1. Skip to navigation
  2. Skip to content
  3. Skip to sidebar


Lot #89 - Sidney Nolan

  • Auction House:
    Bonhams Australia
  • Sale Name:
    Sir Sidney Nolan Works from the Estate of Lady Nolan, Part III
  • Sale Date:
    24 Nov 2020 ~ 6pm (AEDT)
  • Lot #:
    89
  • Lot Description:
    Sidney Nolan
    (1917 - 1992)
    Antarctica - Explorer, 1964
    oil on board
    122.0 x 122.0cm (48 1/16 x 48 1/16in).
    signed and dated lower centre: '18 Sept / 1964 / Nolan'; signed, dated and inscribed verso: 'Antartica [sic] / 18 Sept 1964 / Nolan'
    RELATED WORKS: Explorer, 1964, oil on composition board, 121.9 x 121.9cm (NGA 2017.227); and Explorer, 1964, oil on composition board, 121.9 x 121.9cm (NGA 2017.231), both in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2017 from the estate of Lady Nolan
  • Provenance:
    Sir Sidney Nolan, United Kingdom, until 1992; Lady Nolan, United Kingdom, until 2016; The Estate of Lady Nolan, United Kingdom
  • Exhibited:
    Sidney Nolan, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, January 1965, cat. 10, titled Explorers (Antarctica) (label attached verso); Sidney Nolan: Antarctic Series, Nolan Gallery, Lanyon, Australian Capital Territory, 4 June – 7 September 1986, cat. 3 (label attached verso)
  • References:
    Rodney James, Sidney Nolan - Antarctic Journey, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria, 2006, cat. 58, p. 79, titled Explorer
  • Notes:
    The presence of the great explorers was central to the Antarctic series. The imagery of the hooded and goggled men encrusted in ice was inspired by photographs taken by Herbert Ponting during the Scott expedition and Frank Hurley who accompanied the Mawson and Shackleton expeditions. Nolan had used historic photographs before as source material for both the Kelly and Burke and Wills series. However, in the case of the Antarctic explorers his diary reveals other visual references too as diverse as Byzantine saints and Aboriginal carvings. At the first exhibitions of the Antarctic series, launched in New York, London, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide in 1965 the paintings of the explorers were displayed interspersed among the landscapes. As Allan Moorhead wrote in his introduction to the New York and London catalogues, 'The polar explorer is an embattled figure with staring goggled eyes and a swirl of protective covering round his head and body... He is a static object, it is the landscape that moves: the drifting iceberg, the circling sun and the mirage towering up and dissolving on the heights above.' For other important works from this series see lots 10, 20, 40, 64, 72, 79 and 107.
  • Estimate:
    A$60,000 - 80,000
  • Realised Price:
    *****

    Can't see the realised price? Upgrade your subscription now!

  • Category:
    Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.



© 2010-2024 Find Lots Online Pty Ltd