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• Auction House:
  Bonhams Australia
• Sale Name:
  Sidney Nolan | The Heide Years, 1938-1947
• Sale Date:
  23 Aug 2022 ~ 6pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  2
• Lot Description:
  Sidney Nolan
  (1917-1992)
  Man, Essendon, 1937
  oil on board
  40.5 x 30.5cm (15 15/16 x 12in).
  inscribed upper left: 'Essendon / November 37'
• Provenance:
  Sir Sidney Nolan, United Kingdom, until 1992; Lady Nolan, United Kingdom, until 2016; The Estate of Lady Nolan, United Kingdom
• Notes:
  Man, Essendon, predates Nolan's figurative paintings in public collections and is a unique modernist work from this period. 1937 is regarded as Nolan's first year as a professional artist. He had recently left home and moved into a flat above a shop in central Melbourne with other young artists. His work in the art department at Fayrefield Hats, where he had been since 1933 producing advertisements and displays, came to an end and he took a job at Hamburger Bill's, reputedly the city's first fast-food place. In desperation he returned to Fayrefield and was set to work rolling hot felt but his participation in a strike forced his departure. His final job that year was at Essendon Aerodrome as a cleaner and it was the exhaustion and despair there that gave him the courage to ask Sir Keith Murdoch for a travel scholarship. Perhaps impressed by Nolan's boldness - he arrived without an appointment - Murdoch sent him down the corridor to his art critic Basil Burdett who rejected his scholarship but recommended that he meet John Reed, an art patron. Nolan's relationship with Reed, his wife Sunday, and his sister Cynthia were to shape the rest of Nolan's life.
• Estimate:
  A$10,000 - 15,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

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