Nolan left his Kelly paintings at Heide when he departed under emotionally charged circumstances in 1947. He had lived in a ménage à trois with the Reeds for several years. Nolan wanted Sunday to commit herself to him and after her refusal he married John Reed's sister Cynthia. Although he spoke to the Reeds only once again, his years there have been seen as a significant factor in all their lives. Nolan once told Reed to take what she wanted, but he subsequently demanded all his works back. Reed returned 284 of his other paintings and drawings, but she refused to give up the 25 remaining Kellys, partly because she saw the works as fundamental to the proposed Heide Museum of Modern Art. She gave them to the National Gallery of Australia in 1977, resolving the dispute.