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Lot Essay
During Olsen's first travels overseas from 1957-60 he spent most of his time in Spain. His romantic temperament was at one with this country, the attitudes of the people and the ambience of daily life.
"In Ibiza and Deya, Olsen worked for brief periods as an apprentice chef. Before he left Australia he was hard-pressed to boil an egg: by the time he returned he had developed a great admiration for Mediterranean attitudes to food and wine- the joy of preparing and sharing meals with feeling....This sensibility would remain with him always, and the subject of food....would occur in his later paintings and drawings." (D Hart, John Olsen, Sydney 1991, p 42).
In 1966 Olsen returned to Spain and Portugal and during this period his renowned Portugese Kitchen paintings were done.
Still Life with Sea Objects is brimming with all that Olsen loves so much about the Mediterranean kitchen with joyous colour and line, depicting crab, squid, a large cooking pot and a happy chef. This work is a fine example of Olsen's ability to bring together all that he sees, feels and remembers of the spanish kitchen into what he describes as a "totality of experience" (D Hart, op cit., p 49)
"In Ibiza and Deya, Olsen worked for brief periods as an apprentice chef. Before he left Australia he was hard-pressed to boil an egg: by the time he returned he had developed a great admiration for Mediterranean attitudes to food and wine- the joy of preparing and sharing meals with feeling....This sensibility would remain with him always, and the subject of food....would occur in his later paintings and drawings." (D Hart, John Olsen, Sydney 1991, p 42).
In 1966 Olsen returned to Spain and Portugal and during this period his renowned Portugese Kitchen paintings were done.
Still Life with Sea Objects is brimming with all that Olsen loves so much about the Mediterranean kitchen with joyous colour and line, depicting crab, squid, a large cooking pot and a happy chef. This work is a fine example of Olsen's ability to bring together all that he sees, feels and remembers of the spanish kitchen into what he describes as a "totality of experience" (D Hart, op cit., p 49)