Sculptor
Ola Cohn OBE (1892–1964) was born in Bendigo and studied in Melbourne
and London. Returning to Australia in 1931, she established a studio in
Melbourne, producing pieces based on the simple lines of ancient
Mediterranean art, and gained a reputation as a potent modern artist.
Between 1938 and 1941 she made two huge figures for the Royal Hobart
Hospital, a memorial fountain in Bendigo, panels for the Mutual Life and
Citizen’s Building, Sydney, and a massive figure for the Pioneer
Women’s Memorial in Adelaide. She then turned to teaching, while
continuing to produce sculptures for churches.
Late in her career Cohn made the Fairies Tree for
Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens. She carved her fairy tree in a red gum
over three years from 1931–34, as a gift to the children of Melbourne.
Inspired by Ivor Innes’ Elfin Oak
in Kensington Gardens, London, Cohn’s version includes fairies, dwarfs,
angels, gnomes and Australian birds and animals. She inscribed the
trunk with her intention to carve the tree ‘for the fairies and those
who believe in them, for they will understand how necessary it is to
have a fairy sanctuary – a place that is sacred and safe as a home
should be to all living creatures’.
Purchased 2011
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