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How did a British peer become one of Sidney Nolan’s greatest collectors and patrons? Well, according to one story, it happened after Lord McAlpine – writer, businessman and Conservative Party treasurer under Margaret Thatcher – saw the Australian artist’s work printed on a Qantas in-flight menu.

Elephant and White Cliffs (1963) on display ahead of an auction of 42 works by Sidney Nolan. Credit: Eddie Jim

“Lord McAlpine commenced collecting Sidney Nolan’s work in the 1960s,” says Geoffrey Smith, chairman of auction house Smith & Singer. “He had an insatiable appetite for Nolan’s works. He thought he was a genius.”

Some of his collection was displayed at Broome’s Cable Beach Club, which McAlpine opened in 1988. McAlpine also at one time owned Nolan’s First Class Marksman, which for 10 years held the record for the most expensive piece of Australian art sold at auction (it was pipped in 2020 by Brett Whiteley’s Henri’s Armchair which sold for $6.136 million).

McAlpine would also later go on to buy Dog and Duck Hotel, 1948 – the painting that had captured his imagination on that Qantas flight – for a then-record price.

Bather 1945 is one of the works to be auctioned.Credit: Sidney Nolan

Now 42 pieces formerly from McAlpine’s collection are up for auction – and there are instructions that every work must sell.

Spanning a period from 1957 to 1987, most of the works have never been on public display or available for purchase. “They went privately from Nolan to … Lord McAlpine and then the current owner, so it is very special,” Smith says.

Nolan was a prolific artist and, while works of his often go under the hammer, Smith highlights that it is unusual to see so many works of this calibre go on sale together and at this price point.

“They’re all major paintings – they’re not prints or works on paper. Each work is significant in scale and in stature,” he reflects. The fact that they’ve been directed to sell all of the works is also out of the ordinary. “We don’t often have these instructions,” he says. “That’s why the estimates are so attractive … It’s an extraordinary opportunity.”

The 42 paintings vary dramatically in mood and subject matter. Ned Kelly (Cover Design) (1961) features a figure posed in front of a large A, while Elephant and White Cliffs (1963) delivers on what it promises in a surreal and dreamy way. One series is focused on the sea and bathing, while another Notes for Oedipus 1975 centres on a rooster and a sphinx, with the imagery growing progressively darker.

Notes for Oedipus 1975.Credit: Sidney Nolan

The works will be on display, first in Melbourne and then in Sydney, before the auction on September 19. Smith recommends taking the chance to see them in person. “These are works that I’ve never seen before,” he says. “There are elements that draw you in – there are elements that are quite mystical. And then there are elements, which are very humorous.”

For Smith, each work is a riddle.

“They’re not works that you hang and you look at and then you move on.”

Your relationship with the artwork changes and evolves, the longer you spend with it.

“He was just so inventive, challenging testing himself, and therefore testing us, as the viewer.”

Sidney Nolan: Property Formerly from the Collection of Lord McAlpine is in Melbourne September 6-10 and Sydney September 14-19, with the auction taking place on September 19.

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