The Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) presents Aftershocks: Nolan and the Holocaust, an exhibition of paintings by Australian artist Sidney Nolan. The collection includes 56 works of Nolan’s 1961 paintings of Auschwitz victims and, exhibited for the first time, his later works depicting the Ravensbrück women’s Holocaust camp.
Sidney Nolan’s engagement with the Holocaust began in 1961, following the trial of Nazi perpetrator Adolf Eichmann and a visit to Auschwitz. Initially invited by The Observer newspaper to illustrate an article about the camp, Nolan was so profoundly affected by the horrors he witnessed that he ultimately refused to complete the commission. What followed was a deeply personal artistic response, as Nolan created a series of raw and emotional works reflecting his traumatic encounter with the atrocities of Auschwitz.
Produced by the Sydney Jewish Museum, the exhibition will make its Victorian premiere at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum showing Nolan’s Auschwitz paintings alongside his previously unseen works from the Ravensbrück women’s Holocaust camp. Of the 56 works on display, 45 depict the horrors of Auschwitz, four focus on Ravensbrück, and seven abstract pieces feature Adolf Eichmann, the only recognisable figure in the collection.
The exhibition is a confronting yet deeply moving opportunity to witness how one of Australia’s greatest artists responded to one of the darkest chapters in human history. Visitors are advised that some of the images within the exhibition may be confronting.
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