An exhibition organised in collaboration with the Sidney Nolan Trust
The Polar Museum in Cambridge presents Sidney Nolan: Antarctica open through 18 December 2010.
Sidney Nolan’s paintings are so satisfying to anyone who has some acquaintance with the desert and the ice – or more specifically, with man’s place in an environment where he is rejected. (Alan Moorehead 1965)
Sir Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) is possibly Australia’s most significant and internationally acclaimed artist. Born in Melbourne, he left school at 14 and, although he enrolled at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, was largely self taught. In the 1940s, he was a member of the avant-garde group, the Angry Penguins. In 1951 he moved to London. His work shifts dramatically between dark and light. Always fresh and spontaneous, he never relied upon one artistic style or technique but experimented throughout his life.
At the Adelaide festival in 1962, Nolan’s friend Alan Moorehead, the Australian journalist and author, broached the idea of a trip to the Antarctic. Moorehead, in his capacity as a freelance journalist for The New Yorker, then arranged for them to tour the US Naval and scientific bases in Antarctica as part of Operation ‘Deep Freeze’. The visit became the inspiration for a major series of 68 paintings which Nolan completed in his studio in Putney. The majority of these works are held in museums and galleries worldwide.
Image: Sidney Nolan Antarctica (5) 1964 Oil on board 121.9 x 121.9cm © The Sidney Nolan Trust
The Sidney Nolan Trust is a registered charity, established by Sidney Nolan in 1985 for the purpose of supporting the work and development of creative artists and musicians. It was also intended that the Trust would provide a gallery for showing the work of Sidney Nolan and exhibitions are mounted annually.
The Sidney Nolan Trust
The Rodd
Presteigne
Powys LD8 2LL
United Kingdom
www.sidneynolantrust.org
Polar Museum
Scott Polar Research Institute
University of Cambridge
Lensfield Road
Cambridge CB2 1ER
England
www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum