Sidney Nolan painted 'Landscape' in the same period as his famed Moonboy, an ovoid composition that is thought of as the embryo of his visual language. Merging myth with modernism, Nolan’s work was perplexingly subjective and objective, an experimentation in seeing and representing.

In 'Landscape', painted on plywood, an abstracted shoreline is girt by deep blue water. The viewer’s sense of perspective is warped – are we looking down or across a ridge? The following year, Nolan’s iconic rendition of Ned Kelly would ride into a landscape like this. For the artist, no act of representation was neutral – even when paired back to form, we cannot help but project loss, redemption, hope and freedom onto the land.

Alive and engrossing, 'Landscape' is a work rich in visual and art historical power. It is a document of Nolan’s distinct contributions to art, his dynamic, wild and contradictory visions of the mythologised Australian landscape. He is represented in every state gallery and internationally at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate. Elegant and enigmatic, his work is a prize for collectors of important Australian art.

Sidney NOLAN (1917 - 1992)
'Landscape' 1942
oil on plywood
Image Size: 48 x 48 cm
Dimensions: 50 x 50 x 4 cm
Signed: Titled, dated and initialed lower right.
Comes with Letter of Provenance

RELATED WORKS:
House by the Sea, dated 26.8.42, oil on plywood, 43 x 43 cm, illustrated in "Nolan's Nolans: a reputation reassessed," Agnews, London, 1997, cat. 7.

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

(c) Sidney Nolan / Copyright Agency 2024