Nolan: Origins – Inside the exhibition with curator Denise Mimmocchi

It was great to catch up with Denise Mimmocchi, Senior Curator of Australian Art of the Art Gallery of NSW, to talk about the exhibition Nolan: Origins which opened on the weekend.

We talk about the people, places and ideas that shaped Sidney Nolan’s work – from his time in the Wimmera and at Heide with John and Sunday Reed, to his experimentation with materials and the creation of his celebrated Ned Kelly paintings.

Nolan: Origins is showing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 3 October 2026 to 7 February 2027.

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‘Boy and the moon’ c1939-40, oil on canvas on hardboard, 73.3 x 88.2 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1976

‘Self portrait’ 1943, Ripolin enamel on hessian sacking, 61 x 52 cm, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1997

‘Ned Kelly’ 1946, Ripolin enamel on hardboard, 90.8 × 121.5 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, gift of Sunday Reed 1976

Sidney Nolan ‘First-class marksman’ 1946, Ripolin enamel and alkyd on hardboard, 90.2 x 121.2 cm, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased with funds provided by the Gleeson O’Keefe Foundation 2010