The mystery of the 'missing' John Olsen painting The Mother and a row with Sotheby's

By Deborah Snow
Updated January 3 2015 - 1:18am, first published 12:15am
Angered: 'Sotheby's had no sensitivity to John or the family,' says Tim Olsen. Photo: Steven Siewert
Angered: 'Sotheby's had no sensitivity to John or the family,' says Tim Olsen. Photo: Steven Siewert
Lost and found: <i>The Mother</i>, painted by John Olsen for his second wife Valerie. An inscription on the back reads: 'For my darling Valerie, John Olsen '64'.
Lost and found: <i>The Mother</i>, painted by John Olsen for his second wife Valerie. An inscription on the back reads: 'For my darling Valerie, John Olsen '64'.
Wrangles: John Olsen has suspended permission for Sotheby's Australia to use any imagery of his works in its commercial activities.  Photo: Joe Armao
Wrangles: John Olsen has suspended permission for Sotheby's Australia to use any imagery of his works in its commercial activities. Photo: Joe Armao
Valerie Olsen at Watsons Bay in the 1970s.  Photo: John Olsen: An Artist's Life by Darleen Bungey
Valerie Olsen at Watsons Bay in the 1970s. Photo: John Olsen: An Artist's Life by Darleen Bungey

The story of artist John Olsen's "missing" painting, The Mother, has its roots in the aftermath of a near-tragic car accident in the French Pyrenees in 1966 and culminated in a Sydney city court-room on the morning that the deadly Martin Place siege began unfolding at the Lindt cafe.

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