First-Class Marksman 1946

SIDNEY NOLAN (1917-1992)

First-Class Marksman 1946

Ripolin enamel on composition board
91.0 x 121.0 cm
signed with initials and dated lower right: 12.12.46/ N.
signed, dated and inscribed verso: THE MARKSMAN/ 1946 NOLAN/ NOT FOR SALE/ KELLY/ DUB 11/ YES/ NOT FOR SALE PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST/ 25-2-88/ 5759/ 76

Provenance:
The artist to Sunday Reed, Melbourne 1948
Sidney Nolan
Lord McAlpine of West Green, United Kingdom mid 1970s
The Sir Sidney Nolan Trust, United Kingdom
Sotheby's Australia, Melbourne, 14 August 1989, lot 296A
Baron McAlpine of West Green, United Kingdom
The Vizard Foundation, Melbourne 1992

Exhibited:
The 'Kelly' paintings of Sidney Nolan 1946-47, Velasquez Gallery, Melbourne, April 1948, cat.6
Sidney Nolan: Un groupe d'oeuvres du peintre Australien, Maison de L'Unesco, Paris, December 1949, cat.6
Sidney Nolan: una serie di quadri ad olio del pittore australiano, Libreria ai Quattro Venti, Rome, 17 - 31 October 1950, cat.5
Sidney Nolan: The 'Kelly' paintings 1946-47, The Gallery of Contemporary Art, Melbourne, June - July 1956, cat.6
The Museum of Modern Art of Australia: a Melbourne Collection, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 18 February - 7 March 1959, cat.96 (catalogued but not exhibited)
Sidney Nolan, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 17 January - 7 March 1976, cat.12, (illus.) as "The marksman 1946"
Sidney Nolan, Oeuvres d'un grand peintre Australien, Australian Embassy, Paris, 16 June - 28 July 1978, cat.4 as "The marksman" 1946
Sidney Nolan: paintings, drawings and theatre design, Grosvenor Museum, Chester, 22 July - 18 September 1983, cat.3 (illus.) (label attached verso)
Sidney Nolan: Landscapes and Legends, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 3 June - 26 July 1987, and toured, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 11 August - 27 September 1987, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 21 October - 29 November 1987, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 15 December 1987 - 31 January 1988 (illus. exhibition catalogue, p.77) (International Cultural Corporation of Australia Ltd label attached verso)
Sidney Nolan: The Ned Kelly Story, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19 April - 4 September 1994 (illus.)
The Ned Kelly Paintings: Nolan at Heide 1946-47, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Victoria, 18 March - 18 May 1997, cat.36, (illus.)
Great Australian paintings from Melbourne Private Collections, Royal Children's Hospital Foundation Fundraiser Exhibition, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, 30 May - 15 June 1997, no 24 (illus. p.45)
Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly Series, New Zealand Festival of Arts, 2002, City Gallery Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand, 23 February - 19 May 2002
Common Wealth: A Tribute to Federation, National Gallery of Victoria on Russell, Melbourne, 11 April 2001 - 19 January 2002
Sidney Nolan 1917-1992, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 2 November 2007 - 3 February 2008 and touring; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 22 February - 18 May 2008, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 6 June - 31 August 2008
On Loan, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne between 1994-2010 excluding exhibitions listed above.

Reference:
Melville, R., Ned Kelly: 27 Paintings by Sidney Nolan, Thames and Hudson, London, 1964, p.46 (illus., p.10, pl.6)
Lynn, L., Sidney Nolan: Myth and Imagery, Macmillan, London 1967, p.9
Kr\xE0ger, W., 'Sidney Nolan im Moderna Museet Stockholm' Studio International, London, vol.20, nos 4-5, April-May 1976 (illus.)
Lynn, E & Semler, B., Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly: the Ned Kelly paintings in the Australian National Gallery and a selection of the artist's sketches for the series, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1985, pp.7,13, 50 (illus.)
Gilchrist, M., (book review), 'Ned Kelly at the Australian National Gallery', Art and Australia. Fine Arts Press, Sydney, Summer 1985, vol.23, no.1, pp.178-180
Clark, J., Sidney Nolan: Landscapes and Legends: a retrospective exhibition: 1937-1987, International Cultural Corporation of Australia Ltd, Sydney, 1987, p.76 (illus., p.77 & cover detail)
Cochrane, P., 'Nolan sale tipped to break record', The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 August 1989
Cochrane, P., '£392,858 record for Australian art', The Daily Telegraph, London, 15 August 1989
Brown, H., 'Nolan's journey to paradise', The Weekend Australian, The Australian Magazine, 21 - 22 October 1989
Sayers, A., Sidney Nolan: The Ned Kelly Story, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994, pp.28, 36 (illus., p.36)
Reeder, W. (ed), The Ned Kelly Paintings: Nolan at Heide 1946-47, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Victoria, 2000
Bail, M., & Sayers, A., Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly: the Ned Kelly paintings in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2002, pp.11,16-19,30-31 (illus.)
Rosenthal, T.G., Sidney Nolan, Thames and Hudson, London, 2002, pp.62, 68 (illus.)
Pearce, B., Sidney Nolan 1917-1992, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2007, cat.29, p.231 (illus. p.118)

We appreciate the assistance of Roger McIlroy, Nevill Keating McIlroy Ltd, with this catalogue entry

Estimate: $3000000 - 5000000

Result Hammer: $4500000