Nolan’s Riverbend on display at CMAG

Sidney Nolan’s nine panel Riverbend made in 1964–65 just prior to his Creative Arts Fellowship at ANU, is usually on display in the Drill Hall Gallery, but now has a temporary home in the Nolan Gallery at Canberra Museum and Gallery from April 13 to July 28, 2024. There it will hang opposite works from Sidney Nolan’s iconic Ned Kelly Series 1945–1947. Dr Anna Wong, Director, Galleries Museum and Heritage, said “we are thrilled to be able to collaborate with the Drill Hall team to bring these two major related works together for the first time”. Virginia Rigney, Senior Curator of Visual Art commented that while Riverbend may be familiar to many Canberrans, this is a rare opportunity to consider the resonance between it and the significant body of Nolan paintings held at CMAG, in particular works such as Kelly in Bush, 1945. The pairing of the works – made just under twenty years apart, invites deeper consideration of Nolan’s longstanding engagement with the Kelly myth and articulations of the Australian landscape. Drill Hall and CMAG are planning a number of public programs and Friends events during this period. Watch this space…

Riverbend
13 April–28 July, 2024
Canberra Museum and Gallery
Corner of London Circuit and Civic Square, Canberra City

Visit CMAG’s website for more information