Here is an article of mine published on the blog signoradeifiltri.overblog.com and dedicated to a great artist. Friend readers, here I am again with you to talk about art, and this time I will do it by taking you far, far beyond the oceans. The beauty of art is that, being a universal language, it knows no limits and boundaries, we can all speak different languages ​​but art unites us, becoming understandable for everyone. To give you an example, the red color is red, rouge, κόκκινος, rojo, 赤, rood, etc. etc. but, when all over the world we see something red, we recognize the tone regardless of the idiom, and art becomes magic and so, friends of the blog that loves to surprise you, today I will talk about one of the most important Australian artists, born and lived far from old Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Sidney Nolan and the work I will now describe to you will be Footballer.



Sidney Nolan (Melbourne, April 22, 1917 - London, November 28, 1992)



During his early years Sidney Nolan, who still did not know that in the future he would become an artist, spent his days living simply, frequenting simple people who fought daily to survive. And we know that, under these conditions, the risk of taking the wrong paths is very easy, but Sidney Nolan - with an intelligence and an instinct that led him to take an interest in everything that was culture, wishing one day to go to live in Europe - saved life and soul by becoming passionate about literature, and being struck by the art world. So he got rid of bad thoughts.

He was also enlightened by the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, initially thinking of becoming a poet himself but, probably, having a strong dexterity, inherent in his own DNA, he preferred painting as a personal language, first studying great painters, then finding, with his own abilities, his way.

Using various techniques he had the intent to excite the observer in front of his works. For Sidney Nolan painting was representing everything that surrounded him every day. His technique was direct, a sort of instinctive expressionism. Little room for pictorial refinement, a lot of experimentation, few warm and bright colours to captivate and amaze, but, for his part, art was a natural representation of current themes for reflection.

Precisely for this reason, he was an artist who knew how to best portray, through his talent, the image of his land. His series of paintings dedicated to Ned Kelly was one of the most important works, Ned Kelly was a controversial outlaw who, at the end of the 1800s, raged with his gang as a modern Robin Hood against the injustices suffered by the Australian people, feeding the legends that narrated the exploits of the "Kelly gang". After escaping arrest several times, in June 1880, Ned Kelly was trapped in a bush and launched his latest assault on horseback opponents, wearing a handcrafted armor, a cylindrical helmet, firing his rifle. This iconic image of him could almost be compared to a lone knight in an unequal confrontation with an epic atmosphere.

The art of Sidney Nolan apparently may seem simple, almost childlike, but it is precisely the drawings of children that are the most spontaneous and not conditioned, therefore true art. How many times have we thought of seeing Klee, Picasso, Kandiskij, Chagall? Works of great artists appeared as made by children, great art of free imagination, which everyone can easily understand by getting excited.

The work that I will describe to you is Footballer, from 1946, in the 120 x 90 format. It represents a soccer player in the foreground, when it comes to playing with noisy fans in the back. In 1946 the football world was a real popular phenomenon all over the world, a wave of revenge on the difficulties of life. The victory of a team, the athletic gestures of the players were like acts of heroism and a revenge on the difficult living conditions of the majority of the population, while the people with better economic conditions preferred other sports, such as athletics or swimming or tennis.

With this work Sidney Nolan represented a bold player who is about to face his opponent, aware of having to honour his fans, picturing precisely that exact moment so important for the game of football. And, not surprisingly, the artist, at the end of his work, requesting an opinion from a simple gardener, confirmed that the image seemed real, so Sidney Nolan understood that the message he wanted to trace was right.

Sidney Nolan was knighted in 1981 and received the Order of Merit in 1983. He was also elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a member of the Royal Academy of Arts. He has exhibited all over the world receiving numerous acclaim.

My friend readers, I am waiting for you to talk again about art, and it will still be a pleasure. #art #artista #artists  #footballers #soccer #football  #sidneynolan #abstract #abstractart #footballmatch #futebal #sport  #tributeto