Rediscovering Sidney Nolan — CMAG’s three-year tribute that goes beyond Ned Kelly

Posted on 27 March, 2025

You wouldn’t necessarily expect to find the works of one of Australia’s most lauded modern Australian artists in the Canberra Museum and Gallery, but with a history interwoven with our capital city, the Nolan50 exhibition has found its perfect home.

Known for celebrating the region’s social history and visual arts with dynamic exhibitions and unique programs and events, the new exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) – which runs until March 2026 – is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Sir Sidney Nolan’s profound gift to the Australian people, and his impact on the arts.

And according to CMAG senior curator Virginia Rigney, it goes beyond his famed Ned Kelly series.

“Nolan50 opens the door to fascinating but lesser-known aspects of Nolan’s extensive and diverse creative practice,” she says.

“Over the next three years, exhibitions at CMAG will unveil compelling insights into Nolan’s artistic evolution and his rise to global prominence.”

You read that right – three years of exhibitions.

Bringing an astounding number of lesser-known works to the gallery, the Nolan50 program will run until 2028, starting with A Total Work of Art: Sidney Nolan and the Stage.

Exploring Sidney Nolan’s innovative but lesser-known stage design contributions, featuring original set and costume designs from productions including Icare (1940), The Rite of Spring (1963), and The Display (1964), it’s a significant insight into the history of Australian art.

“It’s part of my job and our team’s job to bring new perspectives and make these works speak in different ways,” says Virginia.

“When I studied art history, we stopped looking at Sidney Nolan after about 1947 or 1948, even though he’s a famous artist…coming into this role and curating this collection, I started to find things I just didn’t know.”

An example?  The iconic ‘Lyrebird’ costume from The Display. An important part of Australian stage history, but not many people – including Virginia – are aware that he designed it.

The Lyrebird costume.

“He had collaborated with Sir Robert Helpmann to design the backdrops and the costumes, and it was something they wanted to be the first totally new Australian ballet for the new Australian Ballet Company when it was first presented in 1964,” she explains.

“The special confluence of all of these things is this ballet was presented on the stage of the Canberra Theatre in our first opening program in June 1965.”

Another link to Canberra’s history? In March 1975, an exhibition of 24 paintings by Sidney Nolan opened at Lanyon Homestead. Valued at $1 million at the time, they were the first groups of works gifted by the artist – and one of the largest bequests ever given to Australia.

“The Whitlam government at that time saw how important it was for arts and culture to be part of the national conversation…they thought Australia can’t just be wool and sheep and digging, it’s actually got to have a culture,” says Virginia.

“Artists like Sidney Nolan and Robert Helpmann, who had been in London for 20 years, thought, ‘We as artists have to contribute to that too, we have to give back.’ He [Sidney Nolan] recognised Canberra as the national capital, as a place for national conversation – not just in politics but for the arts – so he specifically wanted to give a collection to a venue in Canberra.”

Sidney Nolan’s first major connection to Canberra occurred when he was awarded an ANU Fellowship in 1965. The artist on the balcony of his room at University House, March 1965.
Photo: Australian National University Archives Centre.

Celebrating one of Australia’s most treasured cultural legacies, the Nolan50 program will also include the exhibitions Public Impressions – Sidney Nolan in Popular Media and Nolan: The Backstory. But it also goes beyond the museum itself.

Also including events and projects such as Concert Series: Resonant Spaces, Dean Cross: Looking for the Lyre, Symposium: Cultural Alliance and Conservation: Conserving Nolan 50|50, attendees will gain a deeper insight into the life and work of the artist.

“These four exhibitions are completely different, and they present sides to Sidney Nolan that people won’t have had any idea of. They cover different times in his career, and his different types of working,” explains Virginia.

“We’re being really mindful of Sidney Nolan’s wish to have these on public display and keeping them in the public conversation but not just freezing them in time. That’s why we have these changing exhibitions.”

“He’s an artist who was so interested in who we are as Australians.”

Feature image: Sir Sidney Nolan beneath one of his lyrebird costumes designed for The Australian Ballet, 1987 [picture] / John McKinnon. Collection of the National Library of Australia