Sidney Nolan was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1917 where he studied at the National Gallery Art School during the 1930s. A modernist enthusiast, Nolan was an avid reader, studying reproductions by artists including Gauguin, Matisse, and Picasso, who were moving away from traditional methods of figuration; Nolan himself often used abstract forms, reflecting the style of the European avant-garde, and became best known for his iconic paintings of legendary Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly, in which he merged motifs from popular culture with modernist aesthetics. Moving to London in 1953, Kenneth Clark, former director of the National Gallery became one of Nolan's patrons as he developed a significant career as a painter.
Painter and printmaker, Sidney Nolan was born on 22 April 1917 in Melbourne, Australia. His great grandfather emigrated from Cork to Adelaide, and Nolan’s family identified strongly with their Irish heritage. He grew up hearing tales about the infamous bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly, stories that would deeply resonate in his art. He initially studied design and commercial arts at Prahran Technical College. In 1933, he began a six-year tenure in the art department at the Fayrefield Hat factory, where he became fascinated with commercial paint properties. In 1934, he joined the National Gallery Art School in Melbourne. However, rather than attend classes, he spent time in the neighbouring Public Library (now the State Library of Victoria). A modernist enthusiast, Nolan delved into books by James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence, as well as studying reproductions by modern artists, such as Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, Moholy-Nagy, Miró, and Klee. Like these artists, who deviated from the conventional approach of reproducing natural forms, Nolan chose to depict objects using abstract shapes. He also experimented with materials and, following his decision to paint full-time in 1938, ‘he entered a period of creative ferment utilizing whatever he had to hand […] tissue, blotting and photographic paper, textile scraps, printed matter, boot polish, brick reddening, chalk, cardboard, plywood’ (Morgan 2012, p. 8). Nolan formed a close bond with art patrons, John and Sunday Reed. During the Second World War, he served in the army but, fearing he might be sent to the frontline, he went absent without leave (AWOL), taking refuge in the Reeds' studio in Parkville, Melbourne. During the 1940s Nolan was associated with the Angry Penguins, an important avant-garde art group related to a modernist journal of the same name.
In 1945, Nolan began his iconic portrayals of Ned Kelly, a legendary figure in Australian folklore. Inspired by both historical and contemporary writings, Nolan's surreal images merged motifs from popular culture with modernist aesthetics and were imbued with personal allusions. Adopting a faux-naive approach, Nolan juxtaposed a vivid, contemporary depiction of the Australian landscape with the image of Ned Kelly as a marginalised outsider. As Deborah Hart noted, ‘in his visual account of the Kelly saga, Nolan recognised the complexity of the events that had no easy answers. He brought to the visual re-telling a broad emotional undertow — of violence, fear and flight; courage, desperation and brazen folly; love and anguish’ (Hart 2018, p. 8). In his art Nolan explored British colonial history and the essence of heroism. Captivated by myths and legends (his print series, The Leda Suite (1961), inspired by the myth of Leda and the Swan, was published by émigré-owned Ganymed Press), he sought out enduring tales from his homeland, such as that of Englishwoman, Eliza Fraser, who survived an 1836 shipwreck off the Queensland coast, rescued by local Aborigines.
In 1949, the Reeds showcased the Kelly series at the Maison de l’Unesco in Paris, to acclaim. In the same year Kenneth Clark, former director of London’s National Gallery, admired Nolan's work while visiting Australia and suggested he relocate to England. Nolan's artworks contrasted with the prevalent trends of postwar modernist painting, especially the dominance of American abstraction. Clark viewed Nolan's output as a refreshing departure from what he considered the stagnant dead end of formalist abstract art (Güner 2017). Nolan moved to London in 1953. Subsequently, Clark became a patron, acquiring many of Nolan's works, including Convict in a Billabong, part of the Mrs. Fraser series (1960, University of York). Nolan’s work began to gain significant attention and acquisition by collectors and institutions. In 1957, London's Whitechapel Art Gallery hosted a retrospective of Nolan's previous decade, featuring over 150 works, including the Ned Kelly and Mrs. Fraser series. Following the exhibition, the Arts Council of Great Britain acquired Nolan’s Kelly 1956 . Nolan started a new Mrs Fraser series, blending the hues of the Thames' muddy stretches at Putney, his new residence, with memories of Queensland rainforests. In 1960 he presented Leda and the Swan and Other Recent Work at the Matthiesen Gallery, London (opened by German refugee, Francis Matthiesen), followed by Sidney Nolan: African Journey at Marlborough Fine Art (1963, also with émigré founders). In 1962 he designed sets for Kenneth MacMillan’s Covent Garden production of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Nolan was appointed CBE in 1963. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of London (1971) and Leeds University (1974), among other institutions. Nolan received the Order of Merit (OM) in 1983, was knighted in 1981, and in 1991, was elected a Royal Academician (RA).
Sidney Nolan died in London, England on 27 November 1992. His work is represented in UK public collections, including Tate and the British Museum. As part of a nationwide programme hosted by the Sidney Nolan Trust celebrating the centenary of Nolan's birth in 2017, exhibitions were held at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester and the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Sidney Nolan]
Publications related to [Sidney Nolan] in the Ben Uri Library