@310843B John Olsen is a contemporary artist - Roberts' art is beautiful but of his time - modern art is very different. It does in part take a practiced eye to like it, but above all it needs an open heart and maybe a sense for colour and rhythm.
I have liked art in all its forms since I was a little girl - then painting fairy tales - later puzzled over Picasso - liked the French impressionists - but have no problem with modern art. Olsen is one of the greats - in comparison to say paintings of rows of Campbell soup (And Warhol - but he made a statement people feel deeply about, I don't) - a huge difference and yet they are worth millions.
Another abstract Australian painter who is internationally famous is Brett Whitely, but there are many!!
Here in the West we had Robert Juniper who specialised in abstractions of Australian landscapes, mostly painted from birds eye view, but beautiful stuff. I used to be friends with his sister-in-law - and her husband was also an artist (Geoffrey Juniper), more in the artisan tradition, he made furniture from found wood, metal works etc.
Then all our Aboriginal painters, whose paintings, although of real subjects often seem like abstract art. The one you would like is Albert Namatjira - wonderful artist!
I have just finished writing a book about a HC poster -
@NoBoDe - who is a marvellous painter, but his paintings are semi-abstract and the subject matter is often terrifying and dark - I am about to put the book on Amazon.com. He gifted me all his remaining paintings and I have a house-full of paintings - 50 of them on the walls and there is still space . . . . but I did have a modest collection of paintings before, bought from a woman friend who is a lifelong painter - also doing fairly abstract, but colourful paintings, Robyn Bischoff - I now have only 3 of hers on my walls - need to re-organise my spaces.
Check out modern painters - it's a colourful world.
Go well
Taurisk
