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An image of Pretty Polly Mine by Sidney Nolan
Alternate image of Pretty Polly Mine by Sidney Nolan

Sidney Nolan

(Australia, England 22 Apr 1917–28 Nov 1992)

Title
Pretty Polly Mine
Place of origin
Wahroonga → Sydney → New South Wales → Australia
Year
1948
Media category
Painting
Materials used
Ripolin enamel on hardboard
Dimensions

91.0 x 122.2cm board; 107.2 x 137.9 x 5.2cm frame

Signature & date
Signed and dated l.r. corner, pencil "4-12-48 / 21 Nolan".
Credit
Purchased 1949
Accession number
8169
Copyright
© AGNSW
Location
20th & 21st c Australian art
Further information

One of a series of 'Outback' paintings made following a trip to Queensland and Fraser Island in 1947, 'Pretty Polly Mine' - with its haunting, desolate remains of a once prosperous past - was the first of Nolan's works to be acquired by any public gallery, together with 'Carron Plains'.

Painted from memories of a visit to a deserted Mt Isa mine, the stiff, dark-suited figure wandering the ramshackle structures is based on the mine manager the artist met there, who:
'... liked feeding birds every morning. Everyone thought he was bonkers, but he fed the birds, rosellas and all.'
- Sidney Nolan 1978

Nolan's concept of the Australian landscape is interwoven with its history, legends and the psyche of its inhabitants, producing works which are often surreal in character.

In 1949 he travelled to Central Australia, and produced another important series of landscapes, which received widespread critical acclaim:
'He may well be the man we have been hoping would arise - someone who is capable of expressing with size and vision what many Australians feel ... about this great and unusual country ... His effort and his intent will earn the gratitude of many devoted Australians.'
- R.G. Casey 1950

Bibliography (42)

'A thoroughly modern milieu' by Corrie Perkin, pg.36., The Australian 08 Feb 2007, 08 Feb 2007, 36 (colour illus.). NOTE: Book review for "Modernism and Australia: Documents on Art, Design and Architecture, 1917-1967".

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Frances Lindsay (Australia, b.1946) (Author), Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Author), Sidney Nolan, Sydney, 2007, 39, 134, 139 (colour illus.), 233. cat.no. 48

Patrick McCaughey (Northern Ireland; Australia, b.1943) (Editor), Bert & Ned: the correspondence of Albert Tucker and Sidney Nolan, Carlton, 2006, 107-114. NOTE: Letter to Albert Tucker dated 26th January 1950. Reference made to travelling around Australia and AGNSW purchasing two artworks.

Brenda Niall (b.1930) (Author), Judy Cassab: a portrait, Sydney, 2005, 198. NOTE: Reference to Missingham purchasing the artwork

Geoffrey Smith (Author), Sidney Nolan: desert & drought, Melbourne, 2003, 12, 14. NOTE: General information

T.G. Rosenthal (Author), Sidney Nolan, London, 2002, 194, 195 (colour illus.), 196.

'Sidney Nolan' by Matthew Westwood., HQ Sep 2000, Sep 2000, page unknown.

'Time makes its judgment' by Barry Pearce, pg. 2-3., The Weekend Australian 12 Aug 2000-13 Aug 2000, 12 Aug 2000-13 Aug 2000, 3 (colour illus.). This colour supplement is a 'Review Special' published for the 'Weekend Australian'. It consists of a four-page, colour wrap-around for the 'Weekend Australian Review'. 'The Australian' was the media sponsor for the AGNSW Exhibition 'Australian Icons', for the Olympic Arts Festival 2000.

'Olympians of Australian art' by Judith White, pg. 16-18., Look Jul 2000, Jul 2000, 18 (colour illus.).

Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Peter Pinson (Australia, b.1943) (Author), Gavin Fry (Author), Sasha Grishin AM (Australia) (Author), Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), Australian painters of the twentieth century, Roseville, 2000, 143 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 164, 175 (colour illus.), 301.

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 155 (colour illus.).

'Arts of Australia', pg. 32-35., Australia Explored by the Great South Pacific Express 1998, 1998, 35 (colour illus.).

Australian Library - Famous Australians 1997, 1997, 18.

Nicholas Isherwood (United Kingdom) (Author), Nolan's Nolans: a reputation reassessed, London, 1997. not paginated; NOTE: under cat.no. 34 'Dog and duck' entry

Betty Collins (Author), The Copper Crucible, Queensland, 1996, wrap-around cover (colour illus.).

Jane Shoaf Turner (Editor), The Dictionary of Art, New York, 1996, 182, 183 (colour illus.). NOTE: vol. 23

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 55 (colour illus.).

Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), Susan McCulloch (England; Australia, b.1949) (Author), The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, St Leonards, 1994, 522-23 (colour illus.).

