Over 1982 and 1983 Sidney Nolan grew increasingly interested in the possibilities of working with spray paint on a large scale. He was no stranger to the technique, having first used it during his time working as a commercial artist at Fayrefield Hats in Melbourne where he built a spray bay to paint advertising hoardings in the late 1930s. With access now to the convenience of aerosol cans in a rainbow of vivid colours, he completed the lyrical Illuminations series – that title referencing the long poetic text by Arthur Rimbaud that had been a touchstone for the artist for over fifty years.

A series of twelve large works, Remembrances of my youth came shortly after, and each is untitled, leaving open how we might read these works that present the artist in a darker frame of mind. This was a time of change again for Nolan, including the passing of John and Sunday Reed at the end of 1981, the closing of friendship with Albert Tucker and suffering a slight stroke while working on sets at the Sydney Opera House. There was also new energy through time spent at Bundanon with his wife Mary on the Shoalhaven River with her brother Arthur and his wife Yvonne Boyd and the opportunity to use the large studio there.

These works, featuring faces with piercing eyes and a tangle of references to the Ned Kelly series, to Picasso and Albert Tucker, reveal an artist willing to stir up his past and allow new truths to emerge.

CMAG manages The Nolan Collection on behalf of the Australian Government.