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Lot 37

Sidney Nolan
(1917-1992)
Mother and Armour, 1979

Important Australian Art

11 – 12 May 2022, 19:30 AEST

Sydney

AU$50,000 - AU$70,000

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Alex Clark

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Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)

Mother and Armour, 1979
signed and dated lower right: 'Nolan / 79'
signed, dated and inscribed verso: 'MOTHER AND ARMOUR / Nolan / 1979
oil on composition board
122.0 x 91.5cm (48 1/16 x 36in).

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Lady Mary Nolan, United Kingdom
Corporate collection, Melbourne
Menzies, Melbourne, 14 September 2011, lot 25
Private collection, Melbourne
Private collection, Sydney

EXHIBITED
Sidney Nolan, Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney, 1 - 22 March 1980 (label attached verso)

Sidney Nolan's anonymous portraits of Ned Kelly are paramount to the artist's legacy. Across six decades his continued fascination with Kelly was a driving force, creating numerous series' in all mediums dedicated to the enigmatic bushranger.

In 1979 Nolan embarked on a modernised series of 28 paintings re-exploring the Kelly theme which was scheduled for exhibition with Rudy Komon the following year to mark the 100 year anniversary since Ned Kelly's death in 1880. The majority of the exhibition was focused on paying tribute to the Kelly 'Mask' often placing a solitary helmet within simplified, richly coloured landscapes.

The present work, unique within the exhibition, displays Nolan's typical handling of Kelly's iconic armour, the black squared helmet motif in the foreground is immediately recognisable. Nolan plays with the ambiguous imagery in the usually void eye slot on the helmet. Embellished with what appears to be beady eyes, in contrast it could also be seen as the body and hands of the figure behind, allowing Nolan to confidently interweave the relationship between the forlorn mother and son.

Alex Clark

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