Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 

Sidney Nolan
Ned Kelly  1946
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
installation view, Geelong Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Sidney Nolan
The trial  1947
from the Ned Kelly series 1946–47
enamel paint on composition board
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Sunday Reed 1977 


Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series

Saturday 2 March to Sunday 26 May 2019
Adult $11
Concession $9*
Child $6**
Members $8***
Family (2 adults and 2 children) $28
Group (over 10) $9

For the first time in 15 years, the National Gallery of Australia’s collection of Sidney Nolan’s ‘Ned Kelly’ paintings is touring Australia in its entirety. The national tour gives Australians across the country the chance to experience some of the most famous and poignant masterpieces of 20th-century Australian art.

While the Kelly paintings have been exhibited internationally at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, they have rarely visited the far corners of Australia.

From 1946–47, Nolan developed an original and starkly simplified image of Ned Kelly, which quickly became a national symbol—part of the shared iconography of Australia. The NGA acquired its first Ned Kelly work from the series in 1972, Death of Sergeant Kennedy at Stringybark Creek 1946. In 1977, Sunday Reed donated to the NGA 25 of the 27 paintings from Nolan’s first exhibited Kelly series. Together, these 26 paintings provide a masterclass on Australian art history and the development of a new figuration and landscape painting in Australian art. 

Gallery Channel

Explore Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series with Head of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia, Dr Deborah Hart. 

Dr Deborah Hart—Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
Listen

Events

Learn Space—the man behind the mask
Open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm
Free entry

Drop-in tours—Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
Each Sunday, from 2.00 pm
Free with exhibition entry

First Friday: Kendrah Morgan—the man behind the mask
Friday 1 March

Bush high tea—Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
Sunday 17 March.

First Friday: Dr Deborah Hart—Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series
Friday 5 April

Zine workshop
Tuesday 16 April

First Friday: Andrew Gaynor—Nolan’s legacy
Friday 3 May

Geelong After Dark 
Friday 3 May

 


Tickets

Pass-outs are available for same-day entry.
*Concession tickets are valid for Full-time students aged over 15 years of age (includes high school, TAFE, university and international students, upon presentation of a valid student card), Pension card holders, Healthcare card holders and Veterans Affairs cardholders (DVA gold cards). Seniors discount (concession price) available on Tuesday’s only.
**Child tickets are valid for children 5–15 years. 
***Members tickets are valid for Geelong Gallery members, in addition to members of the following galleries: Art Gallery of Ballarat; Benalla Art Gallery; East Gippsland Art Gallery; Gippsland Art Gallery; Hamilton Gallery; Horsham Regional Art Gallery; Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery; National Gallery of Australia; National Gallery of Victoria; Shepparton Art Museum; Wangaratta Art Gallery and Warrnambool Art Gallery.