The Art Gallery of NSW has opened a major exhibition dedicated to Australian artist Sidney Nolan, displaying more than 150 paintings created before his move to London in 1953.
Born in Melbourne in 1917, Nolan began his career as a commercial artist before developing his distinctive artistic style, which is now widely recognised. His travels through Australia significantly influenced his work, transforming his art into a reflection of Australia’s landscapes.
The exhibition showcases Nolan’s work from the late 1930s to 1953, focusing on his formative years before he moved to London, where he began exploring European landscapes.
Stepping into the immersive world of Nolan, visitors are presented with his work in a cohesive order, taking them on a journey through his artistic development. Starting with his early abstract works, such as Boy and the Moon (c. 1939-40) and Bathers (1943), the exhibition presents paintings that have not been displayed together for 60 years, including the reunion of the complete Ned Kelly series.
Nolan’s Ned Kelly series (1946-47) depicts events from Kelly’s life, with all 27 paintings on display in the exhibition. Ned Kelly (1854-80) was an Australian bushranger who became a controversial symbol of resistance to authority, police corruption, class injustice and anti-Irish discrimination. Regarded by some as an Australian hero, he has left a significant cultural imprint. The display of Nolan’s complete Ned Kelly series adds significance to the immersive experience, as visitors are able to view the paintings together as a unified body of work.
The exhibition reveals Nolan’s extraordinary creative process and the development of a young artist who boldly explored new ideas. Denise Mimmochi, senior curator of Australian art, describes the idea that “art happens somewhere else” as an important influence on Nolan’s artistic journey. Mimmochi believes that Nolan’s travels continually influenced his work, offering new experiences and possibilities for artistic expression.
Maud Page, senior curator at the Art Gallery of NSW, describes Nolan as “bold, mysterious, humorous and surprisingly contemporary”, highlighting how an artist sees things from a different perspective, as reflected in Nolan’s striking paintings. His work also portrays what Page describes as “colonial discomfort on a land that is not ours”, encouraging viewers to consider the continuing effects of colonisation and the dispossession of First Nations peoples.
Origins allows visitors to consider the influence of Nolan’s work on the course of Australian art, and how his paintings helped transform the nation’s view of Australian landscapes and national identity through a modern lens.
Sidney Nolan: Origins
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Free entry
3 October 2026 to 7 February 2027
Open Monday-Sunday, 10am-5pm
