Unseen for 60 years, Sidney Nolan painting to light up Melbourne art auction scene

For the first time in 60 years, a rare and pivotal Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) work from the 1960s Ned Kelly series, Bridge Crossing 1963-64 (lot 18) – not seen in public since it was purchased in 1965 – will be auctioned as part of Melbourne-based Menzies Important Australian and International Art sale from 6.30pm Wednesday November 19 at 1 Darling Street, South Yarra.

The painting, with a catalogue estimate of $700,000-$900,000, is a vital precursor to the monumental nine-panel creation entitled Riverbend I 1964-65 now held in the Australian National University Art Collection in Canberra and described by Nolan as “…the end of a prolonged search of how to get a stereoscopic effect of the bush against a mottled background”.

Menzies chairman Cameron Menzies said it was this effect, borrowed in part from French artist Cezanne, that distinguishes the 1960s Ned Kelly series from earlier iterations of Nolan’s most famous protagonist.

Not unexpectedly, Bridge Crossing belonged to Sydney barrister and art dealer Clive Andreas Evatt (1931-2018) and his wife Elizabeth, who assembled one of the country’s most distinguished collections of modern Australian art.

Another of their paintings, Henri’s Armchair 1974-75 by Brett Whiteley (1939-1992), Menzies sold in November 2020 for $6.136 million (including buyer’s premium), an international auction record for an Australian work of art.

A strong feature of the Menzies auction is The Frank and Janet South Collection (lots 63-103) – a comprehensive and discerning survey of Australian art over two centuries.

The husband and wife migrated in 1961 to Australia and since then have assembled paintings from leading Australian artists that reflect a deep and abiding engagement with their adopted homeland and fascination with its landscape.

The inspiration to do so sprang largely from an early visit to the Northern Territory’s Hermannsburg Mission, that produced the iconic Aboriginal water colour artist Albert Namatjira, near Alice Springs. 

The front cover of the dedicated catalogue to the South’s collection features Laycock’s Jetty 1957 (lot 68) by well-known landscape artist Arthur Boyd (1920-1999). His Burning Book, River and Rose II 1986 (lot 71) is another important work in the collection.

It also includes colonial era pictures by Louis Buvelot (1814-1888) Sunset in the Western District (lot 67), William Charles Piguenit (1836-1914) Autumn Morning, Lane Cove River 1909 (lot 66) and James Howe Carse (1816-1900) Swampy Landscape with Birds and Cattle (lot 85), alongside works by Heidelberg artists Tom Roberts (1856-1931) Study for Portrait of Philip Gidley King (lot 65), Arthur Streeton (1867-1943) Santa Maria della Salute, Venice 1908 (lot 84) and Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917) Autumn Afternoon 1915 (lot 64).

Another iconic Australian artist John Brack (1920-1999) appears on the front cover of the catalogue for the mixed vendor section (lots 1-62) of the sale with The Club 1989 (lot 17) which carries a $500,000-$700,000 estimate.

The painting has been consigned from the Melbourne collection of Melbourne’s Niagara Galleries director Bill Nutttall and Anette Reeves and is regarded by art historian Sasha Grishin as a major painting from Brack’s later years – “raising profound questions about the structure of human society, violence, ancestral history and power relations”.

It was included in high profile exhibitions at Melbourne’s Heide Museum of Modern Art in 2000 and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Other works from the first part of the Menzies sale include Fred Williams (1927-1982) Yan Yean Swamp 1972 (lot 15), William Robinson’s (1936-2025) Fading Light Springbrook to Beechmont 2002 (lot 14), Charles Backman’s (1928-2018) Divided Painting c1962 (lot 19), Garry Shead’s Queen Royal Procession II 1997 (lot 23) and Tim Storrier’s Enngonia Constellation III (lot 16).

 

Viewing:

SYDNEY

10am-5pm

Thursday November 6 to Sunday November 9 (Sunday from 1pm)

12 Todman Avenue

Kensington NSW

MELBOURNE

10am-5pm

Thursday November 13 to Tuesday November 18 (Sunday from 1pm)

1 Darling Street

South Yarra VIC