Bronwyn Oliver Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1959 - d. 2006

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Aug. 16, 2023
BRONWYN OLIVER, BUD, 2003
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959 - 2006) BUD, 2003 copper 36.0 x 57.0 x 36.0 cm PROVENANCE Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, commissioned by Gary Sands, Queensland Christie’s, Sydney, 24 May 2005, lot 45 (as 'Pod') Private collection, Sydney LITERATURE Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver: Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 220 RELATED WORK Bud II, 2004, 115.0 x 95.0 x 95.0 cm, MONA Collection, Tasmania, illus. ibid., pp. 172-173 ESSAY Today recognised as one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists, the late sculptor Bronwyn Oliver produced an extraordinary body of copper works of poised elegance, evoking the timeless organic forms of the natural world and animated with repeating geometric patterns and taut physical tension. In 1999, Oliver had received her first major sculptural commission from the City of Sydney, for which she created a pair of oversized seed forms made of welded copper, Palm and Magnolia (Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney). Following the public success of these sculptures, in the early 2000s she experienced a flurry of private commissions for similar works in closed spherical and ovoidal volumes, realised in monumental dimensions to be installed in gardens while others remained in an intimate and domestic scale.1 Bud, 2003, is one such work, a delicately tapered ovoid vessel, its latticed filigree copper surface is fluted with symmetrical spiral ribbing - these pronounced ridges animating the static sculpture with an implied rotational potential. This effect characterised many of Oliver’s most successful closed-form works of the period, including Magnolia (1999), Twill, (2001), Entwine (2001) and Tracery (2003), most following a vertical droplet shape. The perforated transparency of Oliver’s fretwork provides a contrasting tension between the appearance of rigid carapace and the void enclosed within, through which the sculpture breathes. For the artist, the seed form was employed as a sign of new beginnings, conveying the possibility of metamorphosis, the potential of an unseen life force to break free from its cocoon. Oliver’s sculptures, although often bearing mimetic titles such as bud, pod, chrysalis and shell, are not about nature, instead their appearances are shaped by the conceptual power of natural forms and the effects of their shape and volume in physical space that surrounds them - breathing and moving in three dimensions. In describing her most successful works, Bronwyn Oliver remarked that with a perfect combination of concept, medium and execution, the sculpture would ‘sing’, and using a ‘poetry of association’, would transcend conventional markers of time and space.2 The instinct to grapple with poetic associations is human, and a carefully laid trap that Bronwyn Oliver, as Arachne, has woven for her audience. Self-contained, Bud twists and concertinas, its shining woven copper threads and tendrils glowing with internal and reflected warmth and inviting tactility. Presenting a sense of wholeness, its enigmatic existence remains unquestioned and immutable, as though Bud had appeared in this world fully formed. This elegance and masterful resolution, however, belies the punishing, labour-intensive process to which Oliver was so rapturously committed - the painstakingly manipulated twisting and welds of pliant copper wire here creating an intricate ‘weave': the microstructure of her organic sculptural form, open and geometric, allowing light to permeate and magnify its decorative surface patterns. Created in 2003, Bud is an immaculate artefact from the abundantly productive apogee of Oliver’s career. Having relinquished her teaching job the year before, the artist threw herself into producing work for private commissions, including the monumental Tracery, 2003 and commencing her most ambitious sculpture, the 16.5m suspended Vine in the atrium of the Sydney Hilton Hotel. 1. Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver – Strange Things, Paper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 136 2. Sturgeon, G., Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991, pp. 73 – 74 LUCIE REEVES-SMITH © Estate of Bronwyn Oliver. Courtesy of Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 01, 2022
BRONWYN OLIVER, SASH, 1994
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959 - 2006) SASH, 1994 copper 28.0 x 193.0 x 11.5 cm PROVENANCE Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Western Mining Corporation, Melbourne BHP Billiton, Melbourne, acquired within WMC Collection, June 2005 Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 24 November 2008, lot 1 Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Recent Work by Bronwyn Oliver, The 1994 Moët & Chandon Fellow, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, 21 October - 16 November 1995, cat. 5 LITERATURE Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver: Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 114 ESSAY With a fabric made of ruched sheet metal tightly bound with riveted struts, the long and narrow swag that is Sash, 1994 twists and strains, the warmth of its patinated copper evoking a living form enclosed within its sheathed package. This sculpture belongs to a small group of self-contained closed forms within Bronwyn Oliver’s oeuvre of latticed copper wire