A remarkable touring exhibition of Sidney’s Nolan Gallipoli paintings will open at The University of Queensland Art Museum this weekend.
The exhibition showcases 80 Nolan works drawn from the Australian War Memorial’s collection, which were 20 years in the making and underpinned by personal tragedy.
“Sidney Nolan: the Gallipoli series constitutes a personal and public interpretation of a campaign that cost so many Australian lives,” Acting Director of the UQ Art Museum Michele Helmrich said.
“Nolan donated this collection to the Memorial in 1978 in memory of his soldier brother, who died in a tragic accident just before the end of the Second World War.
“This exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to view these striking works, now on display together for the first time in 30 years.”
One of Australia’s most innovative and prolific artists, Nolan was born two years after the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1915, and said the events of the First World War permeated his life as he grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne.
It was not until he was living on the Greek island of Hydra in the mid-1950s, however, that he started to explore the idea of a series of works with a military and heroic theme.
He made a one-day visit to Gallipoli and was profoundly moved by the place that had seen so much bloodshed.
Included in the exhibition are iconic works Kenneth (1958) and Soldier, Arthur Boyd (1959), in addition to a group of large, vibrantly coloured portrait heads painted in the late 1970s.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Dr Nancy Underhill, Foundation Head of the Department of Art History at The University of Queensland and a prominent Nolan scholar, will deliver a talk at the museum on November 11.
The event will explore the personal references in Nolan’s work, as well as the various sources and travel experiences on which he drew when making the Gallipoli paintings. All are welcome.
Sidney Nolan: the Gallipoli series will continue at the UQ Art Museum until November 14. The museum is open to the public seven days a week.
Media: Michele Helmrich at the UQ Art Museum (07 3365 3046, artmuseum@uq.edu.au), Emma Campbell at the Australian War Memorial (02 6243 4575, media@awm.gov.au), or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
About the exhibition
Sidney Nolan: the Gallipoli series is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across the country.
The Australian War Memorial’s programs are supported by The Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
