Sydney Morning Herald – Why the art of John Olsen will endure

Linda Morris, Sydney Morning Herald Arts Editor, speaks with NAS Director Steven Alderton about John Olsen’s enduring legacy and incomparable contributions to Australian art.

‘Steven Alderton, director of Olsen’s alma mater, the National Art School, said the artist was a “poet of the Australian landscape, an author of our harbour, a storyteller of our country, and a lyricist of humanity”. “Forever and eternally an artist who shaped our stories,” he said.

John was a believer, a true believer. He believed in you and I, and the peaks and troughs of the human condition. He said extraordinary art was made in the exalted highs – but also in the depths and fathoms of the unknown”‘.

VALE JOHN OLSEN, 1928-2023

Image: Destination NSW, As it will appear: Life Enlivened on the Sydney Opera House sails.