Sidney Nolan Australia in 2013, following those of Brett Whiteley and Russell Drysdale. Sidney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (; 22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of Australia's leading artists of the 20th century. His oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known for his series of paintings on legends from Australian history, most famously Ned Kelly, the bushranger and outlaw. Nolan's stylised depiction of Kelly's armour has become an icon of Australian art. Sidney Nolan was born in Carlton, at that time an inner working-class suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April
Ned Kelly him as a murderous villain undeserving of his folk hero status. Journalist Martin Flanagan wrote: "What makes Ned a legend is not that everyone sees him the same—it's that everyone sees him. Like a bushfire on the horizon casting its red glow into the night." Kelly's father, John Kelly (known as "Red"), was born in 1820 in County Tipperary, Ireland, to Thomas and Mary (née Cody). At the age of 21, he was found guilty of stealing two pigs and was transported on the "Prince Regent", arriving at Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land on 2 January 1842. After he received