John Olsen 'Opera House' the field revisited Cast in pale blue

Cast in pale blue

sea and glamour

this rich history is revived and modernised

wax pastel on paper

Guidi exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1922

John Olsen 'Opera House' the field revisited Cast in pale blueSydneys Opera House is a beating heart in John Olsens practice. In 1973, he completed a now iconic commission for the building a sprawling mural of Sydney Harbour. The work was inspired by Kenneth Slessors poem Five Bells, which pays tribute to a victim of harbours waters. While one might find this macabre subject matter for a public mural, Olsen perceives the harbour and its surroundings as neither good nor bad; but rather as a force vital enough to