Felicity St John Moore (Australia) (Author), Charles Blackman: schoolgirls and angels: a retrospective exhibition of paintings and drawings by Charles Blackman, Melbourne, 1993, 5 (illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian Artists, Australian Birds, North Ryde, 1989, 112 (colour illus.). plate no. 93

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 27, 29 (illus.).

'Favourite thems revisited' by Robert Rooney., The Weekend Australian 06 Jun 1987-07 Jun 1987, 06 Jun 1987-07 Jun 1987, unknown. NOTE: Review of 'Myths and Heroes: The art of Sir Sidney Nolan 1937-1982" at NGV.

Jane Clark (Australia) (Author), Sidney Nolan - landscapes and legends: a retrospective exhibition 1937 - 1987, Sydney, 1987, 103 (colour illus.).

Brian Adams (Australia) (Author), Sidney Nolan: such is life, Melbourne, 1987, 88 (colour illus.), 106.

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 73, 75 (colour illus.).

Sandra McGrath (United States of America; Australia) (Author), John Olsen (Australia; England; Spain; Portugal, b.1928) (Author), The artist & the desert, Sydney, 1981, 62 (colour illus.), 63 (colour illus, detail).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Fifteen decades of Australian paintings, Sydney, 1981, (colour illus.). not paginated; cat.no. 12

Sidney Nolan (Australia; England, b.1917, d.1992) (Illustrator), Elwyn Lynn (Australia, b.1917, d.1997) (Author), Sidney Nolan - Australia, Sydney, 1979, 78, 79 (colour illus.), 80.

William Splatt (Author), Barbara Burton (Author), 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 166, 167 (colour illus.). plate no. 80

Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), They kill you in the end, Sydney, 1973, 28.

'Australian collection' by Daniel Thomas, pg. 52-62., Art and Australia [vol. 10, no. 1] Jul 1972, Jul 1972, 55 (colour illus.).

'Sidney Nolan' by Hal Missingham, pg 362-365., Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly Oct 1967, Oct 1967, 364, 365 (illus.).

Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), Sidney Nolan. Retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Domain, 1967. cat.no. 49; not paginated

'Recent Australian Painting' by Hal Missingham, pg. 33-41, 63, The Studio 1957, 1957, cover (illus.), 35 (illus.).

Bryan Robertson (b.1925) (Author), Sidney Nolan, London, 1957, 18. cat.no. 11

Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 155. cat.no. 496; Provenance: purchased by the Director, Mr. Hal Missingham, 7/3/1949, from the exhibition of the artist's works held at David Jones's Art Gallery.

Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Domain, 1953. cat.no. 146

'Gallery purchases for 1949' by James Gleeson., Sun 19 Dec 1949, 19 Dec 1949.

'Amazing impact by Australian artist' by Tatlock Miller., Sun 08 Mar 1949, 08 Mar 1949. Review of Nolan's exhibition of outback paintings held at David Jones' Art Gallery.

David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney (Australia, estab. 1928) (Author), Sidney Nolan: Exhibition of Queensland outback paintings, Sydney, 1949. cat.no. 24; priced 45 guineas

'Breaking the territorial mould: some thoughts from a new head curator' by Jill Sykes, pg. 30-31., Look Sep 2011, Sep 2011, 30 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (16)

Sidney Nolan: Queensland outback paintings (1949), David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 08 Mar 1949–22 Mar 1949.

Purchases and Acquisitions for 1949, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 17 Dec 1949–17 Feb 1950.

A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953.

Sidney Nolan (1957), Whitechapel Art Gallery, Jun 1957–Jul 1957.

Sidney Nolan retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 Sep 1967–29 Oct 1967.

Sidney Nolan retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], 22 Nov 1967–17 Dec 1967.

Sidney Nolan retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Western Australian Art Gallery, 09 Jan 1968–04 Feb 1968.

Fifteen decades of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 10 Apr 1981–24 May 1981.

Sidney Nolan: landscapes and legends a retrospective exhibition 1937 - 1987, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 03 Jun 1987–26 Jul 1987.

Sidney Nolan: landscapes and legends a retrospective exhibition 1937 - 1987, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 11 Aug 1987–27 Sep 1987.

Sidney Nolan: landscapes and legends a retrospective exhibition 1937 - 1987, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 21 Oct 1987–29 Nov 1987.

Sidney Nolan: landscapes and legends a retrospective exhibition 1937 - 1987, Art Gallery of South Australia, 15 Dec 1987–31 Jan 1988.

Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.

Sidney Nolan (2007-2008), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 03 Nov 2007–03 Feb 2008.

Sidney Nolan (2007-2008), Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 22 Feb 2008–18 May 2008.

Sidney Nolan (2007-2008), Queensland Art Gallery, 06 Jun 2008–31 Aug 2008.