Birds recur throughout Brett Whiteley’s work. As a child, he would steal eggs from nests and as an adult, paint them in his work. Forever moving around, he often thought of the flight paths of birds, his representations of them tinged with yearning for freedom and domestic stability.

‘Hullo (Cockatoo)’ is a portrait of Australia’s most talkative bird, the cockatoo. It knocks at the cage, addressing the viewer with a “hullo”. From one perspective, it is a warm and humorous image, a revelry of the thespian avian. From another perspective, the cockatoo becomes a surrogate for its creator — a creature trapped, longing to connect.

Among Australia’s most celebrated artists, Whiteley won the Art Gallery of NSW Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes several times. ‘Hullo (Cockatoo)’ is a highly collectable etching. Collector want a Whiteley?
 

Brett WHITELEY (1962 - 1992)
'Hullo (Cockatoo)' 1980
etching on paper
Edition of 80
Image Size: 25 x 20 cm
Dimensions: 44 x 33 cm
Signed: numbered and signed below image
 
Printed by Diana Davidson and James Whitington, Whaling Road Studio, Sydney and Published by Port Jackson Press, Sydney

Literature: Deutscher, C., Brett Whiteley, The Graphics 1961 - 1992, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, 1995, p. 113, cat. No. 56, (illus page 63., another example).

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art’s image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to paint surface.
 
© Brett Whiteley / Copyright Agency 2022