Roslyn Oxley AM, gallerist and art dealer, is the daughter of John Walton, owner of the department store Waltons. From 1957 to 1960 she studied at the National Art School, Sydney, and for twenty years after that worked as an interior designer for firms in Sydney, Melbourne and New York. In 1982, with her husband Tony Oxley, she established Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington. Since then, she has fostered the careers of some of Australia’s highest-profile and most influential artists. Thirteen artists she represents have shown at the Venice Biennale; four have exhibited in dOCUMENTA in Kassel, Germany. Located in Soudan Lane, Paddington since 1990, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery remains among the most prominent of Sydney's long-established high-end contemporary art dealerships.
Sally Ross is well known for her collage-style, flattened landscapes in rich blues and greens. In her Archibald statement she said: 'Roslyn is a true bohemian of great visual intelligence, acumen and spirit … [She] has dragged the blokey art establishment away from clichés of the Australian landscape or bad-boy artists painting the breasts or arse of a faceless woman … I was struck by her unique physical appearance: porcelain skin, bright eyes and glorious hair – a perfect subject for me. I instinctively knew I wanted to paint her.'
Purchased 2017
© Sally Ross
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Penelope Grist spends some quality time with the Portrait Gallery’s summer collection exhibition, Eye to Eye.
Eye to Eye is a summer Portrait Gallery Collection remix arranged by degree of eye contact – from turned away with eyes closed all the way through to right-back-at-you – as we explore artists’ and subjects’ choices around the direction of the gaze.