sculptures, poignantly evoking the artist’s own sense of geographical dislocation and protective remove. This sculpture also, however, conveys the possibility of metamorphosis, the potential of an unseen life force to break free of its cocoon. There is a rich history of wrapped and bound forms in Western Art, from Michelangelo’s sculptures of bound slaves to Christo’s contemporary environmental interventions1, often illustrating tensions between constriction and escape, concealment and unveiling. This dichotomy has been a persistent thread within Bronwyn Oliver’s practice. Getting Through, one of her early performance pieces during a bush retreat with Marina Abramovic and Ulay in August 1981, featured Oliver trapped within a phonebooth, tied up with ropes. From within Oliver attempted to call her peers, asking them to release her binds from the outside. Many years later, Oliver’s series of closed form ‘Mute’ sculptures were similarly impregnable, containing a secret void within, tightly shielded from outside intervention. Sash was created in Hautvillers, a village in Épernay, France, during Bronwyn Oliver’s year-long residency between 1994 – 1995. She had been the first sculptor to win the Moët & Chandon Art Fellowship some months earlier. By then, already one of Australia’s finest contemporary sculptors, Oliver had a dedicated following of private collectors and erudite critics. Armed with the tools of her trade and an unfortunately insufficient grasp of the French language, Oliver arrived in Épernay with the determined intention to ‘concentrate on my work away from my commitments. I can experiment with new techniques. I hope to get a forge there. This is not a year to waste.’2 It was only towards the end of her stay that she was able to fulfil this wish, with a delivery of oxyacetylene equipment allowing experimentation with sheet metal as opposed to copper shim, described by the artist as a ‘relief after weeks of fine, detailed concentration to be able to swing a hammer over an anvil.’3 Oliver has laboriously sewn and stitched the skin of this sculpture with fire and a rivet gun, endowing the warm material with a haptic quality of folded cloth. This quality is further magnified by the contrast between an uneven crystalline patination against Oliver’s regular criss-crossed binds. In describing her most successful works, Bronwyn Oliver remarked that with a perfect combination of concept, medium and execution, the sculpture would ‘sing’, and using a ‘poetry of association’, would transcend conventional markers of time and space.4 The instinct to grapple with poetic associations is human, and a carefully laid trap that Bronwyn Oliver, as Ariadne, has woven for her audience. She drew inspiration from organic matter, prehistoric and ancient artefacts, and through a manipulation of surface texture and colour, was able to ‘incorporate the element of time’5 in her copper forms. The works of this small series all share a pleated surface inspired by a ‘dreadful sculpture seen at the Musée d’Orsay in 1990 – 91, a sculpture of a gladiator, in bronze, wearing ruched leggings, with musculature taut beneath the surface of the cloth.’6 Evoking an abandoned archaeological hoard or an ancient bundle of possessions wrapped for ease of carrying, Sash also expresses the nomadic transience of Oliver’s brief but stimulating sojourn in France. 1. Ian Howard, Oliver’s first art teacher, recalls having given a talk in Inverell on the subject of Christo’s Little Bay project in 1969, when he first met Oliver as a child. Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver – Strange Things, Paper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 11 2. The artist cited in Owen, S., ‘Career by Default’, The Sun-Herald, 13 February 1994, p. 142 3. The artist cited in Fink, op. cit., p. 114 4. Sturgeon, G., Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991, pp. 73 – 74 5. Oliver, B., ‘A Contemporary Australian Artist in France’, Explorations, The Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations, Melbourne, December 1990, p. 27 6. The artist, cited in Bunyan, M., ‘Review of The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver at TarraWarra Museum of Art’, Art Blart, 28 January 2017 LUCIE REEVES-SMITH
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 04, 2022
BRONWYN OLIVER, CORONA, 1993
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959 - 2006) CORONA, 1993 copper wire 32.0 cm diameter PROVENANCE Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Sydney LITERATURE Fenner, F., Bronwyn Oliver Mnemonic Chords, Moet et Chandon, Epernay, France, 1995, pp. 5, 21 (illus.) Murray-Cree, L., Awesome! Australian Art for Contemporary Kids, Craftsman House, Melbourne, c. 2002, pp. 86 – 87 (illus.) Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver: Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 219 ESSAY ‘Each of Oliver's works emits a whisper of familiarity and flickering voice of humour and optimism. At a deeper level, they strike an emotional chord in viewers hardened by the cynicism of much contemporary art practice. The poetic resonance of her deftly imaginative and delightfully quirky creations provides rare moments of reprieve from today's didactic obsession with lobbying socio-political issues. There is no sarcastic commentary, modernist, psychoanalytical or feminist deconstruction informing Oliver's work. Each piece is offered as a holistic entity, its layers of association emerging gradually through the process of looking.’1 One of Australia's most innovative contemporary sculptors, Bronwyn Oliver remains celebrated for her extraordinary ability to produce meticulously articulated works of immense beauty and grace that unite timeless, organic forms of the natural world with the abstract logic of geometry. As elucidated by Hannah Fink in her introduction to the artist's exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in July 2006, '...Bronwyn was modest, yet utterly sure of her vision, secure in the confidence of her originality. Her art was fully resolved – perfect, really – and she stands alone in the annals of Australian art history. There was no-one like her: she invented her own deeply intelligent form and entered fully into the world that it opened out to her.'2 Simple yet complicated, fragile yet strong, eccentric though at the same time oddly straightforward, Corona, 1993 is a superb example of Oliver's delicately woven copper and bronze assemblages that universally surprise and inspire – beguiling both the eye and mind through their enigmatic presence. Bearing the patinated hallmarks of her early explorations, the sculpture emanates an ethereal, almost cosmic aura – alluding perhaps, as the title suggests, to a radiant sun with the delicate, elongated strands protruding from the circular body conjuring the outermost part of its atmosphere, only visible during an eclipse. Notwithstanding such connotations with the natural world however, ultimately the piece embodies its own eternal presence or life; as Oliver herself so fervently asserted of her objectives, ‘I am trying to create life. Not in the sense of beings, or animals, or plants, or machines, but "life" in the sense of a kind of force, a presence, an energy in my objects that human beings can respond to on the level of soul or spirit.'3 With their tactility and anatomical physicality, such intricately executed forms inevitably elicit a temptation to touch, reminding us that the world is a corporeal place. Yet too often the easy, sensuous curves of Oliver's objects belie the punishing, labour-intensive process to which the artist was so passionately committed. Inspired by the patina of age and veneration shared by ancient relics and humble artefacts, Oliver would painstakingly manipulate dizzying twistings and welds of pliant copper wire to create the 'weave' – the microstructure of her organic sculptural forms which gradually became more open and geometric to allow light to permeate and exaggerate their optical aspect. Indeed, the shadows cast by her objects are so intrinsic to the formalist geometry of each piece that at times the shadow itself almost becomes more powerful... becomes the object. As Amanda Rowell mused in her introduction to Oliver's exhibition at Roslyn Oxley Gallery in September 2004, '...the microcosmic, complex surface of an Oliver sculpture is an interface between the macroform of its overall shape and the internal cavity or void where the sculpture breathes. The ease of connection between these three formal aspects of her works, along with their gently mimetic character - as alluded by their titles constitute their elegance and simple pleasure...'4 1. Fenner, F., Bronwyn Oliver: Mnemonic Chords, Moet et Chandon, Epernay, France, 1995, p. 4 2. Bronwyn Oliver (1959 - 2006), 10 July 2006, see http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/news/ releases/2006/07/10/112/ 3. Oliver cited in Sturgeon, G., Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991, p. 71 4. Bronwyn Oliver 2004, 9 September 2004, see http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/news/releases/2004/09/08/80/ VERONICA ANGELATOS © Estate of Bronwyn Oliver. Courtesy of Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2021
BRONWYN OLIVER, SPIRAL II, 1988
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959 - 2006) SPIRAL II, 1988 Nos 5 & 6 from the SPIRAL II series of eight impressions emboss of copper sculpture on paper 65.0 x 50.0 cm (each sheet) each signed and numbered lower right: Bronwyn Oliver 5/8 and Bronwyn Oliver 6/8 PROVENANCE Estate of the artist, Sydney Company collection, Sydney EXHIBITED The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 19 November 2016 – 5 February 2017 (as ‘Spiral II’, listed in exhibition catalogue) LITERATURE Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver: Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 218 © Estate of Bronwyn Oliver. Courtesy of Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 10, 2021
BRONWYN OLIVER, LUNAR, 2001
Est: $65,000 - $85,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959 - 2006) LUNAR, 2001 copper on a wooden plinth 28.5 cm height inscribed with title, date and artist's name at base: ‘Lunar’ 2001 / Bronwyn Oliver PROVENANCE Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Sydney Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne, 26 August 2009, lot 6 Private collection, Canberra EXHIBITED Bronwyn Oliver, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, 24 November – 21 December 2001 (illus. on exhibition invitation) RELATED WORK Globe, 2002, copper, 300.0 cm diameter, in the collection of the University of New South Wales, Sydney ESSAY I think about sculpture as a kind of physical poetry, and I construct my sculpture like constructing sentences, in the sense that I try to exclude associations that are clouding the centre and leave in only associations that add meaning to the core.’1 As one of the country's leading and most celebrated sculptors, Bronwyn Oliver has left behind an important legacy. Her oeuvre presents perfectly resolved, organic sculptures predominantly in patinated