Valerie Marshall Strong Olsen

Exhibition catalogue to accompany the exhibition showing at the National Art School, Darlinghurst from 6–27 November 2021.

VALERIE MARSHALL STRONG OLSEN:
A RARE SENSIBILITY
at the National Art School, Darlinghurst
06–27 November 2021

In a tribute to their mother Valerie Strong, Tim and Louise Olsen have curated this exhibition of her work ranging from the 1950s to 2004, drawn from their personal collection and most never seen before in public. Valerie was a dedicated artist and teacher in her lifetime but did not paint to sell or show her work commercially. This is the chance to rediscover the rare talent and sensibility of an extraordinary artist, a star student at the National Art School who, with her then husband John Olsen, created an extraordinary artistic family.

“The thing that never ceases to amaze me is the world around me, that is, the external world, is just the birth and growth, the whole of life, of plants, of humanity, and the birth of time: I’m not interested in what has happened or what will happen, but the instantaneous moment, what will happen.”

— Valerie Strong, interview with Hazel de Borg, 1965