Sidney Nolan’s First Class Marksman encompasses a beautifully painted Australian bush landscape in vibrant arrays of greens, blues and dusty oranges. These colours are directly juxtaposed by the foreground, Nolan’s most famous Ned Kelly silhouette. The stark, black, abstractly shaped armour. Kelly’s silhouette holds a long rifle, painted in the same colour scheme as the background, and appears to be aiming deep into the bush, instigated by the path.
Nolan’s tactical use of juxtaposing Kelly’s infamous, black silhouette against the vibrant background establishes Kelly as both an outsider and a well known character. The silhouette stands out amongst the scenery, replicating his well known status. Weather he was feared or worshiped, he was a distinguishable character in 20th century Australian society.
My initial response to both the title, “First-class Marksman” and the gun was that Nolan utilised this particular iconography to represent Ned kelly as a fierce, worshiped leader amongst the general public. Describing Ned Kelly as “first-class” enforces this idea of worship and respect.
However, on researching the work, I came to understand that Nolan was recreating an incident in Victoria where Ned Kelly and his “gang” were practicing their shooting, concealed amongst the bushland of Wombat Ranges.
In all, I believe Nolan establishes Ned Kelly’s status as both feared and worshipped, and at the very least a striking character within 20th century Australia.
Info sourced from: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/62.2010/
Image sourced from: https://michaelgriffith1.com/2019/08/18/later-colonial-australian-literature-around-the-1890s/
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