When I was nursing around a hundred years ago we had a saying that death came in threes. This week three newsbreaking accounts of deaths have been rocking the Twitterverse – Norway, Amy Winehouse and just today I was saddened to read that Margaret Olley – much hailed and loved painter in Sydney – has died in her Paddington home.
Sydney has lost not only a great artist but one of its great bohemian ladies.
Vale, Margaret Olley.
all images via source
Hi Josephine
It has been a time of sad news. The famine in East Africa and what happened in Norway is such a tragedy! Just not something that you would expect to happen there.
Although I am not into Amy Winehouse’s music, it is always sad to hear of someone so young dying and under those circumstances especially.
I have just looked up Margaret Olley and LOVE her work. I like the painting you showed and was interested in seeing the rest of her work. I really like “Poppies” Margaret Olley as well as others. Clearly she was a very talented lady.
Wishing for happier times ahead.
Take care
Isabelle x
I’m actually feeling pretty deflated and down about everything that’s happening in the world at the moment…it’s scarry… I haven’t yet heard of Margarete Olley so I will have to look her up. She looks like a lovely and flamboyant character… Hope your week is good, Love from London xo
sad……
i walked past channel 9 this morning and saw her on KAK through the window…..there she was with her hat and her amazing face; i didn’t realise she was the subject of so many paintings herself, either…..mind you, if i were an artist, i’d so be wanting to paint a face like that, too……
Dear Isabelle and Mademoiselle Poirot, yes the world can seem pretty hairy and unstable at times. I can’t watch the news too much when it’s like this as it becomes so crushing. I think the march in Norway is a good reminder to stay focused on love and strength to get through the darkness.
Cat, she really did have a terrific face and so many people have commented to me how they felt very sad she had gone. I’m sure Margaret is working away in the big studio. xx
it’s always a shock when someone so full of life passes on. i don’t know a lot about margaret, but her paintings always seem so accomplished and joyous, and i believe she was a feisty and generous character. at least her life was a reasonably long one in which her talents shone, unlike the wastefully tragic loss of ms winehouse. take care, jxx
Yes, it has been an exhausting week.
But oh Ms Olley. What a wonderful passing. And wasn’t she just delightful? I read her biography a couple of years ago. Written by Meg Stewart, Far From a Still Life. It’s fascinating and beautifully written, perhaps you’ve already read it? Gives plenty of insights into the lives of other aus artists, too. Take care, TP jx