Sidney Nolan: For the Term of His Natural Life

Next date: Saturday, 19 December 2026 | 10:00 AM to 04:00 PM

In August 1978, Sidney Nolan created a series of 31 crayon pastel drawings based on the events of Marcus Clarke’s 1874convict novel, For the Term of His Natural Life.

This group of works, possibly created for a large format publication of Clarke’s novel, was another opportunity for Nolan to explore the human condition against the backdrop of Australian history – a subject which had permeated his oeuvre since he painted the Ned Kelly series 30years earlier. The rough, sometimes child-like drawings in Nolan’s Natural Life series evocatively captured the brutality faced by the convicts in Clarke’s novel. His sympathetic portrayal of convicts was at times at odds with the views of his contemporaries, reflecting a complex emotional state informed by personal upheavals and a deep concern about the human toll of twentieth century conflicts.

Exhibition developed by Canberra Museum + Gallery. CMAG manages the Nolan Collection on behalf of the Australian Government

 

 

When

Location

Burnie Regional Art Gallery

Burnie Arts Centre, 77-79 Wilmot st, Burnie, 7320, View Map and directions