"Running Giraffes" (c2000)
Mixed Media on Paper
58x60cm
Signed Lower Left
Prov: Private Collection Adelaide
$25,000-30,000
Emerging from the artist’s travels in Kenya in the late 1970s, Olsen’s giraffe subjects form a distinctive strand within his practice, reflecting a natural extension of his engagement with environment and observation. While the imagery may at first appear unconventional within his oeuvre, it is approached with the same pictorial intent that underpins his more familiar Australian subjects.
For Olsen, the giraffe was not treated as an exotic curiosity, but as a continuation of the concerns evident in his depictions of frogs and emus. Its elongated and distinctive form offered what has been described as an ideal “adventure for the line,” enabling a heightened exploration of movement, rhythm and spatial relationships. Here, the subject itself becomes secondary to the act of drawing, with form emerging through fluid, calligraphic mark- making.
Executed with confidence and clarity, the present watercolour is unmistakably Olsen in both approach and resolution. Despite the shift in subject, the work retains the artist’s characteristic energy, balance and sense of invention, reinforcing the consistency of his visual language. It stands as a compelling example of Olsen’s ability to extend his practice into new territory while remaining firmly anchored in the defining qualities of his art.
