Earle Olsen
artist

 

My current project is a family history of art and life called Daddy-O. In it, I delve into my father’s career as a painter in 1950s New York City and the legacy of his secrets as a closeted gay man. I search for lost paintings and wrestle with his presence and absence in my childhood.

You’ll find more about Earle’s work on this website. You can find more of my writing about his work in the archive of my Substack, From Life. Or subscribe here.

A few early excerpts are published below.

Here
archives, research Victoria Olsen archives, research Victoria Olsen

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“Turn every page,” Robert Caro says. So when you’re at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art flipping through the David Herbert Papers box 2 of 7, “Correspondence: Illegible and Unidentified 1968-92” folder, you might suddenly encounter your father’s handwriting.

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