Six major paintings by Brett Whiteley will be auctioned by Sotheby’s Australia as a part of Important Australian & New Zealand Art on May 16, 2018, with a combined estimate of $2.9 million to $3.6 million. Some of the pivotal paintings by celebrated Australian artist Whiteley will be made available for auction by Sotheby’s Australia on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, in Sydney. Tightly held in distinguished private and corporate collections, many of these paintings have remained hidden from public view since they were first acquired, either directly from the artist or from exhibitions. With a combined estimate of $2.9 million to $3.6 million, the works are anticipated to generate strong interest amid collectors.“Around Bathurst,” 1959 (estimate $150,000‐250,000, lot 102, pictured) is a major rediscovery in the artist’s oeuvre, whose whereabouts had eluded scholars for several decades. Forming the centrepiece of the artist’s winning entry for the Italian Government Travelling Art Scholarship in 1959, the painting boasts of commanding and a confident pictorial statement that fuses figurative references to the Australian landscape with bold abstract forms and diverse textural qualities that enliven the surface.Another painting that piqued interest amid collectors is “Bathroom and Figure,” 1963 (estimate $350,000‐ 450,000, lot 23, pictured), one of the earliest paintings in an extended sequence of charcoals and oils in the highly acclaimed “Bathroom Series” depicting the artist’s wife, Wendy, bathing, and merged abstract and figurative forms. When initially exhibited, the series caused a sensation and “Woman in a Bath 2,” 1963 was promptly acquired by the Tate, London. Sotheby’s Australia sold Woman in a Bath 1 in 1963 for $976,000 in May 2013 (estimate $200,000‐300,000) to an international collector.“Requite,” 1967 (estimate $300,000‐400,000, lot 108, pictured) is Whiteley’s major anti‐war statement with his desperate plea for peace; it is a much-anticipated painting of the lot showcasing highly graphic, violent and nightmarish composition. Dedicated to his mentor and friend, Francis Bacon, its whereabouts have been unknown to historians and scholars since the 1970s. Sotheby’s Australia has reproduced the painting for the first time at this auction.“The Meeting,” (1981) (estimate $1,200,000‐1,400,000, lot 36, pictured) is an exemplary work by the artist, which he extracts from the harsh dry environment - a strange, tough beauty, peculiarly Australian, with crystalline poetry of scattered boulders and dead tree‐trunks, high horizons, of deep blue skies and white trailing clouds was formerly in the collection of the prominent businessman, Bob Ansett.One of the artist’s most arresting, striking and intimate works of his beloved Sydney, “Moreton Bay Fig, Botanic Gardens,” (1984) (estimate$900,000‐1,100,000, lot 7, pictured first page) is a major example of Whiteley’s Harbour‐side series that has remained hidden from public view since it was acquired directly from the artist.Geoffrey Smith, Chairman of Sotheby’s Australia commented: “Sotheby’s Australia is thrilled to have six masterpieces by Brett Whiteley in our forthcoming sales of Important Australian & New Zealand Art and Important Australian Art from The J.G.L. Collection. Many of these works have remained hidden or eluded art from historians and curators for many years. The works exemplify Whiteley’s skill as an artist, from abstraction through to landscape artist. We anticipate great excitement from collectors in Australia and internationally.”The auction will be held on May 16, 2018 at Sotheby’s Australia, 30 & 34 Queen Street, Woollahra, Sydney, Australia.http://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder Louise Blouin
↧