iArt Gallery of New South WalesThe Domain
Nolan: Origins
A major survey of over 150 works from Sidney Nolan's formative Australian years, including the 1946-47 Ned Kelly series.
More in Sydney
In one painting, Ned Kelly's sister Margaret sits stitching blue padding into his helmet, the black box with a letterbox slit that fills the other 26. Curator Denise Mimmocchi calls Quilting the Armour "a moment of tenderness" in a series Nolan described as "a post-war meditation on violence".
You walk into a dark room where all 27 Kelly paintings hang in Nolan's preferred order, not by date. It's the first time in more than 60 years Sydney has had the full cycle; 26 are lent by the National Gallery of Australia. Around it, nine sections cover 150-plus works made before Nolan left for the UK in 1953: Luna Park, Wimmera wheatfields, K'gari shipwrecks, Central Australia, and a last room of carcass paintings about drought.
It's on Lower level 2 of Naala Nura. Adults pay $35 ($37 at weekends), 12 to 17s $10, and under-12s go free. On Wednesday nights, 5pm to 10pm, tickets are 2-for-1.
Editor's pick
All 27 Ned Kelly paintings hang in one dark room, in the order Nolan preferred, 26 of them lent by the National Gallery of Australia. Around them sit 150-plus earlier works: Luna Park, Wimmera wheatfields and drought carcasses.
Look for
Quilting the Armour
Look for Kelly's sister Margaret stitching blue padding into the helmet against a quiet pastoral backdrop, the gentlest scene in the Kelly room.
Ned Kelly (1946)
Kelly rides across an outback plain on horseback, his head reduced to a black box with a letterbox slit.
Kiata (1943)
A yellow wheatfield cut by a railway and a road, with a horse-drawn wagon whose shape the curator reads as an early Kelly helmet.
Fire, Palais de Danse, St Kilda (1945)
A dance hall burns as smoke rises and tiny figures run, painted 20 years after Nolan watched the real fire as a child.
Temptation of St Anthony (1952)
The saint fends off a haloed goanna, a giant dragonfly and a horned angel; the curator calls it "wonderfully wacky".
Good for
- Evening Visits
- First-Timers
- Out-Of-Town Guests
With kids
Under-12s are free, 12 to 17s pay $10, and a family ticket (two adults, three kids) is $80. The show's programme includes a Kids Club for ages 5 to 12.
Free in the same building
- 20th-century galleriesRefurbished 1972 wing galleries tracing Australian and international art across the 20th century, ground level to lower level 1.
- Grand CourtsThe historic ground-level courts display the collection from 15th-century European art through contemporary works in dialogue.
- Yiribana GalleryThe gallery's dedicated space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, its name meaning "this way" in Sydney language.
Also at Art Gallery of New South Wales
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Nolan: OriginsCourtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Just Because: CAO YuCourtesy the artist and Galerie Urs Meile. Photo: Yang Hao
- Dana Claxton: HeaddressCourtesy of Artspace
- Hayley Millar Baker: No Spectacular SoulCourtesy of Artspace
- Art Gallery of New South WalesBidgee / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 AU
- ArtspaceUser6499 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Hyde Park BarracksJ Bar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- State Library of New South WalesBidgee, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Australian Museumwuppertaler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0