copper and bronze. The highly skilled and painstaking craftsmanship involved in this process conveys the unbridled passion and commitment Oliver had for her practice. There is an inherent transparency and softness to these resilient unyielding structures. Like veins in a leaf, an intricate system of copper is woven together to form an impeccable whole. Oliver was able to successfully tame this seemingly immutable medium, melding and stylising it to form a unique sculptural lexicon; unmatched and exclusively hers. Rhythmical waves, curves, wreaths, cylindrical spheres and cell-like structures mimic forms from the sea such as shells, amoeba, driftwood, tentacles, or braided seaweed not unlike the similar influence located in the architecture and interior design of Antoni Gaudí, inspired also by the aquamarine milieu. Furthermore, there is an undeniable reference to astronomical and cosmic macro phenomena, to forms that inhabit the great ocean of outer space. Specifically in Lunar, 2001, hundreds of connected spiralling tendril-like coils are presented in a hollow globe labyrinth leaning off-centre from its axis, thereby alluding to galactical musings. The surface has a remarkable depth as demarcated by the ellipsoid shape. Captivating shadows are cast by Oliver's objects, such as Lunar, and are an integral part of the work. Intricate patterns become projected and warped as the interplay between light and form is enlivened. This particular work is closely related to the major commissioned outdoor piece Globe, 2002, which is three metres in diameter and on permanent display at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Fragile yet robust, Oliver’s sculptures such as the present, are sophisticated, elegant and beautiful, embodying an incandescent clarity of vision. As Sebastian Smee recognises: 'As well as having a bold, classical symmetry, her sculptures have a private feeling about them, as of something freshly observed on a solitary walk.’2 1. The artist cited in Fenner, F., Bronwyn Oliver, Moet et Chandon, Epernay, France, 1995, n.p. 2. Smee, S., 'Nature of single-minded devotion', The Australian, 14 July 2006, p. 14 © Estate of Bronwyn Oliver. Courtesy of Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery, Sydney
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 27, 2019
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Shell 2003
Est: $400,000 - $500,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Shell 2003 copper on bronze base 150.0 cm diameter Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Sydney Menzies, Sydney, 15 December 2010, lot 39 Private collection, Melbourne Menzies, Sydney, 22 March 2012, lot 39 Private collection, Melbourne Menzies, Melbourne, 25 June 2015, lot 37 The private collection of Mr Rodney Menzies
Menzies
Apr. 10, 2019
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), UNITY, 2001, copper
Est: $200,000 - $250,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 2006), UNITY, 2001, copper DIMENSIONS: 112.0 cm diameter PROVENANCE: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Sydney Deutscher and Hackett, Sydney, 1 September 2010, lot 6 Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED: Bronwyn Oliver, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, 24 November 21 December 2001 (illus. in exhibition catalogue) The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 19 November 2016 5 February 2017 LITERATURE: Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver:Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, pp. 158 (illus.), 212 213 (illus. installation), 220 McDonald, J., ‘Arts’, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 10 January 2017 ESSAY: ‘...Bronwyn Oliver had that rarest of all skills:she knew how to create beauty... Her art was fully resolved - perfect, really - and she stands alone in the annals of Australian art history. There was no-one like her: she invented her own deeply intelligent form, and entered fully into the world that it opened out to her...’1 One of Australia's most highly regarded contemporary sculptors, Bronwyn Oliver remains celebrated for her extraordinary ability to produce meticulously articulated works of immense beauty and grace which unite timeless, organic forms of the natural world with the abstract logic of geometry. Simple yet complicated, fragile yet strong, eccentric though at the same time oddly straightforward, her delicately woven copper and bronze assemblages such as Unity, 2001 universally surprise and inspire beguiling both the eye and mind through their enigmatic presence. With their tactility and anatomical physicality, such intricately executed forms moreover inevitably elicit a temptation to touch - the sensual, prehistorically-scaled versions of natural phenomena thus reminding us that the world is a corporeal place. Yet too often the easy, voluptuous curves of Oliver's objects belie the punishing, labour-intensive process to which the artist was so passionately committed. Inspired by the patina of age and veneration shared by ancient relics and humble artefacts, Oliver would painstakingly manipulate dizzying twistings and welds of pliant copper wire to create the ‘weave’ the microstructure of her organic sculptural forms which gradually became more open and geometric to allow light to permeate and exaggerate their optical aspect. ‘Bronwyn’s sculpture belongs to a genealogy of female art: to the open grids of Agnes Martin, the looping, webbed and netted painted surfaces of Emily Kngwarreye and Yayoi Kusama, the undulating fields of Bridget Riley and Rosalie Gascoigne works of art which occur in Julia Kristeva’s ‘Women’s Time’: fluid, cyclic, edgeless, eternal.2 As Amanda Rowell muses in her introduction to Oliver's exhibition at Roslyn Oxley Gallery in September 2004, ‘...the microcosmic, complex surface of an Oliver sculpture is an interface between the macroform of its overall shape and the internal cavity or void where the sculpture breathes. The ease of connection between these three formal aspects of her works, along with their gently mimetic character - as alluded by their titles - constitute their elegance and simple pleasure...’2 1. Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver (1959 - 2006), Obituary, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 10 July 2006, see http: //www.roslynoxley9.com.au/news/releases/2006/07/10/112/ 2. Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver: Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 207 3. Bronwyn Oliver 2004, 9 September 2004, see http: //www.roslynoxley9.com.au/news/releases/2004/09/08/80/ VERONICA ANGELATOS
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 28, 2019
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Acorn 2005
Est: $80,000 - $100,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Acorn 2005 copper 60.0 x 45.0 x 45.0 cm The artist Thence by descent, private collection, Sydney Menzies, Sydney, 11 May 2017, lot 31 Company collection, Melbourne Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006), Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 10 August - 2 September 2006 Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver: Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, p.221 (illus. pp.203, 205)
Menzies
Aug. 09, 2018
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Stem 2005
Est: $130,000 - $160,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Stem 2005 195.0 x 20.0 x 20.0 cm copper
Menzies
Apr. 18, 2018
BRONWYN OLIVER , (1959 – 2006), CLUSTER, 2002 , copper
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
BRONWYN OLIVER , (1959 – 2006), CLUSTER, 2002 , copper DIMENSIONS: 22.0 cm diameter PROVENANCE: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2002 EXHIBITED: Bronwyn Oliver, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 21 November – 12 December 2002 LITERATURE: Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver, Strange Things, Piper Press, Sydney, 2017, pp. 164 (illus.), 220
Deutscher and Hackett
Apr. 18, 2018
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 – 2006), BLUE MOON, 1990, copper and lead
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 – 2006), BLUE MOON, 1990, copper and lead DIMENSIONS: 60.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED: Bronwyn Oliver, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, 9 September – 8 October 1992 The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 19 November 2016 – 5 February 2017 LITERATURE: Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver, Strange Things, Piper Press , Sydney, 2017, pp. 72 (illus.), 77 (illus. with the artist), 219 ESSAY: Encrusted with a crystalline patina, Blue Moon, 1990 has the aura of an ancient relic retrieved from the watery depths of the ocean floor. Was Oliver playing on the enduring symbiotic relationship between the moon and the sea, or perhaps there is something futuristic and sinister in the tightly wound copper coils and protruding claws of this crescent? The instinct to grapple with such poetic associations is human, and the result of a carefully laid trap that Bronwyn Oliver, as Ariadne, has woven for her audience. Blue Moon was the final work Oliver completed during her 6-month Power Bequest Studio residency in Paris, at the Cité Internationale des Arts, from November 1989 to June 1990.1 Bearing the patinated hallmarks of her early explorations into woven wired forms, Blue Moon absorbs and emanates energy. Its forms are twisted, swaddled and moulded by Oliver’s obsessive creative energy, and in turn, its ancient form radiates an ethereal and cosmic aura. There is a sublime contradiction in the shadows that are cast from this construction. The light that the moon radiates is not its own, but merely a reflection of the sun’s energy. However, this moon casts only a shadow. Furthermore, a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, yet this sculpture has a crescent shaped form more like a waxing or waning gibbous moon. In using the word ‘blue’ in the title, the sculptor instead draws attention to the work’s patina, while eliciting notions of rarity and preciousness in the viewer’s mind. This sculpture, like a great number of Oliver’s works, conveys the idea of metamorphosis. With titles such as Comet, Hatchery, Husk and Survivor, the sculptures from this period adopted forms that expressed these liminal states of being, often echoing protective shells and cocoons. Many of these woven creations were constructed around a central wooden or paper armature that would later be burnt away. Copper wire, when wound in coils like the ones that bind the structure of this irregular crescent, is also used to conduct electricity, endowing Blue Moon with an energy that is undeniably modern. Whilst in Paris, Oliver was contacted by Graeme Sturgeon, an authority on Australian sculpture, who was in the process of compiling a survey of contemporary Australian sculptors and their work. Oliver’s answers to his questions provide vital insight into her mindset and ambitions at this point in her career. In describing her most successful works, she remarked that with a perfect