"Mostly Flowers"

Flowers have long been a source of inspiration and pleasure for artists. Matisse, Gaugin and Van Gogh revelled in their beauty in Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Van Gogh's iconic works 'Irises' and 'Sunflowers' became familiar to millions - perhaps only rivalled in recognisability by Monet's expressionist water-lily canvases.

In Australia during these times, botanical painting was more the floral norm, as most European explorers had a botanical artist on board ship whose job it was to collect, detail and record the flora and fauna of the discovered lands. Ferdinand Bauer and Daniel Solander produced exquisite and astonishingly accurate drawings and paintings of the new life they encountered on their journeys.

As the 1900s progressed and radical art movements developed in Europe, Australian interest in flower painting was kept alive largely by women artists. This subject matter was usually readily available to them and was considered appropriate for ladies. Some, like Grace Cossington-Smith and Margaret Preston, found ways to explore this seemingly conservative subject matter with approaches that were fresh and innovative.

In contemporary Australia, floral arrangements are not exactly at the cutting edge of the art world. Aesthetically pleasing images are often regarded with suspicion - but fortunately, Margaret Olley continues to lead a quiet celebration of painted space, with flowers as the focal point. Her beautiful colour-drenched canvases prove that flowers themselves may fade, but the joy and glory their painted form represents, continues a tradition with the strength of centuries behind it.

With a heritage like this, who needs an excuse to paint flowers? So many famous names have rejoiced in exploring their colour, shape and texture; seduced not only by their complexity of form, but by the challenge of finding new ways to portray such familiar subjects. But what was true for these artists is still true today - flowers are an intriguing and stunningly beautiful way to explore paint.