An inspired and innovative genius, Brett Whiteley harbored a prodigious talent from which were borne some of the most iconic images of twentieth century Australian art. Whiteley's rocket-like projection to stardom gained its explosive force from Bryan Robertson's inclusion of the young artist's work in his now legendary exhibition, 'Recent Australian Painting' at London's Whitechapel Gallery in 1961. Whiteley had arrived in London in 1960 following a sojourn in Italy on an Italian Government Travelling Art Scholarship administered by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and joined the high profile group of older expatriate Australian artists including Boyd and Nolan who had been wowing London collectors since the early 1950's. The response to Whiteley's startlingly sophisticated canvases was enormous with the Tate Gallery and its associated Contemporary Art Society purchasing both works available for sale; Red Painting and White Painting, making the 22 year old Whiteley the youngest artist ever to be acquired by the gallery. As Bryan Robertson explains Whiteley's 'arrival on the european scene in 1961 was dazzling; never had youthful  precocity seemed so disconcertingly substantial, deep and alert in its light its texture its fabric its spirituality" 1. The Whitechapel show catapulted both the artist and his art into the spotlight and set Whiteley on a trajectory which would see him gain almost cult-like status in Australia in the 1970's and ultimately establish him as one of the most important figures in Australian art History.  

Whiteley's body of work encompasses a wide range of media and subjects including landscapes, interiors and still lifes, figure paintings, nudes and animals. His versatility astonished the Art Gallery of New South Wales Trustees in 1978 when he became the first and only artist to win all three of the Art Gallery of New South Wales's prestigious painting prizes; the Archibald (portraiture), the Wynne (landscape) and the Sulman (subject/genre). Within his broad output which incorporates painting, drawing, prints and sculpture, there are recurring motifs of which the bird and the female nude are among the most important. (more)

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