Aftershocks: Nolan and the Holocaust

Our hugely successful 2022 exhibition Shaken to his Core: The Untold Story of Nolan’s Auschwitz, has recently toured to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, reimagined and newly curated. Under the new title Aftershocks, it has again sparked critical debate within the media and huge popular interest.

Sir Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) was one of Australia’s most iconic and globally recognised artists. Best known for his depictions of the history and mythology of bush life in Australia – including iconic paintings of the bushranger Ned Kelly – Nolan’s little known and never-before-seen work, inspired by the trials of notorious Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann, is both powerful and haunting. The more than 50 artworks displayed were painted with great intensity in late 1961-2, as the Eichmann trial came to a close and as Nolan himself prepared to visit Auschwitz.

Sidney Nolan was not Jewish. He lived in Australia and later London, where he completed the paintings, far removed from the Holocaust and World War II. Yet like many Australians, he was deeply affected by the news coverage of concentration camps and the Nazi persecution of Jewish people.

The Sydney Jewish Museum has been proud to acquire, curate and now share this important work, uncovering a significant chapter in Nolan’s life: one that would shape the rest of his imagery for decades to come.

We will bring you news of the exhibition’s next tours soon!

If you’d like to host Aftershocks at your institution, email us at collections@sjm.com.au or call (02) 9360 7999.