John Olsen AO, OBE is one of Australia’s most awarded & prestigious artists. In his typically spontaneous style that is full of shapes, squiggles & dots, and displaying his love of Australian landscape & fauna, Olsen’s passions shine through in this beautiful etching created in rich sepia tones, “Cicada Singing” from 1978 shows Olsen’s free-flowing & joyous use of line, plus his curiosity for nature. Interestingly, this etching also features as an illustration in the rare 1978 book of poetry “Earth Hold” by Australian poet, Jennifer Rankin. “Earth Hold” features images of several of Olsen’s echings mostly portraying Australian wildlife & landscapes, as illustrations to Rankin’s poems. Rankin shared Olsen's love of detail, botany, animals and insects.
