NSW STATE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JOHN OLSEN, MONDAY 29 MAY 2023 ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Some words from MC Michael Yabsley:

“We are here to honour the memory of Dr John Olsen AO OBE, a man of talent, charisma, generosity, and humility. He was a master of the brush, a truly great explorer and interpreter of everything from beloved massive Australian landscapes to, in the words of his friend, Professor Ross Fitzgerald, “the chaotic splendour of his own kitchen.”

As Prof Fitzgerald wrote about John,  his son Tim Olsen often talked …

Final portrait of an artist and old friend

The legendary Australian artist John Olsen with history professor and old friend Ross Fitzgerald. Photo by Tim Olsen.

By ROSS FITZGERALD

A state memorial for my friend, the great Australian artist John Olsen, will be held on May 29 at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney.

Olsen told me last year that he hoped to die like Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who on his last day painted his final picture, put down the brushes, sighed and said: “I think I’m beginning to learn something now.”
I …

 
It was  pleasing to read Andrew Horner’s correction of Oscar Humphries’ claim that the family’s choice of Sydney over Melbourne for Barry Humphries State Memorial wasn’t a repudiation of his own hometown. ( ‘Humphries’ request to ‘snub’ Melbourne’, May 13.)
 
As a friend of 61 years, I can attest that it is true that Barry was saddened by the increasingly woke Melbourne Comedy Festival removing his name from the event he co-founded, and disappointed that the Victorian government didn’t intervene.
 
But there is more to the story. In recent years, Barry often …