The National Gallery is letting it be known they’re lending their holdings of Nolan’s Ned Kelly paintings to the Irish:
The National Gallery of Australia today announced a major international loan: the iconic Ned Kelly series by Sidney Nolan will travel to the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin. Interest in exhibiting this ground-breaking, popular series in Ireland began several years ago, inspired by the dramatic nature of the works at the National Gallery in Canberra.
This interest was driven in part by the Irish connections of Nolan and Ned Kelly and also by the remarkable impact of the 26 works. The series will form the centrepiece of an exhibition titled Sidney Nolan, Ned Kelly Series presented by Etihad Airways and will be on display from 2 November 2012 to 27 January 2013.
The paintings, set in the Australian landscape, tell aspects of the dramatic story of the nineteenth-century rebel-reformer and outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang. Not only does this series reflect an important part of our social history, but the works also represent a breakthrough for Sidney Nolan and a defining moment in Modernism and Australian art history. As such, the works have been shown in recent times in a dedicated space at the National Gallery of Australia.
‘After years of negotiation, the exhibition in Ireland represents a chance to engage in connections between Irish and Australian culture and the rich stories that we share. While we will very much miss the series when it is away, we are also keen to share the best of Australian art with the rest of the world’, said Ron Radford AM, Director, National Gallery of Australia.
[Image: Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly 1946
enamel on composition board
90.8 x 121.5 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977]
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