12. Siege at Glenrowan 1970 - 1971

Curator: Sidney Nolan's "12. Siege at Glenrowan" offers a stark look at a key moment in the legend of Ned Kelly. I’m struck by the way Nolan collapses perspective here. Editor: The painting feels haunted. The foreground figures appear almost like puppets, and the background suggests a stage set for tragedy. Curator: Absolutely. Nolan was deeply interested in the Kelly mythos, and here he simplifies the forms to focus on the symbolic weight of the siege. Consider the abstracted landscape. How it mirrors the emotional landscape of the event. Editor: Right, the landscape itself becomes a character, embodying the harshness of the Australian outback. It's interesting how Nolan uses the police officers to challenge notions of authority. They look more like caricatures of power than actual figures of justice. Curator: And how do those distortions connect to our understanding of Kelly as an anti-establishment figure? Editor: It forces us to question whose story we are telling. Who holds the power to write history and shape our perceptions of heroes and villains? Curator: A potent reminder that art can be a powerful tool for questioning dominant narratives. Editor: Indeed. It's a painting that invites us to reconsider the very foundation of Australian identity and justice.