‘We who love: The Nolan slates’ exhibition is the most comprehensive display ever assembled of a rare series of paintings on roof slates, that renowned Australian artist Sidney Nolan produced in 1941 and 1942.
Curator of the University of Queensland Art Museum, Dr Chris McAuliffe says the slates provide a deeply personal insight into a pivotal moment in Nolan’s life, “For Sidney Nolan, this period was dominated by artistic experimentation and personal upheaval, coinciding with his marriage breakdown and the intensification of his relationship with patrons John and Sunday Reed.”
The slates reveal his distinctive preference for non-art materials, his avant-garde aspirations and his literary interests. Until now, these works have only been exhibited as a group twice since 1943.
University of Queensland Art Museum
Until 24 July, 2016
Queensland
Lovers and flowers, January 1942, oil, enamel and ink on slate, 25.5 x 50.8cm
Collection of The University of Queensland
Purchased with the assistance of the Alumni Association and the Peter Stuyvesant Cultural Foundation, 1977
© The University of Queensland, Photograph: Carl Warner
Courtesy the University of Queensland Art Museum, Queensland
