Margaret Olley's colourful life celebrated amid a bouquet of hues
25 Aug, 2011 12:49 PM
IT WAS a final defiant gesture that the free-spirited Margaret Olley would have appreciated. Told not to bring flowers to her state memorial, the public did anyway.
Simple bunches of orange gerberas, purple irises and white daisies added to the ''official" arrangements inside the Art Gallery of NSW. The effect was reminiscent of one of the much-loved artist's colourful still-lifes.
Photo gallery: Click for more photos
The farewell was attended by figures from the arts and politics. Artists John Olsen, Garry Shead, Ben Quilty and Peter Kingston, writer David Malouf and composer Peter Sculthorpe were joined by the NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, John Howard, Margaret Whitlam and Nathan Rees.
But among the 1000 people in the gallery's central court were others whose lives Olley has touched, among them Poppy Panagopoulos who, for the past 10 years, had the daunting task of cleaning Olley's famously cluttered Paddington house. ''She never wanted you to touch anything,'' Mrs Panagopoulos said. ''Because it might be part of a painting she was doing.''
Red-robed Buddhist nun Venerable Chokyi, who performed prayers in Olley's house hours after she died aged 88 last month, also attended. Olley had developed a late interest in the philosophy.
Another friend, who cooked for Olley, recalled preparing her favourite - if unfashionable - dish of crumbed brains.
''I still have a parcel in my freezer labelled 'Margaret's brains','' said Annette Blinco.
Delivering his eulogy, Olley's friend and dealer, Philip Bacon, described Olley as a force of nature whose life and paintings were full of joy and love.
''[They celebrate] the familiar and the domestic … that what is simple is better than complicated, that quiet is better than noisy, that what is close at hand is better than that which has to be sought,'' Bacon said.
Simple bunches of orange gerberas, purple irises and white daisies added to the ''official" arrangements inside the Art Gallery of NSW. The effect was reminiscent of one of the much-loved artist's colourful still-lifes.
Photo gallery: Click for more photos
The farewell was attended by figures from the arts and politics. Artists John Olsen, Garry Shead, Ben Quilty and Peter Kingston, writer David Malouf and composer Peter Sculthorpe were joined by the NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, John Howard, Margaret Whitlam and Nathan Rees.
But among the 1000 people in the gallery's central court were others whose lives Olley has touched, among them Poppy Panagopoulos who, for the past 10 years, had the daunting task of cleaning Olley's famously cluttered Paddington house. ''She never wanted you to touch anything,'' Mrs Panagopoulos said. ''Because it might be part of a painting she was doing.''
Red-robed Buddhist nun Venerable Chokyi, who performed prayers in Olley's house hours after she died aged 88 last month, also attended. Olley had developed a late interest in the philosophy.
Another friend, who cooked for Olley, recalled preparing her favourite - if unfashionable - dish of crumbed brains.
''I still have a parcel in my freezer labelled 'Margaret's brains','' said Annette Blinco.
Delivering his eulogy, Olley's friend and dealer, Philip Bacon, described Olley as a force of nature whose life and paintings were full of joy and love.
''[They celebrate] the familiar and the domestic … that what is simple is better than complicated, that quiet is better than noisy, that what is close at hand is better than that which has to be sought,'' Bacon said.
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