Sir Sidney Nolan; One of Australia’s Most Noted Painters

Sir Sidney Nolan, 75, one of Australia’s most famous painters, best known for his series of works depicting the 19th-Century Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. He is also credited with invigorating Australian painting through contact with European and North American trends, and with giving Australian art a worldwide audience. The son of a Melbourne tram driver, Nolan left school at 14 and began work as a poster painter for a hat company. International acclaim came when historian and art critic Kenneth Clark saw his work in Sydney in 1947 and called him “the first artist to give us the real flavor of that strange continent. He has extracted its essences: the red desert, the dead animals, the stranded, ridiculous towns.” Clark persuaded Nolan to stage an exhibition in London, the breakthrough that brought him international fame. Nolan had lived in Britain for 40 years, but returned to Australia often to paint and sketch. He was knighted in 1981 and made a member of the prestigious Order of Merit in 1983. In London on Friday of a heart attack.