Sidney Robert Nolan Australia, 1917-92
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About Sidney Nolan
Born in Melbourne in 1917, Nolan studied at the Melbourne National Art Gallery. An exhibition at the Contemporary Art Society in Melbourne of a series of his pictures of the bushranger Ned Kelly won him wide acclaim. Nolan's studies of the harsh Australian outback, using convicts, droughts and historical themes helped set the pattern from which the Australian regional school developed. In 1960 a leading British critic described him as 'one of the most outstanding painters of our time'. In 1975 Nolan presented a collection of his works to the country. These are now on permanent exhibition near Canberra. He also presented a number of paintings from his Gallipoli series to the War Museum in 1978. Sidney Nolan was knighted in 1981. He died in 1992.
Sidney Nolan is one of the most prolific of the artists listed in our database, with the number of works offered for sale by auction since 1969 of 9,767, of which 7,146 (73%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $5,400,000 for First-Class Marksman 1946 sold by Menzies in March 2010. In addition to this sale, a further 10 works by this artist have been sold for over $1 million. This year 423 works have been offered for sale. Works by Sidney Nolan are held by the National Gallery of Australia, Australian War Memorial and a further 12 major public national galleries (see list below).
Sidney Nolan is listed in the following standard biographical references:
- McCulloch, Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch-Childs. The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art. 4th Edition, Aus Art Melbourne & The Miegunyah Press, 2006. Page 732
- Germaine, Max. Artists and Galleries of Australia, Volumes 1 & 2, Third Edition. Craftsman Press, Sydney, 1990. Page 508
- Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 348
- Dictionary of Australian Artists Online, an online resource for biographical data about Australian artists, designers, craftspeople and curators.
- Australian Prints + Printmaking, a database listing printmaking artists from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region based on the print collection of the National Gallery of Australia.
Artists' Resale Royalty
Could the second and subsequent works by this artist sold after June 9, 2010 for over $1,000 be liable for the Artists' Resale Royalty? More info…
Yes, eligible, subject to the artist satisfying the residency test. The artist is alive or has been deceased for less than 70 years. Contact the Copyright Agency for information on the residency test.
The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 610,000 works by more than 12,000 artists who are listed as having either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, and an additional 36,000 foreign and other artists, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand from the early 1970s to the present day.
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