'Inland Australia', Sir Sidney Nolan

Artwork details

Artist

Sir Sidney Nolan (1917‑1992)

Title

Inland Australia

Date 1950

MediumOil paint on hardboard

Dimensionssupport: 1219 x 1524 mm frame: 1370 x 1676 x 58 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased 1951

Reference

N05993

On display at Tate Modern

Theme: Level 2: Poetry and Dream

Room: Realisms (Room 10)

Display caption

In June 1948 Nolan embarked on a period of travel to remote areas of Australia. Travelling by truck, train, aeroplane and boat, he journeyed inland across New South Wales to Adelaide. He then went north across the central desert to Darwin, returning via the Western coast to Sydney. The view of inland Australia seen from the air made the greatest impression on Nolan. He was profoundly affected by the vast scale, desolation and silence of the desert - the second largest in the world. Like his many other paintings of this subject, this work is what Nolan called a 'composite impression'… (read more)

August 2004