Would No have been Yes?
It is almost 31 years since Sidney Nolan, perhaps Australia’s best known artist, died in his Whitehall Court apartment overlooking the River Thames. He had lived in England for more than 40 years, albeit with much travelling and many extended visits back to this country of his birth. While best known for his Ned Kelly paintings, he is little known for his many paintings, writings, photographs and feelings regarding our First Nations people. Aware of this, and saddened on the...
Read MoreRiverbending in Excited Reverie: Nolan’s Parables of Sunlight
This tribute by David Rainey, creator of this website and editor of the centenary tribute to Sidney Nolan Imagining in Excited Reverie, is a work of the imagination. It takes the form of an imaginary text supposedly written by Sidney Nolan himself, and of course not found among his papers after his death on 28 November 1992. Whilst obviously a work of fiction as to the words used and some opinions held, it is nevertheless largely based on fact and on Nolan’s own statements.1 It is...
Read MoreLooking in Excited Reverie: Another look at Nolan
This essay by Simon Pierse pairs nicely with Felicity Moore’s Sid, Ned and Dan in examining and paying tribute to Nolan’s art-making and universality – this piece seeking its emotional source and intensity, the other examining the pivotal role of First Class Marksman. Both take a wry look at the Nolan awry. Here, inter alia, Simon Pierse draws on Cynthia Nolan’s written descriptions of her husband’s creative process. A TRIBUTE BY SIMON PIERSE Looking...
Read MoreChallenged in Excited Reverie: Sid, Ned and Dan – “Marksman” connections
This essay by Felicity Moore pairs nicely with Simon Pierse’s Another look at Nolan in examining and paying tribute to Nolan’s art-making and universality – this piece examining the pivotal role of First Class Marksman, the other seeking an emotional source and intensity. Both take a wry look at the awry in Nolan. Here, Felicity St John Moore draws together her studies on the role of Danila Vassilieff in Nolan’s first series Kelly paintings in light of some new research...
Read MoreAuction of significant Nolan painting
How many paintings in total did Nolan create? Estimates vary widely …. 10,000? 30,000? …. who knows, he was nothing if not prolific. Whatever the number, few 20th century ‘name’ painters likely sold more works from a gallery wall than did Sidney Nolan. The very first of these will go to auction in Melbourne tomorrow 10 August 2017. Remarkably, the fact that Lot 30 was Nolan’s first commercial sale is not mentioned in the Menzies catalogue. ...
Read More
Recent Comments