Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Self portrait 1979

Self portrait 1979

1979
Montage of photographic prints
Purchased 1989

Artist Justin O’Brien, who was Sharp’s school teacher, introduced him to the work of Vincent Van Gogh, the painter who would become his biggest artistic influence. Van Gogh’s dream of a utopian artist’s settlement was Sharp’s inspiration for the Yellow House, an art collective he co-founded in Kings Cross in 1970. Each room in the Macleay St terrace was an artwork in itself, and the Yellow House has become a celebrated piece of Sydney’s artistic history.

A collage history

Sharp owned a large personal archive of drawings, photographs, collages and paintings that he started collecting from childhood including drawings and collages made by his mother. As a child his mother encouraged him to make collages using magazines and art books combining and reassembling images to develop new works and meanings. This collage of photographs of Sharp shows images of him from early childhood through to his adult life as an artist.