Lot 18

Fischer Fine Art, London
Australian Galleries, Melbourne 1994, reference number 5043-3 (label verso)
Private collection, Melbourne
Thence by descent

Australian Galleries, Melbourne, August 1994 (label verso)

Sutherland, K., Brett Whiteley: Catalogue Raisonné, Schwartz Publishing, Melbourne, 2020, vol. 3, pp. 205 (illus. as black and white), 299, vol. 5, p. 88, cat. no. 55.74

Brett Whiteley was one of the most prominent Australian artists of the 20th century, known for his remarkable versatility and prolific output across various artistic mediums. Whiteley embraced a range of styles, techniques, and influences with a sense of urgency and intense curiosity. His admiration for different artists evolved over time, shaping his unique artistic vision, and leading him to view art as an adventurous journey into his own perceptions and emotions.

Brett Whiteley's exceptional skill as a draughtsman and his passion for portraying the nude emerged in London during the early 1960s, as his style transitioned from abstraction to figuration. During this period, he created a collection of drawings and paintings that highlighted the curvaceous form of his wife Wendy.

These intimate and evocative works of love and desire were just the beginning of Whiteley's enduring fascination with the female form, a central theme in his oeuvre. Whiteley's nudes are dynamic and passionate, blending both intimacy with tenderness. Despite the exaggerated forms that characterise them, Whiteley's assured, fluid, and sensuous lines with smooth contours, highlight the artist's inspiration derived directly from life. These artworks reflect both a deeply personal expression of Whiteley's experience with sensuality and sexuality expressed through his brilliantly mastered calligraphic lines and his ongoing quest to achieve what he termed 'the great nude'; the highest form of artistic creativity.
In 1989, Whiteley adeptly conveyed his profound interest in the nude subject matter when he stated: "The nude has been predominant really…a very major part of my work. Even when I was painting abstractions, in a way I was painting the nude, but out of focus with no specific definition, and when I broke into figuration, it was the bathroom pictures, it was pictures of my wife in the bath".(1)

Nude no.1 from 1974, offers an intimate portrayal of a soft, curvaceous nude figure turned away from the viewer, her buttocks resting on her left foot that is tucked beneath her. Although her face remains concealed, the texture of her loose hair, with its carefully rendered strands cascading over her arm, echoes Whiteley's admiration for the ink and brush techniques of Chinese landscape artists and calligraphers.

Whiteley's great admiration for Zen philosophy and his affinity with calligraphy emerged at a time when the Asian aesthetic, particularly the brushwork of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, permeated Australian visual culture in the 1960s. This resulted in ample inspiration for Whiteley's practice and lead to the creation of this work, Nude no.1, where the fluid brushwork reflects a lyrical response to this calligraphic style.

Nude No. 1 was originally purchased by Stuart Purves, the National Director of Australian Galleries in 1994. He recalls "I have a good recollection of this particular drawing by the artist, and in fact it was amongst several that I purchased from a private collection on a visit to the UK several decades ago now. This piece stood out as is was on yellow paper. All the others were on white paper, and I can only surmise that there was a piece of yellow paper handy that Whiteley took advantage of…"

Amanda North
Art Specialist

(1) Brett Whiteley, The Figure, Art Gallery of NSW; https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artboards/brett-whiteley/the-figure/#:~:text=The%20nude%20has%20been%20predominant,my%20wife%20in%20the%20bath

© Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency 2024