This is the first painting in Nolan’s Burke and Wills series. It was created a year after the artist completed his first Kelly paintings. The painting depicts the explorers, Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills who, from 1860-1861, endeavoured to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, but who tragically died before reaching their final destination. The Burke and Wills story, like that of Ned Kelly, has become one of Australia’s national legends. In this painting Nolan emphasises the heroism and stoicism of the two intrepid but ultimately tragic explorers of this story. Against a sparse desert landscape, Burke and Wills are portrayed on their camel and horse, boldly staring out at the viewer as they remain oblivious to their fate. During one of his trips to Central Australia, Nolan wrote in his diary: ‘Read The Burke & Wills Expedition. They are never far from mind when flying over the desert country.’

(Nolan, diary notes, August 31, 1949).

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.