Australia’s landscape was an important and enduring source of artistic inspiration for Nolan, particularly remote areas in the bush and desert which he perceived as having a distinctly Australian quality. From the mid-1940s Nolan travelled around Australia, visiting Central Australia twice, in 1949 and 1950. He also flew over the Hartz, Durack and MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia which inspired him to paint a series of over 200 paintings. These are predominantly panoramic, aerial views of Australia’s desert landscape, often taken from photographs and notably devoid of people. This painting is part of this series and it evokes the space, colour and grandeur of the barren and undulating mountains characteristic of Central Australia. Contemplating this work and his Australian origins, Nolan states: I wanted to deal ironically with the cliché of the “dead heart”; I wanted to know the true nature of “otherness” I had been born into. It was not a European thing. I wanted to paint the great purity and implacability of the landscape. (Lynn, 1979).

Reference:

Lynn, Elwyn. Sidney Nolan: Australia, Bay Books, Sydney & London, 1979, p.13

FOUNDATION COLLECTION

The Foundation Collection comprises 24 paintings which are the first of several donations made by the artist, Sir Sidney Nolan to the Australian Government from the mid-1970s.

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) is one of Australia’s most widely acclaimed artists. He is best known for his iconic Kelly paintings which are based on the legendary story of Ned Kelly, Australia’s most renowned bushranger. The Foundation Collection comprises 15 paintings from the artist’s first Kelly series produced during the mid-1940s. It also encompasses paintings from the St Kilda and Burke and Wills series, and inspired by Nolan’s travels around Central Australia. Each of the paintings in this collection reflects the artist’s enduring interest in Australia’s landscape, history, and identity.