Margaret Olley and the social context of Susan with Flowers

Notes

• The closest parallel to Olley's paintings of Aboriginal women is the work of the South African born artist Irma Stern (1894–1966) who trained under Max Pechstein. Paintings such as Repose 1927 (private collection, South Africa) depict Swazi women reclining amid gardens of fruit and flowers as symbols of fecundity.
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• John Cuffe (3 March 1997), Dr Murray Elliott (4 March 1997) and Irene Amos (6 March 1997), interviews with author.
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• B. Pearce, Margaret Olley, Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1996, p.25 and Donald Friend Diaries, vol. 36, 10 March 1954, Canberra: National Library of Australia (quoted in Pearce, Margaret Olley, p.16).
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• Margaret Olley, interview with author, 20 August 1997.
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• G. Langer, ‘Margaret Olley paints beauty in flowers, girls’, Courier-Mail, 22 October 1962.
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• J. Shirlow, The Pastels of Cumbrae Stewart, Melbourne: Alexander McCubbin, 1921, unpaginated.
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• J. Dunn, ‘Janet Cumbrae Stewart’ in J. Kerr (ed.), Heritage: The National Women's Art Book, Sydney: Craftsman House, 1995, p.46.
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• Illustrated in G. Dutton, White on Black, Melbourne: Macmillan, 1974, no.144.
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• ‘Aboriginal friend dies’, Courier-Mail, 4 December 1978. Wilding was awarded an MBE for her services to the Aboriginal community in 1964.
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• Information from H. Macqueen, 17 March 1997.
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• ‘Artist who runs antique shop’, Age (Melbourne), 11 March, 1964; and Margaret Olley, interview with author, 20 August 1997.
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• Philip Bacon, interview with author, 7 March 1997.
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• There is a question as to the identification of this work. Nude with Spider Lilies is illustrated in Dutton, White on Black, plate XXVII, but may be a misnomer as the same painting is simply identified as Reclining Nude in Pearce, Margaret Olley, p.45. In any case the flowers are not spider lilies.
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• Margaret Olley, interview with author, 20 August 1997.
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• Debra Bennett-Mclean, an intern at the Queensland Art Gallery, made contact with women of the Aboriginal community in Brisbane. There is a slight difficulty with the names of these paintings, however. These women suggested Susan would not have been the given name of an Aboriginal woman at the time as it was too ‘high falutin’. They were certainly correct in the instance of Susan with Flowers, the model for which was Zillah Martin. The women also identified Dina as another unlikely name.
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• Susan, 1962 (private collection, Bundaberg) was owned by Brian and Marjorie Johnstone.
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• Joy Roggenkamp (5 March 1997), Irene Amos (6 March 1997) and Max Hurley (24 April 1997), interviews with author.
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• Ron Sabien, interview with author, 6 March 1997. The blue and green check fabric covering of Vera is also used as the ground for a still life Mandarins, 1962 (location unknown) (illustrated in Pearce, Margaret Olley, p.48).
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• This was the title on one of her eight nudes in the Johnstone Gallery exhibition (no. 50) but the Queensland Art Gallery's version is clearly dated “63’. Dina appears to be a favourite model as her name is recorded in Dina with Flowers (Margaret Olley, Sydney: Macquarie Galleries, 1963, exhibition) and Dina with Daturas (Margaret Olley, Newcastle: Von Bertouch Gallery, 1964, exhibition).
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• ‘£3000 for native nudes’, Mirror (Sydney), 22 October 1962 and ‘Sumptuous’, Sun (Sydney), 2 October 1963.
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• Dr J. V. Duhig, ‘The flood tide’, Bulletin (Sydney), 3 November 1962.
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• ‘Margaret Olley top woman painter’, Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 22 October 1962. Vera had been purchased for the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Odette, 1962 (location unknown) for the Commonwealth Government prior to the exhibition opening. Three others went to private collections. The article in the Mirror (Sydney), 22 October 1962, inferred that the total amount of sales was for the nude paintings.
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• Brian Johnstone quoted in ‘Gallery trustees ignorant of art’, Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 22 October 1962. Zillah was purchased by Alan Waldron and offered in a sale of his collection at the Johnstone Gallery after his death less than two years later.
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• Max Hurley, The Explorers and Other Irreverent Thoughts, Brisbane: Johnstone Gallery, 26 September—11 October 1967, no.13.
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• “The woman in the yellow hat’, Australian, 10 November 1964.
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• ibid.
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• Roy Connelly, ‘Surprising art’, Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 19 April 1953.
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• Sir Theodore Bray, interview with author, 7 March 1997.
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• Telegraph (Brisbane), 8 May 1959; Courier-Mail (Brisbane), 5 July 1959; TV Times (Brisbane), 27 October 1959.
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• ‘Flashback, topless dance policy demanded’, Courier—Mail (Brisbane), 21 January 1996, p.5.
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• Women's Weekly (Sydney), 23 November 1966.
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• Phyllis Woolcock, ‘Small kitchen—no dining area’, Australian Home Journal (Sydney), July 1969, pp.64–65 (Johnstone Gallery Press Cutting Books, 1969, James Hardie Library, State Library of Queensland, pp.90–91).
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• Kay Stodart, interview with author, 24 April 1997.
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