[study for "The myth rider"]

Place Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli
Accession Number ART91278
Collection type Art
Measurement Overall: 25.4 x 30.4cm
Object type Work on paper
Physical description textile dye on coated paper
Maker Nolan, Sidney
Place made United States of America: New York
Date made c 1958
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Description

Gallipoli light horseman mounted on a horse swimming in the sea. The bodies of the horse and rider have been created by Nolan smudging with his finger the background paint layers. Nolan viewed many photos of the soldiers at Gallipoli at the Imperial War Museum, London and would have seen photos of the soldiers bathing naked with their horses, looking very much like Greek warriors. The horse in Nolan's Gallipoli series often refers to the Trojan horse and the Gallipoli ancestry again linking the Gallipoli campaign with the Homeric wars.
Nolan confirmed (interview of 13 April 1978) that this is the sketch for his larger polyvinyl acetate painting of 'The myth rider' also known as 'Anzac Rider') which is not held by the Australian War Memorial.