Brett Whiteley is an icon of Australian art. Often fusing the abstract and the figurative, calm and chaos, Whiteley creates emotionally heightened worlds of ballooning forms and elongated figures. His imagery is always immediate, reflective of his pursuit for “beauty which can best be described as being on time for the appointment.”

His 1981 colour lithograph 'Lipstick' is quintessential Whiteley. With tantalising long limbs, the female nude at the centre of Whiteley's 'Lipstick' is shrouded in an otherworldly sensuality. The nude is a pivotal form in Whiteley's lexicon. After reaching the echelons of Australian art, Whiteley reflected that even when he was painting “abstractions, in a way I was painting the nude, just out of specific definition.” 'Lipstick' intrinsically embodies the artist's approach to nude - from the the great sweeping lines of her body and the curves of her form emerges a divine topography.

One of Australia’s most celebrated artists, Whiteley was a multi-time winner of the Art Gallery of NSW Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes, featured in numerous monographs and survey exhibitions, reaching acclaim here and overseas. With other impressions held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and the Queensland Art Gallery, 'Lipstick' is a prize for lovers of Whiteley and collectors of important Australian works on paper.

Brett WHITELEY (1939 - 1992)
'Lipstick' 1981
Colour Lithograph
Edition of 50
Image Size: 107 x 75 cm
Dimensions: 160 x 110 x 6 cm
Signed: signed and titled lower centre: lipstick brett whiteley, numbered lower left.

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Other examples of this work are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

Exhibited:

-Brett Whiteley: The Complete Graphics 1961-1982, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1983 (another example),

-Brett Whiteley - Recent Graphics, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, 22 July - August 1983 (illus. exhibition catalogue, another example),

-Brett Whiteley: Review of Prints 1976 - 1983, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, 13 November - 7 December 1983, cat.12 (illus. exhibition catalogue, another example),

-Baldessin/Whiteley: Parallel Visions, The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 31 August 2018 - 28 January 2019 (illus. exhibition catalogue, another example).

Reference: Mandy, R., Brett Whiteley: Graphics 1961-1982, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1983, p.44, cat.67 (illus., another example), From the Lithographers Workshop: Lithographs by Australian Artists, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1993, cat.42 (illus. front cover, another example), Brett Whiteley: The Graphics 1961-1992, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, 1995, p.113, cat.62 (illus. p.69, another example), Sutherland, K., Brett Whiteley: Catalogue Raisonné, Schwartz Publishing, Melbourne, 2020, vol.5, p.138, cat.117P (illus., another example), vol.7, p.832.

Condition: Very good condition overall; minor scattered foxing visible to the paper, commensurate with age.

(c) Wendy Whiteley / Copyright Agency