The Best Art Is Personal, Close Up: The Ben Quilty Portrait Of Margaret Olley Poem by Dennis Ryan

Tuesday afternoon, November 3,2020

"The relationship between the artist and the subject, I think that's the most interesting thing... It really stands out when somebody does know the sitter [in a portrait]. If it's only about meeting them for a one-off meeting to do a portrait, then all it is is a likeness, there's nothing more."
--the painter Ben Quilty on his portrait of the painter Margaret Olley

The best art is personal,
close up: the eyes of Margaret Olley
in that Ben Quilty portrait.