Far From a Still Life

Far From a Still Life by Meg Stewart offers an intimate biography of Margaret Olley, arguably Australia's most loved artist and one of the country's most generous benefactors to public art galleries.

The story begins in the 1920s in the lush, tropical environment of Tully, North Queensland, where Margaret spent her early childhood on a cane farm and dairy. It unfolds to narrate her life-long love affair with painting. During her time at boarding school at Somerville House, Brisbane, Margaret found a mentor in art teacher Caroline Barker, which paved the way for her to blossom as an art student at East Sydney Technical College.

The book reveals intriguing details about her friendships with well-known figures like Donald Friend, William Dobell, and Russell Drysdale and recounts the success of her first solo exhibition in Sydney at the age of twenty-five. Her bohemian adventures in Europe with fellow Australian artists, including David Strachan, followed. She travelled around England, France, Italy, and Spain with her sketchbook in hand, met Alice B. Toklas in Paris, and lived on a vineyard in Cassis in the South of France.

Her journey continued back in Australia where, in the late 1950s in Brisbane, Margaret struggled with alcoholism. She was eventually forced to confront her addiction to either dry out or face a creative demise. Following her decision to give up drinking, her return to life and painting was joyous.

Far from a Still Life chronicles her personal darkness, her 'black hole', where she contemplated giving up both painting and living, and overcoming the freedom of a walking frame. Despite these difficult times, Margaret persevered with her passion for producing art, continued her generous donations to galleries, and entertained celebrities like Barry Humphries and Maggie Smith in her famously cluttered Paddington terrace.

With new material detailing her final journeys around regional galleries to donate her work and her feverish painting up until her passing, this is a rich and comprehensive look at over eighty years of Margaret Olley’s life, her lovers and friends, and, naturally, her painting.