Here, the Trust’s Curator and Creative Producer, Antony Mottershead, provides an overview of the Trust’s collection.

"The Trust’s collection includes early works from the late 1930s and spans the artist’s lifetime. It is especially rich in works from 1953 onwards, when Nolan settled in the UK. During his final decade at The Rodd, Nolan continued to work with the same restless energy. His practice returned towards abstraction, and much of his late work, which the Trust cares for, remains less well known and requires further research and understanding. With the acquisition of Nolan’s former home, Rodd Court, in 2018, the Trust gained a significant body of material relating to Nolan’s life and artistic practice. This includes antiquities, papers and correspondence, exhibition catalogues and posters, as well as the artist’s personal library of more than 5,000 books. The book collection is testament to Nolan’s polymathic mind; many volumes are annotated, offering valuable insights into his research and thinking.

The Trust’s photographic collection is equally important. It includes approximately 20,000 prints, negatives, and transparencies that document Nolan’s extensive travels, his artwork, and his family, friends, and collaborators. While much of this material remains undigitised, it is clear that Nolan was a highly capable photographer, making this a particularly exciting area for new research. Over the past few years, the Trust’s priority has been to stabilise the collection, moving it from The Rodd to secure offsite storage with more environmentally stable conditions. With the help of volunteers, we have also begun creating a digital database. Our ambition is to make this rich resource on Nolan’s life and work more accessible to the public and to support further research."