This weekend I’m off to the Olsen Irwin Gallery…

Tags

Art exhibition, Artist, Australia, Fine art, Jackson Pollock, John Bell, Morton Feldman, Nicholas Harding, Sydney, Woollahra, Woollahra New South Wales

Estuary Figures (Swim-ring, Towel and Hat)
Image taken from Olsen Irwin Gallery © Nicholas Harding

I want to give my compliments to Australia. Ever since your government paid a few million dollars for a Jackson Pollack painting, I figure that it must be a marvellous country. (Morton Feldman)

Yes, it is a marvellous country but I’d rather have a ‘Nicholas Harding‘ than a ‘Jackson Pollock’ hanging in my living room any day. Truly. He is one Australian-based artist who, for me anyway, captures both the Australian landscape and culture in a wonderfully textured way. And, I’m not even an Australian!

Down here, he’s quite a well-known figure in the art world (which is another way of saying his works are outside of my budget by a considerable margin). He won Australia’s most famous portraiture prize – the Archibald – back in 2001 with his work of the actor and director, John Bell.

March is Art Month for us down here. To celebrate, the Olsen Irwin Gallery in the lovely, leafy suburb of Woollahra is holding a ‘Figures, Flora and Landscape’ exhibition of Nicholas Harding’s work. I think it looks pretty fab…

Estuary Figures (Ball and Bat)
Image taken from Olsen Irwin Gallery © Nicholas Harding

Estuary Figures (Swamp Oaks, Swim-ring and Dog)
Image taken from Olsen Irwin Gallery © Nicholas Harding

The exhibition runs until 10 March at The Olsen Irwin Gallery. The gallery can be found at 63 Jersey Road, Woollahra, Sydney, Australia. If you would like to see more of the exhibition, there is a full catalogue of works here.