combination of concept, medium and execution, the sculpture would ’sing’, and using a ’poetry of association’, would transcend conventional markers of time and space.2 The transcendental and universal quality of Oliver’s sculptures relies on the enduring power of her organic shapes. While Oliver denied any clear naturalistic inspiration in her work, her manipulation of materials inevitably brought her to the circular, spiral and crescent forms that are so prevalent in the natural world. The impetus that drove her work was ontological, coming directly from the materials themselves and the structures they could come to embody. However, Oliver was offended by critics’ tendency to associate her work with women’s craft,3 hoping instead that her work sat somewhere between the organic and the artisanal. Despite her unwavering commitment and dedication to her sculptures, Oliver’s forms are imperfect, bearing the traces of her creative effort. But as Oliver conceded, ’evidence of the struggle – that’s what makes it human’.4 1. Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver – Strange Things, Paper Press, Sydney, 2017, p. 80 2. Sturgeon, G., Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991, p. 73 – 74 3. The artist cited in Fink, H., op. cit., p. 72 ‘I feel that references to the craft aspect of my work trivialises my intentions. The craft of making is only important in the service of an idea’. 4. op. cit., p. 64 LUCIE REEVES-SMITH
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 30, 2017
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Hook 1991
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Hook 1991 BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Hook 1991 bronze and copper wire, 60.0 x 50.0 x 3.0 cm , , Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Victoria Bronwyn Oliver: Recent Sculptures, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 5 June - 22 June 1991
Menzies
Aug. 10, 2017
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Spiral V 2002
Est: $180,000 - $260,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Spiral V 2002, BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Spiral V 2002, copper 298.0 cm length Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Private collection, United States of America
Menzies
May. 11, 2017
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Acorn 2005
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006), Acorn 2005 copper 60.0 x 45.0 x 45.0 cm The artist Thence by descent, private collection, Sydney, since 2006 Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006), Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 10 August - 2 September 2006
Menzies
May. 10, 2017
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 – 2006), BLAZE, 2003, copper
Est: $150,000 - $200,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 – 2006), BLAZE, 2003, copper DIMENSIONS: 100.0 cm diameter PROVENANCE: Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Sydney (commissioned from the above) ESSAY: Blaze, 2003 is as its creator was: an awe-inspiring, radiating comet of energy, both delicate and fleeting. Hypnotic and extraordinarily intricate, Blaze is constructed of a matrix of welded copper threads in Bronwyn Oliver’s signature mature style. Oliver was a unique sculptor in the Australian art world, having more stylistic and technical affinity with members of the New British Sculpture movement under whom she had studied at the Chelsea School of Art between 1982 – 84, such as Richard Deacon and Martin Puryear. Her art is completely confident in style and execution, lyrical in its sensibility and loyal to its inner logic. A famously fastidious artist, Oliver was renowned for her work ethic, working tirelessly to breathe life-force into her industrial materials, endowing them with a surprisingly organic appearance. Oliver’s choice of materials is not to be overlooked. She was remarkable in having chosen physically demanding and long-lasting metals at a time when many of her peers were toying with ephemeral materials and forms. Having moved away from the cane and paper works that had won her early critical acclaim, Oliver devoted her work almost entirely to the medium of copper, creating filigree nets of repeating teardrop forms. The finesse of these closely knit patterns invites quiet contemplation and appreciation. Oliver’s forms are governed by a series of apparent physical contradictions which reveal themselves to an attentive viewer – between fragility and strength, simplicity and intricacy, uniqueness and universality. Blaze is no exception to this complex game of physical contradictions. Its forms are majestic and theatrical. Bordered by a series of overlapping spikes radiating from its centre, Blaze inspires outward awe and appreciation from a distance, much like the radiating warmth of our sun. The finely wrought net that comprises the central ring of this artwork seems to absorb the gaze into the void within its centre. This centrifugal force, drawing light, depth and attention within the centre of the work is counteracted by the elaborate centripetal force created by Blaze’s radiating spikes. Oliver revelled in the structural formation of her works. Her unique formal vocabulary appeared to be inspired by the archetypal shapes of the natural world: pods, spirals, tendrils and vessels. Throughout her career these forms seem to evolve with the internal development that would have delighted 20th century Swiss art historian Heinrich Wöfflin. However, Oliver’s ideas did not stem from the observation of natural forms, instead her practice took for its subject the act of creation itself – a sincere investigation of her materials and the way she chose to manipulate them. In reality, these organic, universal forms that seem to encapsulate metaphorical potential of life were born of Oliver’s painstaking process of welding and forging. The result is self-assured, sincere and bears lasting power. LUCIE REEVES-SMITH
