Title

Hare in trap

1946

Artist

Sidney Nolan

Australia, England

22 Apr 1917 – 28 Nov 1992

Artist profile

Details

Other Title

Hare in a trap

Date

1946

Media category

Painting

Materials used

Ripolin enamel on hardboard

Dimensions

90.5 x 121.5 cm board

Signature & date

Not signed. Dated l.r., "Sept 15th 46".

Credit

Purchased with funds provided by the Nelson Meers Foundation, the Margaret Hannah Olley Art Trust, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation 2007

Location

Not on display

Accession number

318.2007

Copyright

© The Trustees of the Sidney Nolan Trust/DACS. Copyright Agency
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Sidney Nolan
Artist profile

Works in the collection

140

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About

'Hare in trap' was painted between Sidney Nolan’s iconic Wimmera landscapes and St Kilda paintings of 1940–45, and the first Ned Kelly series 1946–47. To varying degrees it reflects the growing sense of unease Nolan experienced while staying at the home of Melbourne patrons John and Sunday Reed, and the anxiety caused by his desertion from the army in 1944.

With its startling blue eye conveying fear, pain and a desperate struggle for freedom, 'Hare in trap' is powerfully autobiographical. Nolan himself suggested that the hare’s eyes relate to an incident during a car trip to northern Victoria, when the painter and his father came across a hare caught in a trap – the resultant look in his father’s blue eyes struck Nolan vividly. This beautiful, enigmatic painting, which can be read as a self-portrait, is revered universally by scholars and Nolan’s admirers as one of his finest masterpieces.
Exhibition history
Shown in 9 exhibitions
- Contemporary Art Society Eighth Annual Interstate Exhibition (1946), Vickery's Galleries, Sydney, 12 Nov 1946–28 Nov 1946
- Nolan '37-'47, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, London, 15 May 1962–09 Jun 1962
- Sidney Nolan retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 13 Sep 1967–29 Oct 1967
  
  Sidney Nolan retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne, 22 Nov 1967–17 Dec 1967
  
  Sidney Nolan retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth, 09 Jan 1968–04 Feb 1968
- Sidney Nolan: retrospective exhibition (1970), Arts Centre New Metropole, Folkestone, 21 Feb 1970–18 Apr 1970
  
  Sidney Nolan: retrospective exhibition (1970), Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington, 30 May 1970–21 Jun 1970
  
  Sidney Nolan: retrospective exhibition (1970), Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle- Upon-Tyne, England, 04 Jul 1970–26 Jul 1970
  
  Sidney Nolan: retrospective exhibition (1970), Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, 08 Sep 1970–27 Sep 1970
  
  Sidney Nolan: retrospective exhibition (1970), University of East Anglia Library, Norwich, 11 Oct 1970–31 Oct 1970
- The Cynthia Nolan collection of paintings by Sidney Nolan, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Sydney, 07 Jul 1975–26 Jul 1975
- Nolan's Nolans: a reputation reassessed, Agnew's, London, London, 11 Jun 1997–25 Jul 1997
- Nolan (2002), Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Woollahra, 11 Apr 2002–30 Apr 2002
- Sidney Nolan (2007-2008), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 03 Nov 2007–03 Feb 2008
  
  Sidney Nolan (2007-2008), Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 22 Feb 2008–18 May 2008
  
  Sidney Nolan (2007-2008), Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane, 06 Jun 2008–31 Aug 2008
- Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011
  
  Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012
Bibliography
Referenced in 23 publications
- Brian Adams, Sidney Nolan: such is life, Melbourne, 1987, 190.
- Sir Kenneth Clark, Bryan Robertson and Colin MacInnes, Sidney Nolan, London, 1961, (illus.). plate no. 3
- Sir Kenneth Clark, Sidney Nolan, Folkestone, 1970, (illus.). cat.no. 14; Lent by V.C. Nolan
- Contemporary Art Society (New South Wales), Eighth Annual Exhibition: Contemporary Art Society (1946), Sydney, 1946. cat.no. 270; priced 60 gns
- Our art critic, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'Contemporary art more conservative', pg 5, Sydney, 12 Nov 1946, unknown. Review of CAS 8th annual exhibition.
- Richard Ingleby., The independent, 'Visual Arts: Nolans Nolans, Agnew's Gallery, London', London, 17 Jun 1997.
- Terry Ingram., The Australian financial review magazine, 'The jury's still out after Jinx fails in case about a whole lot of Nolans', Sydney, 29 Sep 2001-30 Sep 2001, unknown.
- Nicholas Isherwood, Nolan's Nolans: a reputation reassessed, London, 1997, (colour illus.). cat.no. 29
- Philip Jones., The Australian financial review magazine, 'England made me', Sydney, 22 Feb 2002, unknown.
- Lou Klepac, Barry Pearce, Bruce James, John McDonald, Peter Pinson, Gavin Fry, Sasha Grishin AM and Deborah Hart, Australian painters of the twentieth century, Sydney, 2000, 141 (colour illus.). titled 'Hare in a trap'
- Elwyn Lynn, Sidney Nolan: myth and imagery, London, 1967, 16, 17, 65 (illus.). plate no. 18
- Ian MacGregor (Editor), The daily telegraph (London), 'Nolan paintings appeal dismissed', England, 11 Jun 2004.
- Steve Meacham., The Sydney Morning Herald, 'Stoush over Nolan to do Ned proud', Sydney, 08 Apr 2002, unknown.
- Hal Missingham, Sidney Nolan. Retrospective exhibition. Paintings from 1937 to 1967, Sydney, 1967. cat.no. 31
- Terence Mullaly., Daily Telegraph, 'Early work of Sidney Nolan: painter's progress to maturity', Sydney, 19 May 1962, unknown.
- Edwin Mullins., Apollo, 'Academy myths and private images', London, Jul 1962.
- Barry Pearce, Frances Lindsay, Lou Klepac and Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Sidney Nolan, Sydney, 2007, 113 (colour illus.), 231. cat.no. 25
- T.G. Rosenthal, Sidney Nolan, 'Chapter one: Early work and St Kilda', pg. 19-39, London, 2002, 39 (colour illus.).
- Kenneth Rowntree, Nolan '37 - '47, London, 1962. cat.no. 37
- Nolan (2002), Sydney, 2002, 13 (colour illus.). cat.no. 6
- Editor Unknown, Catholic weekly, 'Art, Contemporary art society', Sydney, 28 Nov 1946, unknown.
- Nolan: Everyone feels they know Nolan, but that is far from the truth, East Melbourne, 2018. DVD documentary
- The Cythnia Nolan collection of paintings by Sidney Nolan, Sydney, 1975. cat.no. 2