When Sidney Nolan painted the Ned Kelly series, he was interested in an 'authentic national vision'. The first series was made up of 27 paintings from 1946-1947. The paintings all-together form a storyboard, telling the legend of Ned Kelly. One of them in particular is 'Death of Constable Scanlon'.
The series, including this one, were all painted with Ripolin enamel on hardboard. You can see the many brushstrokes but some objects are painted completely solid for example Ned Kelly himself and the clothes of the constable. The painting is full of things, and it is a scene from the bush land…
