Dated 1958, Sidney Nolan’s ‘Mermaid’ is a crayon-rubbing on paper – a technique the artist was known for. It is of a mermaid and yet, by virtue of medium, almost abstract. Interested in the enduring relevance of mythology, Nolan presents the mermaid like a cave drawing, an ancient figure at the juncture between human and fish, land and water.

Art historian Kenneth Clark has described Nolan’s extreme simplicity as “urgent and real”. Indeed, there is a pressing quality to ‘Mermaid’, as though resurrected from antiquity to bear a message. Nolan’s language is one of myth and mystery, told in deceptively broad strokes.

‘Mermaid’ is a simple yet intriguing image, like an open palm alive with lines. For admirers of Australian art, works on paper and Modernism, this original work is a catch. Impeccably framed with museum quality materials, this work of art is both safeguarded for years to come and ready to be enjoyed the moment its hung.

Sidney NOLAN (1917 - 1992)
'Mermaid' 1958
crayon rubbing on paper
Image Size: 31 x 26 cm
Dimensions: 54 x 47 x 2 cm
Comes with Letter of Provenance. Certificate Of Authenticity signed by the Agent for the estate of Lady Nolan provided

Companion work exhibited: Exhibited: Sidney Nolan Works on Paper Retrospective, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1980-81, cat. no. 114. (touring exhibition). 

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

Read about this work and more in Sidney Nolan | Poems, Myths and Mermaids.