$95,000.00
Leda and Swan (1960)
Polyvinyl Acetate on Board
120 x 120cm
Signed and Dated in pencil verso ‘Leda 15 May 1960’
Sidney Nolan’s Leda and the Swan (1960) was painted by the artist in the USA during a prolific period (1958-1960) when the most principal works focused on the Leda subject were produced. The Leda pictures are famously fast and aggressive, exploring and exploiting the potential of new materials such as PVA and Alizarin dye. Their surfaces are swept, wiped and stained, slashed and dragged with a squeegee, creating a rich finish of multiple translucencies.
As Cynthia, Sidney Nolan’s wife, recorded, “Now, over and over again, he was painting Leda and the Swan. Sometimes the woman was bloody, the swan was very savage.”[1] Here the woman is dominant. The series to which this impressive piece belonged, was showcased in 1960 to an international audience in the exhibition, Leda and the Swan, at Matthieson Gallery, London, to high acclaim.
In reference to the Leda body of work, art historian, Tom Rosenthal, explains that a painting (such as Leda and the Swan, 1960) is notable for the distinct feminine features of the upright Leda and the form of the swan in anticipation.[2] There is a tenderness between the two figures, and, in this work, their intimate contact is evident.
The majority of large paintings in the Matthieson exhibition sold within two days for up to £20,000 each – a very high sum at the time. As Rosenthal suggests, Nolan was, in all senses, well on his way as a successful artist. The best of the Leda paintings are “great and timeless works of art, and show the growth not only of his technical skill but also of (the artist’s) intellectual versatility and his imaginative power.”[3]
Sidney Nolan’s Leda and Swan paintings are held by important collections, public and private institutions, such as the Art Gallery of New Wales, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Sussan Corporation, CP Snow, Sir Kenneth Clark art collection, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Bryan Robertson (Art Historian) art collection, The Earl of Droghoda (Chairman of the Financial Times and the Royal Opera House, Covent Gardens) art collection, The Hon. Colin Tennant art collection.
[1] Rosenthal, T., Sidney Nolan, Thames and Hudson, London, 2002.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
Sydney Nolan
Leda and Swan (1960)
Polyvinyl Acetate on Board
120 x 120cm
Signed and Dated in pencil verso ‘Leda 15 May 1960’
Sidney Nolan’s Leda and the Swan (1960) was painted by the artist in the USA during a prolific period (1958-1960) when the most principal works focused on the Leda subject were produced. The Leda pictures are famously fast and aggressive, exploring and exploiting the potential of new materials such as PVA and Alizarin dye. Their surfaces are swept, wiped and stained, slashed and dragged with a squeegee, creating a rich finish of multiple translucencies.
As Cynthia, Sidney Nolan’s wife, recorded, “Now, over and over again, he was painting Leda and the Swan. Sometimes the woman was bloody, the swan was very savage.”[1] Here the woman is dominant. The series to which this impressive piece belonged, was showcased in 1960 to an international audience in the exhibition, Leda and the Swan, at Matthieson Gallery, London, to high acclaim.
In reference to the Leda body of work, art historian, Tom Rosenthal, explains that a painting (such as Leda and the Swan, 1960) is notable for the distinct feminine features of the upright Leda and the form of the swan in anticipation.[2] There is a tenderness between the two figures, and, in this work, their intimate contact is evident.
The majority of large paintings in the Matthieson exhibition sold within two days for up to £20,000 each – a very high sum at the time. As Rosenthal suggests, Nolan was, in all senses, well on his way as a successful artist. The best of the Leda paintings are “great and timeless works of art, and show the growth not only of his technical skill but also of (the artist’s) intellectual versatility and his imaginative power.”[3]
Sidney Nolan’s Leda and Swan paintings are held by important collections, public and private institutions, such as the Art Gallery of New Wales, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Sussan Corporation, CP Snow, Sir Kenneth Clark art collection, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Bryan Robertson (Art Historian) art collection, The Earl of Droghoda (Chairman of the Financial Times and the Royal Opera House, Covent Gardens) art collection, The Hon. Colin Tennant art collection.
[1] Rosenthal, T., Sidney Nolan, Thames and Hudson, London, 2002.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
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