Sidney Nolan

(1917-1992)

Antarctic, 1964

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Sir Sidney Nolan, United Kingdom, until 1992
Lady Nolan, United Kingdom, until 2016
The Estate of Lady Nolan, United Kingdom

EXHIBITED
Sidney Nolan: Antarctic Series, Nolan Gallery, Lanyon, Australian Capital Territory, 4 June – 7 September 1986, cat. 11 (label attached verso)

LITERATURE
Rodney James, Sidney Nolan - Antarctic Journey, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, 2006, cat. 23, p. 74, as Antarctica

RELATED WORKS
Antarctica, 30 August 1964, oil on composition board, 121.9 x 121.9cm (NGA 2017.228); Antarctica, 1964, oil on composition board, 121.9 x 121.9cm (NGA 2017.229), and Antarctica, 30 August 1964, oil on composition board, 121.9 x 121.9cm (NGA 2017.230), all in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2017 from the estate of Lady Nolan
Mt. Erebus, 28 August 1964, oil on composition board, 122.0 x 123.0cm, in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Antarctica, 30 August 1964, oil on composition board, 121.9 x 121.9cm, in the collection of the Tate Gallery, London


By the early 1960s Nolan's international fame was reaching a crescendo based on his paintings of Kelly, Burke and Wills, Mrs Fraser and the convict Bracefell, and Gallipoli. Each of these flawed heroes and anti-heroes existed within landscapes that were essential to their narrative. In each case, Nolan visited the areas he depicted before starting to paint. In 1964 when an opportunity came to visit Antarctica on a U.S. naval ship he lept at the opportunity. Aside from his love of travel and natural curiosity, he had a lifelong interest in the great age of Antarctic exploration and its leading men, Amundsen, Scott, Mawson and Shackleton. The Antarctic series that followed Nolan's journey was to be his last major body of work that examined the making of legends. When the paintings were first exhibited in New York and London early the following year they were shown alongside Kelly and Burke and Wills paintings.

For other important works from this series see lots 125, 156 and 193.