Sir Sidney Robert Nolan

Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (1917-1992), Australian painter of great versatility whose imagery is often inspired by the folk history of his native Australia. Nolan was born in Melbourne, where he attended evening classes at the National Gallery of Victoria's School of Art during the mid-1930s. Through reproductions he came into contact with the work of 20th-century avant-garde artists, in particular the dadaists and surrealists (see Dada; Surrealism). He also became acquainted with Australian John Reed, the patron of a number of innovative Melbourne artists, and in 1938 cofounded with Reed the Contemporary Art Society. After Nolan's first solo exhibition in Melbourne in 1940, his reputation steadily increased, and in 1951 he had his first exhibition in London, where he soon settled. Most of his mature career has been spent in Britain.

Although his early works were highly abstract in form, during the 1940s Nolan developed a brightly colored, deliberately naive figurative style. He became particularly interested in representing the barren Australian landscape, as in Carron Plains (1948, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), as well as stories of Australian folk heroes such as the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly and the shipwrecked Scottish woman Eliza Fraser. In the following decades he explored numerous other themes, ranging from Antarctic explorers to Chinese landscapes, employing a variety of techniques. As well as producing many prints and drawings, Nolan created many successful stage designs, particularly for the Royal Opera House in London.

Although figurative painting was unfashionable throughout much of Nolan's career, his distinctive imagery and simple, expressive style was highly popular. He is undoubtedly the best-known Australian artist of the 20th century.