This piece was inspired by filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel's plate painting "Australia" from 1986. I had the great opportunity to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario where a Schnabel exhibit was shown, and that is where I found his painting of Ned Kelly.Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian bushranger, and was seen by some as merely a cold-blooded killer, while to others he was seen as a folk hero, for his defiance of the colonial authorities. Kelly was born in Victoria (Australia) to an Irish convict father, and as a young man he clashed with the Victoria Police. Following an incident at his home in 1878, police parties searched for him in the bush. After he killed three policemen, the colony proclaimed Kelly and his gang wanted outlaws. A final violent confrontation with police took place at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880. Kelly, dressed in home-made plate metal armour and helmet, was captured and sent to jail. He was hanged for murder at Old Melbourne Gaol in November 1880. His daring and notoriety made him an iconic figure in Australian history, folk lore, literature, art and film.
Ned Kelly: The Death Sentence