When Brett Whiteley was thirteen years old, he found a tiny book on Vincent Van Gogh lying on the floor of St Stephen’s Church in Bathurst. The moment was catalytic. Despite existing in a time and place far removed from rural New South Wales, he immediately resonated with Van Gogh. Like the Dutch post-impressionist, Whiteley perceived the world with a unique intensity he branded “expandingness”.

Van Gogh is centred in ‘Vincent (An Essay in Opposites)’. Whiteley resonated with the duality of his hero — his artistic genius and troubled psyche, a tension that reverberated, and ultimately fated, both artists' lives. In this work, inky chaos overhangs an eye staring intensely from a white background. Whiteley has drawn Van Gogh, himself and the human condition, its wrestling for meaning and connection, cut by inner turmoil.

Among Australia’s most celebrated artists, Whiteley won the Art Gallery of NSW Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes several times. ‘Vincent (An Essay in Opposites)’ is both elegant and thought-provoking, an intellectually rich mediation on two artists who, countries and generations they may be, were deeply bonded.

It will awe passionate collectors of iconic Australian art, Whiteley and post-impressionism.
 

Brett WHITELEY (1962 - 1992)
'Vincent (An Essay in Opposites)' 1982
etching, screenprint and collage on paper
Edition of 30
Image Size: 211 x 92 cm
Signed: signed and numbered in margin: AP V brett whiteley studio stamp upper right, above image
Comes with Letter of Provenance
 
Provenance: Brett Whiteley Estate
Exhibited: Another Way of Looking at Vincent van Gogh 1888 – 1889 by Brett Whiteley 1968 – 1983, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 4 July – 24 August 1983 (another example).
Literature: Deutscher, C., Brett Whiteley: The Graphics 1961 – 1992, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, cat. 70, pp. 75, 113 (illus., another example). Capon, E., Another Way of Looking at Vincent van Gogh 1888 – 1889 by Brett Whiteley 1968 – 1983, Richard Griffin Press, Melbourne, 1983, (illus., another example)
 
Condition: Excellent
 
© Brett Whiteley / Copyright Agency