The zoo was a sacred place for Brett Whiteley. An anonymous voyeur among the animals, he found truths about human nature here, a release from city life and infinite formal inspiration.

Whiteley's 'Swinging Monkey 3' is immediately intriguing. Blending abstraction and figurative representation, Whiteley creates the impression of a monkey, suspended in an uncertain terrain.

Whiteley first exhibited images of the zoo in 1965 London alongside his famed Christie series, a confronting body of work about the serial killer John Christie. In contrast to the violent imagery of Christie, his images of zoo life were palette cleaners, encapsulations of immediacy, energy and character.

Whiteley’s work is represented across Australian public collections and internationally at the Tate Gallery in London and MoMA in New York. An adjunct of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, his studio has become a permanent public gallery. For collector’s of important Australian art, Whiteley is a prize.

Brett WHITELEY (1939 - 1992)
'Swinging Monkey 3' 1965
Colour Screenprint on paper
Edition of 70
Image Size: 81 x 59 cm
Dimensions: 108 x 85 x 3 cm
Signed: Editioned and signed in margin.

Comes with Letter of Provenance

Related Works: Other examples of this work are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Exhibited:

-Recent Works from London, Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide; Kim Bonythons Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney, January - March 1966, no.10 (as Swinging Monkey III, another example).

-Recent Original Prints by International Artists, Gallery A, Melbourne and Sydney, 1966, cat.42 (another example).

-Graphics: Boyd, Hockney, Whiteley, Clune Galleries, Sydney, February 1966 (another example).

Reference: Mandy, R., Brett Whiteley: Graphics, 1961-1982, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1983, p.11, cat.7 (illus., another example). Brett Whiteley: The Graphics 1961-1992, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, 1995, p.110, cat.7 (illus. p.18, another example). Sutherland, K., Brett Whiteley: A Sensual Line 1957-67, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2010, p.324, cat.W13. Sutherland, K., Brett Whiteley: Catalogue Raisonne, Schwartz Publishing, Melbourne, 2020, vol.5, p.18, cat.9P (illus., another example), vol.7, p.809.

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

(c) Wendy Whiteley / Copyright Agency