Deutscher and Hackett
Feb. 09, 2017
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006) Clasp 2006
Est: $130,000 - $160,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006) Clasp 2006, copper, 215.0 x 20.0 x 20.0 cm
Menzies
Nov. 30, 2016
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), LICK, c.1991, copper
Est: $100,000 - $140,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), LICK, c.1991, copper DIMENSIONS: 230.0 cm length PROVENANCE: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Melbourne ESSAY: 'When the ideas, the formal elements and the medium all work together, a sculpture will 'sing' with a kind of rightness. It takes on a life, a presence, which is removed from this world. It belongs to a mythical other life, without a place in time.'1 One of Australia's most highly acclaimed and innovative sculptors, Bronwyn Oliver remains celebrated for her extraordinary ability to produce meticulously articulated works of immense beauty and grace that unite timeless, organic forms of the natural world with the abstract logic of geometry. As writer Hannah Fink poignantly observed upon the artist's untimely passing in 2006, 'Bronwyn Oliver had that rarest of all skills: she knew how to create beauty. She was modest, yet utterly sure of her vision, secure in the confidence of her originality. Her art was fully resolved - perfect, really - and she stands alone in the annals of Australian art history. There was no-one like her: she invented her own deeply intelligent form, and entered fully into the world that it opened out to her...'2 Simple yet complicated, fragile yet strong, eccentric though at the same time oddly straightforward, Lick, 1991 is a consummate example of Oliver's delicately woven copper and bronze assemblages that universally surprise and inspire - beguiling both the eye and the mind through their enigmatic presence and mesmerising tactility. Bearing strong stylistic affinities with other horizontal sculptures by the artist, including Curlicue, 1991, Inscription, 2000, Idiom, 2001 and Trace, 2001 (National Gallery of Australia, Canberra) - all of which mimic the stroke of a pen as it scrawls text across a page - Lick features a similarly lyrical, rhythmic form, as intimated by its title. Alluding to the quick movement of a tongue or more metaphorically, the hasty application of paint with a brush, indeed the organic sculptural form seems to possess a life force of its own, a fluid energy that derives from the painstakingly manipulated twists and welds of pliant copper which repeatedly coil and recoil to create the weave microstructure that is the hallmark of Oliver's art. Integral to this duality between that which is immobile and inert, yet also active and dynamic, are the intricate shadows cast by Olivers sculpture - an optical aspect so fundamental to the formalist geometry of the work that at times the shadow itself almost becomes more powerful becomes the object. As Natasha Bullock, elucidating precisely this interplay, observes 'in the exchange between these aspects, Oliver's sculpture suggests a passage from one place to another, a journey from a material dimension into an imaginative other world.'3 Elegant and refined, Lick exemplifies well Oliver's unique legacy of beauty and wonder, strength and life - her skillful mastery of form, space and material to create flawless sculptural works that, although unmistakably contemporary in their construction, simultaneously betray a timeless, ethereal quality that resonates deeply with the human soul. 1. The artist cited in Sturgeon, G., Bronwyn Oliver, Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1991 p. 74 2. Fink, H., catalogue essay for Bronwyn Oliver (1959 - 2006), Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, 10 August - 2 September 2006, n.p. 3. Bullock, N., in Bond, A. and Tunnicliffe, W., (eds.), Contemporary: Art Gallery of New South Wales Contemporary Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2006, p. 326 VERONICA ANGELATOS
Deutscher and Hackett
Sep. 13, 2016
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), DIRIGIBLE, 1989, copper
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), DIRIGIBLE, 1989, copper DIMENSIONS: 45.0 x 35.0 x 25.0 cm PROVENANCE: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Canada Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED: Bronwyn Oliver, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 1993 Bronwyn Oliver Sculpture 1986 - 1993, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, New South Wales, 6 May - 29 May 1994 (touring exhibition)
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 17, 2016
Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006)
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006) Band, 1996 copper
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 26, 2015
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), TWIST, 1991, copper
