The prints of Charles Blackman - along with those of Michael Leunig and David Boyd - are often amongst the first works that kick of an Australian art collection. Blackman has been a very prolific artist over his lifetime - and so it pays to become acquainted with his work before purchasing. In my opinion a great Charles Blackman piece is a work that combines innocence, melancholy and his great sense of colour and line. Blackman would often work in series - and some of these such as the 'Alice' paintings and prints have become very popular. I wouldn't suggest buying a work however just because it comes from a well known series - if you are going to live with a Charles Blackman work for a number of years you want it to hold your interest and not just be an example of his 'brand'!

Posted in: Collecting Art

Artists on the whole are not necessarily the best people to write about their work - and this is probably how it should be. However in the late 1990's a selection of John Olsen's diary entries were published as a book called 'Drawn from Life'. Olsen writes very well about his own experience of making art and his thoughts on the artworks of his predecessors and contemporaries. Many of Australia's best know painters - Sidney Nolan, Brett Whiteley, Fred Williams and Tim Storrier - move in and out of frame. As is obvious from some of his paintings John Olsen is a lover of good food and also includes some of his favourite recipes just in case the reader gets inspired to give them a try!

Posted in: News and Views

The Sidney Nolan retrospective has moved on to Melbourne. I noticed a least one review in the Melbourne press that put forward the view that after the brilliant early works Nolan became a cynical painter. In my opinion this is just plain wrong. Time after time throughout his whole career Sidney Nolan produced paintings of stunning power. In common with many prolific artists Nolan produced his share of lesser works. But even when you compare these pieces to the work of his contemporaries you see what an extraordinary imagination he had as an artist.

Posted in: Exhibition Reviews

Sibling rivalry is a common theme of many art forms. However I doubt that there existed the usual levels between the two painters David Boyd and Arthur Boyd. I'm basing this on interviews I have seen with Arthur and a couple of conversations that I have had with David Boyd. Of course no one can know for sure but I felt that they each had a genuine interest in each other's work. Critics tend to always rate Arthur Boyd's work more highly. However I have often noted how deeply David Boyd's work resonates with Australian art buyers. Even though he has painted a large number of paintings I keep getting contacted by clients who are keen to get hold of a good painting - a request that is increasingly becoming hard to fulfill.

Posted in: Collecting Art