[Drowned Gallipoli soldier]

Figure of drowned Gallipoli soldier, body and head separated. The image of the drowned figure in the 'Gallipoli' series has two sources. It's initial reference is to that of the Anzac's who drowned on that first morning at Gallipoli as they landed on the beach. The submerged drowned figure and Nolan's use of red, blue and brown/green merging together suggests stagnant blood-stained water, a sight that would have confronted the surviving soldiers that day on the beach. The drowned lifeless floating figure also relates to the drowning in 1945 of Nolan's brother Raymond which he stated in an interview (13 April 1978).