What Made Sir Sydney Nolan So Popular?

Australia grew up as a convict nation.  Larikanism has always bubbled beneath a cool Australian exterior, which always seems to mask up as identifying with the aggressor, when in fact each and every Australian suppresses a touch on rebellion and cheekiness. 

Three of the stories that Nolan chose to explore through painting were the Legend of Ned Kelly, (twice) the story of the escape of Mrs Frazer and the tragic nature of the Burkes and Wills Expedition. 

Each one of these stories unveils the harshness of early Australian settlement. When European Australians settled Australia, they found it necessary to either subdue or eradicate the First People who lived here.  To this day, the politics of this situation reverberates through the very fabric of Australian society. Like all countries that have been built by dispossessing their first people, slums have been created by removing people to reservations.  Like all other countries caught in the aftermath of this unfortunate way of dealing with invasion, there was a process of disremembering.  There was also a process of mythic glorification that acted to manufacture a kind of social amnesia.  Somehow amongst this fabric of self-protection and aura of Australia 'marking the spot' of the great "Fair Go" arose. 

Nolan's work is cryptic.  It unmasks layers of self deception and presents Australia in "The Raw".

Whilst the story of Eliza Fraser doesn't sound like it could possibly be true, it is, at least in part, a real story of hardship, misfortune, abuse and betrayal.

It is another great Australian myth explored by Nolan. It is said that Nolan used the story in a cathartic manner. This does seem to be true, and he obliquely supported this theory before he died. There seems to be no real reason why we should be prying into the brilliant artist's private life. He suffered great personal hardship throughout his life. One of these traumas involved the suicide of his second wife. What we can make of this prying personal material, is that he was human and that the people in his life were also prone to foibles and blunders. Some of the women in his life have been posthumously charged with manipulation, possessiveness and betrayal.  Perhaps they were like this?  Perhaps Nolan was as self absorbed as any other great painter?  It is rare for great artists to mange totally fulfilling relationships, because they must plough so much of their energy into their painting. Painting is not only about research, it is also about expressively creating with soul, and this is an isolated and lonely experience. The Art World expects so much from creatives, whilst at the same time judging, shaming and blaming them when they attempt to deliver.  

All we really need to know about this artists personal life is that he reflected his own emotional battles in his paintings. He reframed context and worked with psychological material intuitively. Through this process of catharsis, he captured the dangers, deceptions, betrayals and harshness of the Australian landscape as a backdrop for the same phenomena in real life.  He was ale to eventually synthesise two parallel dynamics so that his canvas screamed with energy and dynamic tension. 

Like many other great artists, Sidney Nolan turned to abstraction in later life.  Through this mode of expression, he was able to capture 'resolution'.  He travelled the world capturing the landscape and through a very long prolific process was able to synthesise all that he saw so that his canvases emanated peace and tranquility.   Somehow in this process, he did not lose energy but enthused energy, vigour and vitality into these beautiful images. 

Australians have a lot to be grateful to Nolan for.  Sidney Nolan introduced Australian painting, and through it the Australian landscape to the International arena.  More importantly, he introduced Australians to a debate about the construction of their own identity. In this Post Colonial Post- Post Modern world, understanding the Australian psyche and talking with them about their recollection (re-remembering) of their past become essential. Through this understanding, we can come to terms with the injustices we still see all around us today.  Maybe through this understanding, we will be able to comes to grips with the way other 'immigrants' who come to our shores in boats are treated?   Our behaviour and attitude has to change with the times.  Maybe the recent revival of interest in Nolan's work has come about for this very reason.