illus.).
- Barry Pearce, Art treasures: candidate citites for the 2000 Olympic Games: Beijing, Berlin, Brasilia, Istanbul, Manchester, Sydney, 'Nightfall, when wattle stains the doubting heart', pg. 178, Lausanne, 1993, 178, 179 (colour illus.). cat.no. 10 Sydney
- Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 32.
- Barry Pearce, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Landscape and gesture', pg. 239-240, Sydney, 2000, 251 (colour illus.), 301.
- Barry Pearce, Three years on: a selection of acquisitions 1978-1981, 'Australian Art', pg. 5-26, Sydney, 1981, 20 (illus.). cat.no. 30
- Gavin Wilson, The Big River show: Murrumbidgee Riverine, Wagga Wagga, 2002, 54, 55 (colour illus.), 83.