Margaret Olley was not only one of Australia's beloved artists, she was also one of its most generous.
With a mission to make giving "contagious", in her later years she donated almost 400 works to galleries.
Now a new exhibition Margaret's Gift, acknowledges and celebrates Olley's philanthropy.
Regarded as an accomplished painter of still life and interiors, Olley made her first donation of four eating bowls from the Middle Sepik River to the Art Gallery of NSW in 1984.
She continued to give right up to her death in 2011 and following through bequests.
The exhibition at Sydney's S.H. Ervin Gallery is the second in a series of three, with Olley the theme of each.
Guest curated by Renee Porter, it will feature more than 60 works from public art galleries and museums she donated to directly or which acquired them as a result of her contribution.
As well as Olley's own works, the exhibition include those of her teacher Jean Bellette; early friends Margaret Cilento and Anne Wienholt; European greats such as Goya, Edouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Giorgio Morandi; Australians John Russell, Ethel Carrick Fox, Roy de Maistre, Russell Drysdale, Justin O'Brien, David Strachan, Lloyd Rees, Oliffe Richmond, Jeffrey Smart and Kevin Connor; and younger artists such as Cressida Campbell, Nicholas Harding and Ben Quilty.
Margaret's Gift, S.H. Ervin Gallery Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Sydney. Tues- Sun, 11am-5pm (closed Monday & public holidays). Entry $12/$10.
