'Antarctica', Sir Sidney Nolan

Artwork details

Artist

Sir Sidney Nolan (1917‑1992)

Title

Antarctica

Date 1964

MediumOil paint on hardboard

Dimensionssupport: 1219 x 1219 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Presented by Lord McAlpine of West Green 1983

Reference

T03558

Not on display

Display caption

In January 1964 Nolan visited Antarctica for eight days. Travelling by helicopter between research stations, including one at the South Pole, Nolan recorded his impressions in watercolour on the 200 blank postcards taken along for this purpose. This work is one of about fifty paintings which Nolan executed in the following eighteen months. He employed paint mixed with oil and an alkyd gel medium, rather than oil and turpentine. This permitted rich surface textures, created in part by his characteristic scraping back technique. Nolan thus evoked the wild ruggedness of the landscape which so impressed him. This work depicts McMurdo Sound on the right, with Mount Erebus looming in the distance.

August 2004