Sidney Nolan (Australian 1917-1992)
He first studied at his hometown Prahran Technical College, Melbourne, and continued at National Gallery School, 1934-6. After World War II service in Australian Army Nolan worked as a designer and an illustrator, emerging as a full-time painter in Sydney, at the start of 1950s, after which he moved to Europe to paint. His first one-man show was held in his studio in Melbourne in 1941, since when there were many globally, in Britain notably at Redfern Gallery, Marlborough Fine Art, Tate Gallery and ICA in London, and Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. While living in England, Nolan visited Australia for special projects, such as the series of pictures connected with the film Burke and Wills. He travelled widely, including Africa, Greece and Antarctica.
A retrospective exhibition of works on paper done over 40 years toured Australia in the early 1980s, a vast retrospective visited state galleries there in 1987-8 and there was a review exhibition from the estate at Agnew in 1997.
Nolan has been called a painter's painter, whose work often took the form of a personal diary. He was able to work intensively over short periods and was noted for series of pictures with a single theme, such as the Ned Kelly paintings and drawings, amongst his most memorable images.
He was knighted in 1981, gained Order of Merit in 1983 and was elected Royal Academician in 1991.
Public collections include
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate, London
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
Australian National University, Canberra
University Art Museum, University of Queensland
University of Western Australia, Perth
Nolan Gallery, 'Lanyon'
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne
Reserve Bank of Australia
The Holmes a Court Collection
ICI Collection
Wesfarmers Collection, Perth
Tate Gallery, London
Hong Kong Land, Exchange Square, Hong Kong
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Bibliography
CLARK, Kenneth, MacINNES, Colin and Bryan ROBERTSON, Sidney Nolan, Thanes & Hudson, London, 1961
ROSENTHAL, T.G., Sidney Nolan, Thanes & Hudson, London, 2002
NOLAN, Sidney, SAYERS Andrew and Murray BAIL, Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly: The Ned Kelly Paintings in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, 2002
PEARCE, Barry, KLEPAC, Lou and Frances LINDSAY, Sidney Nolan: Retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2007
Solo Exhibitions
1942, Sheffield's Newsagency, Heidelberg
1943, Contemporary Art Society, Melbourne
1948, Moreton Galleries, Brisbane; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; The Kelly Paintings, Velasquez Gallery, Melbourne
1949, Queensland Outback Paintings, David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney; Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Maison de l'Unesco, Paris, 27 Kelly paintings
1950, Central Australian Landscapes, David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney
1951, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1952, Stanley Coe Gallery, Melbourne; Royal South Australian Society of Arts, Adelaide
1953, Drought Paintings, Peter Bray Gallery, Melbourne; David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney
1955, Redfern Gallery, London
1956, Durlacher Bros, New York
1957, Retrospective exhibition, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1960, Leda and the Swan, Matthieson Gallery, London
1961, Retrospective exhibition, Hatton Gallery, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
1962, Durlacher Bros, New York
1963, Sidney Nolan, African Journey, Marlborough Fine Art, London
1964, Recent African Paintings, Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide
1965, Marlborough Fine Art, London
1967, Sidney Nolan Retrospective Exhibition, Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of Western Australia
1968, Marlborough Fine Art, London
1970, Retrospective Exhibition, The Arts Centre, New Metropole, Folkesone; Sidney Nolan, Paradise Garden, National Gallery of Victoria
1972, Paradise Garden, Tate Gallery, London
1973, Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo
1974, Ern Malley and Paradise Garden, Art Gallery of South Australia, opened by Prime Minister Gough Witlam
1975 ,Marlborough Fine Art, London; Nolan at Lanyon, Lanyon homestead, south of Canberra
1976, Moderna Museat, Stockholm; Pieter Wenning Gallery, Johannesburg
1978, Nolan's Gallipoli, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
1979, Marlborough Fine Art, London
1980, Sidney Nolan works on paper retrospective, Nolan Gallery, 'Lanyon'
1981, Sidney Nolan's China, Art Gallery of New South Wales; The Ned Kelly Paintings 1946-47 by Sidney Nolan, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne, inaugural exhibition
1982, Singapore National Museum and Art Gallery; Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd, London
1983, Grosvenor Museum, Chester; Sidney Nolan: the city and the plain, National Gallery of Victoria
1985, Sidney Nolan: Bourke and Wills, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney
1986, Nolan's Wimmera, National Gallery of Victoria, travelling exhibition
1987, Sir Sidney Nolan: Landscapes and Legends. A Retrospective Exhibition 1937-1987, National Gallery of Victoria, touring Sydney, Perth and Adelaide
1988, Nolan's Fraser, Queensland Art Gallery
1989, Sidney Nolan's Drawings, National Gallery of Australia
1991, Retrospective exhibition, The Sidney Nolan Trust, The Rodd, Herefordshire
1991 Sidney Nolan': Burning at Glenrowan, National Gallery of Australia, touring regional NSW and Victoria
1992, Tate Gallery, London. 75th birthday celebration exhibition
Group Exhibitions
1940-46, Contemporary Art Society Annual Exhibitions
1946, Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Competitions, Art Gallery of NSW
1948, The Sydney Group, David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney
1948-50, Contemporary Art Society Annual Exhibitions
1949-52, Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Competitions, Art Gallery of NSW
1952, 53, Blake Prize, Mark Foy's Art Gallery, Sydney; Society of Artists Annual Exhibitions, David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney
1953, Twelve Australian Artists, Arts Council of Great Britain, New Burlington Galleries, London, then to the Venice Biennale of 1954; A Retrospective Exhibition of Australian Painting, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
1954, Sidney Nolan and Albert Tucker, International Press Club, Rome
1957, Contemporary Australian Painters, touring Canada
1961, 1940-1945, Museum of Modern Art of Australia, Melbourne
1962, Australian Painting: Colonial, Impressionist, Contemporary, Adelaide, Perth, London (Tate Gallery), Ottawa, Vancouver; Rebels and Precursors: Aspects of Australian Painting in Melbourne 1937-1947, National Gallery of Victoria and Art Gallery of NSW
1984, The Great Decades of Australian Art: Selected Masterpieces from the JGL Collection, National Gallery of Victoria
1985, Recalling the Fifties: British Painting and Sculpture 1950-60, Arts Council of Great Britain, Serpentine Gallery, London
1988, European and Australian Paintings from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney