A Shared Obsession: Margaret Olley and Fred Jessup
19 June 2019
Chance discovery leads to exploration of artists’ friendship and obsession
The next exhibition coming up in the Margaret Olley Art Centre (MOAC) was inspired by the discovery of two photographs within the re-creation of Olley’s famous home studio.
A Shared Obsession explores the connection in art and life between Margaret Olley (1923-2011) and Fred Jessup (1920-2007), two Australian artists who enjoyed a lifelong friendship and a shared obsession for still life painting.
Both Olley and Jessup dedicated their lives to painting and, in particular, to exploring the artistic possibilities of everyday objects composed and rearranged within the immediate surrounds of their own extraordinary home studios.
Gallery Director Susi Muddiman OAM said the moment that sparked the exhibition was when MOAC Curator, Ingrid Hedgcock came across two photographs within Olley’s home studio re-creation in 2014.
“Ingrid was intrigued by the photographs and how they came to be in Olley’s home. She was able to confirm that they were of Fred Jessup’s home studio in Espondeilhan, southern France,” Ms Muddiman said.
Incredibly, research revealed that Jessup’s home studio in Espondeilhan remained largely unchanged since his death in 2007. This presented an opportunity to record the extraordinary, creative space in which he lived and worked for nearly 50 years. And, by comparing it with Olley’s, reveal rich stories of art, life and friendship.
With the support of a Gordon Darling Foundation Travel Grant – Global, Ingrid travelled to Espondeilhan in 2018 to learn more about Jessup. This research will culminate with the exhibition A Shared Obsession, exclusive to the Margaret Olley Art Centre.
With the support of the Tweed Regional Gallery Foundation Ltd. the Gallery invited renowned Australian photographer Greg Weight along to photograph Jessup’s work space. The resulting series, Bringing home Fred Jessup, poetically connects Jessup’s studio to Olley’s own Paddington home studio, which Weight photographed in the weeks following her death in 2011.
By exploring the extraordinary spaces in which they lived and worked we can learn even more about Olley and Jessup as individuals, as friends and as artists, and further appreciate their shared obsession for still life painting.
A Shared Obsession: Margaret Olley & Fred Jessup will be on display in MOAC from 28 June to 17 November.
Downloads
Photo 1(JPG, 212KB)
Caption: Fred Jessup (1920-2007) Private correspondence 1998 oil on canvas, 88 x 116 cm, Courtesy Artarmon Galleries ©Fred Jessup Estate
Photo 2(JPG, 136KB)
Caption: Curator Margaret Olley Art Centre Ingrid Hedgcock, working with photographer Greg Weight in the home studio of the late Fred Jessup, Espondeilhan, southern France, 2018.