Lots of people think Sir Sidney Nolan (1917 - 92) is the nation's most important artist; they're right; he is.
Nolan, largely self-taught, was a relentless, almost obsessive explorer of his chosen themes - from the bushranger Ned Kelly to classical antiquity, from Gallipoli to indigenous initiation rites.
He was a leading figure in the "Angry Penguins" circle in Melbourne, based in the artistic and personal hothouse at "Heide" - the home of patrons John and Sunday Reed (unrelated: read about the naming of Sunday, David and Kirsha’s daughter, over on the blog); Mona is full of Nolans - come and see them.