Andrew Turley is a researcher, writer, curator, and authority on iconic Australian artist Sidney Nolan. He has dedicated the last twelve years to unearthing the unknown histories of the artist’s culturally significant mid-20th century works, including Auschwitz, the Adelaide Ladies and now Africa. Andrew’s latest book, Nolan’s Africa, will be published on the 19th of November and is a richly illustrated monograph following the artist’s thematic journey from Auschwitz to the African continent, and beyond.
We have a lot of clients who would like to know more about their own art collection and begin their research journey that way. How were you first drawn to it?
The same way as your clients. A thunderbolt hit my partner, Rachael, when she saw a painting hanging high on an auction room wall. No one could tell us about it, and little was written in the catalogue. Yet when we had it taken off the wall there were notes, labels and place names across the back. That’s where it all started. A Sidney Nolan painting we loved and unanswered questions. Twelve years on, having tracked Nolan across three continents, we know it is a painting that was exhibited privately to Queen Elizabeth with an exhibition history that spans the world, and a creation story stretching from the crematoria of Auschwitz to Julian Huxley’s founding of the World Wildlife Fund.
We often get asked “Where do I begin?” Do you have some advice you can share with budding art enthusiasts who aren’t sure where to start?
I always say ‘start with your painting’. It is a moment trapped in time and a definitive point from which you can work forward, researching its exhibition and ownership history, or backward, unearthing the artist’s motivations for painting it. Look at it forensically: scrutinise the subject, signature, back, frame and mount. Search for any and all inscriptions, labels or pencil marks. Find every reference point. Then you can definitively say ‘this I know’ and ‘this is what I want to know’. Next, place it in its context. If you discover it was exhibited, find the catalogue and look to other works from the same exhibition, they will be your best record of how the artist’s brain was working. Alternately, group it with other works the artist produced in the same time period. Look for and identify associated palettes, patterns, subjects and themes.
What skills would you say are required to be a successful researcher?
The skills are transferable. Anyone can be a successful researcher and writer. I began life as an Army Officer, clearing mines in Cambodia. That has helped me be clinical in my process, look for patterns, consider every possible scenario, and be certain before taking another step forward.
Research is about singularity of purpose in the pursuit of information: focus, tenacity, and passion. You need the ability to focus on a clear and achievable objective, committing time and effort. Tenacity means you won’t let a dead-end stop you. All information exists somewhere, it is a matter of finding it, and a good researcher is always asking questions without being embarrassed about not knowing the answers. Passion is the most important quality of all. If you love a painting, or an artist, no one will be more passionate or committed to finding answers than you.
Can you share with us a special discovery you have made during the twelve years you were working on this book?
There are so many. Sidney dodging testicle-collecting tribesmen in Ethiopia, how he was mixed up in the deadly Congo Crisis and why some critics were confused by his coded messages. But the most dramatic has to be the discovery of Nolan’s Auschwitz. There was no knowledge of the event in the masses of work written on him, no comprehension that a large group of Auschwitz paintings existed, no record of him travelling to the concentration camp in January 1962 nor his documenting of the trip in haunting black and white photographs, and no understanding of its substantial impact on him. The discovery means a radical revisionism of his post-1961 work is due. The symbolism and thematics have been invisible to historians and critics, but they are everywhere if you know where to look. Particularly in the layers of his African paintings.
Details on Andrew’s new book, Nolan’s Africa, can be found on the Melbourne University Publishing website.
Top Image: Andrew Turley in gorilla country, Uganda. He strapped on his boots and followed in Nolan’s footsteps across Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zanzibar.
October 2024