Brett Whiteley
(Australia, England 07 Apr 1939–15 Jun 1992)
Self portrait in the studio
- Location
- Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills
- Further information
Similar to Brett Whiteley’s other major paintings of this period, 'Self-portrait in the studio' exudes a sense of sumptuous living and the liquid presence of the harbour through what he called ‘the ecstasy-like effect of Ultramarine blue’. Whiteley’s tiny mirror self-portrait also reflects the influence of Eastern art in his portrayal of man as merely part of a larger landscape. However, this painting also hints at a darker side, as Wendy Whiteley explained in 1995:
... he was warning himself and other people watching. It was the cage of his interior, his addiction, the window or a glimpse of possible escape into paradise: the escape from one’s psyche.
His last studio and home – 2 Raper Street, Surry Hills in Sydney – is now a museum managed by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
- Place of origin
-
Lavender Bay,
North Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
- Year
- 1976
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil, collage, hair on canvas
- Dimensions
- 200.5 x 259.0cm stretcher; 210.5 x 268.5 x 5.7cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.r., black ink "brett whiteley/ 1975-76/ ...". Signed and dated upper c. verso, black fibre-tipped pen ".../ brett whiteley/ 1975-76/ ...".
- Credit
- Purchased 1977
- Accession number
- 1.1977
- Copyright
- © Wendy Whiteley
