What's a fair price for a template for one of the most iconic images in Australian art? Mark Fraser, the former head of Bonhams Australia and now art adviser for the Estate of Lady Nolan, doesn't really know. So for this most unusual lot at the November 24 sale of 124 of Sidney Nolan's works, the estimate is $200 to $300.
"I discovered in the estate archive the template he used to paint [some of] the Kelly heads," Fraser tells Saleroom of the white card that's missing the shape of Ned Kelly's upper body, a shape that has become synonymous with Nolan's work. "A sheet of card that he's cut out with a Stanley knife, and you can see where he's brushed over it.
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Andrew Burke is the editor of AFR Weekend, based in the Sydney newsroom. He has worked at the Financial Times in London, the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and reported from across Asia and the Middle East. Connect with Andrew on Twitter. Email Andrew at aburke@afr.com