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, (1959 - 2006), TWIST, 1991, copper DIMENSIONS: 180.0 cm (length) EXHIBITED: Bronwyn Oliver, Fabrications, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland, 7 July - 20 August 1992, cat. 3 An Australian artist's project organised by the Auckland City Art Gallery supported by the Australia/ New Zealand Foundation. PROVENANCE: Private collection, New Zealand ESSAY: One of Australia's most innovative contemporary sculptors, Bronwyn Oliver remains celebrated for her extraordinary ability to produce meticulously articulated works of immense beauty and grace which unite timeless, organic forms of the natural world with the abstract logic of geometry. As elucidated by Hannah Fink in her introduction to the artist's exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in July 2006, '...Bronwyn was modest, yet utterly sure of her vision, secure in the confidence of her originality. Her art was fully resolved - perfect, really - and she stands alone in the annals of Australian art history. There was no-one like her: she invented her own deeply intelligent form, and entered fully into the world that it opened out to her...'1 Simple yet complicated, fragile yet strong, eccentric though at the same time oddly straightforward, Twist, 1991 is a superb example of Oliver's delicately woven copper and bronze assemblages that universally surprise and inspire - beguiling both the eye and mind through their enigmatic presence. With their tactility and anatomical physicality, such intricately executed forms moreover inevitably elicit a temptation to touch - the sensual, prehistorically-scaled versions of natural phenomena thus reminding us that the world is a corporeal place. Yet too often the easy, voluptuous curves of Oliver's objects belie the punishing, labourintensive process to which the artist was so passionately committed. As intimated by the present sculpture's highly apt and expressive title meaning to entwine, coil or wind, Oliver would painstakingly manipulate dizzying twistings and welds of pliant copper wire to create the 'weave' - the microstructure of her organic sculptural forms which gradually became more open and geometric to allow light to permeate and exaggerate their optical aspect. Thus, the shadows cast by her objects - whether flowing spiral and funnel shapes, calligraphic sweeping curves or seed and pod-like spheres - are so intrinsic to the formalist geometry of each piece that at times the shadow itself almost becomes more powerful... becomes the object. As Amanda Rowell poignantly muses, '...the microcosmic, complex surface of an Oliver sculpture is an interface between the macroform of its overall shape and the internal cavity or void where the sculpture breathes. The ease of connection between these three formal aspects of her works, along with their gently mimetic character - as alluded by their titles - constitute their elegance and simple pleasure...'2 1. Fink, H., Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006), 10 July 2006, exhibition essay for 'Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006)', Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, 10 August - 2 September 2006 2. Rowell, A., Bronwyn Oliver 2004, 9 September 2004, exhibition essay for 'Bronwyn Oliver 2004', Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, 9 September 9 October 2004 VERONICA ANGELATOS
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 25, 2015
BRONWYN OLIVER 1959-2006 Trickle (2004) copper
Est: $120,000 - $160,000
BRONWYN OLIVER 1959-2006 Trickle (2004) copper 210 x 50 x 30 cm PROVENANCE Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Private Collection, Queensland, acquired from the above on 12 February 2004
Smith & Singer
Jun. 25, 2015
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006) Shell 2003
Est: $400,000 - $500,000
BRONWYN OLIVER (1959-2006) Shell 2003 copper on bronze base 150.0 cm diameter
Menzies
Apr. 28, 2015
BRONWYN OLIVER 1959-2006 Boa (2006) copper
Est: $120,000 - $160,000
BRONWYN OLIVER 1959-2006 Boa (2006) copper 30 x 225 x 18 cm PROVENANCE Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Mr David Clarke AO, Sydney, acquired from the above on 4 October 2008 The Estate of the Late David Clarke AO, Sydney EXHIBITED Bronwyn Oliver (1959-2006), Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, 10 August - 2 September 2006, no.11
Smith & Singer
Nov. 26, 2014
BRONWYN OLIVER, 1959 - 2006, REEL, 1998, copper
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
BRONWYN OLIVER, 1959 - 2006, REEL, 1998, copper DIMENSIONS: 52.0 cm diameter PROVENANCE: Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Private collection, Sydney 'Bronwyn Oliver's highly idiosyncratic sculpture appropriates and juxtaposes elements from nature and from past and present civilisations, while evoking a multitude of literary and poetic allusions. And as distinctly non-functional, lyrical work devoid of narrative, it ingeniously evades easy categorisation into prevailing pigeon holes of current thought and practice. 'Each of Oliver's works emits a whisper of familiarity and flickering voice of humour and optimism. At a deeper level, they strike an emotional chord in viewers hardened by the cynicism of much contemporary art practice. The poetic resonance of her deftly imaginative and delightfully quirky creations provides rare moments of reprieve from today's didactic obsession with lobbying socio-political issues. There is no sarcastic commentary, modernist, psychoanalytical or feminist deconstruction informing Oliver's work. Each piece is offered as a holistic entity, its layers of association emerging gradually through the process of looking.'1 1. Fenner, F., Bronwyn Oliver: Mnemonic Chords, Moët et Chandon, Epernay, France, 1995, p. 4
Deutscher and Hackett