Menzies Art Brands

BRETT WHITELEY, Astral Weeks

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Whiteley’s My Armchair, a major painting from 1976, bears the inscription in the upper right corner: Astral Weeks, a reference to the title of a famous album produced by the Irish singer Van Morrison in 1968. 

Like many artists, Brett Whiteley loved music. Photographs of his studio feature his extensive record collection and the dog eared albums and well-used stereo system confirm it. The extent of his interest is recorded in the catalogue of his record collection listed in the book Brett Whiteley Studio, published in 2007 by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His taste is there for us all to see. The list shows he owned fourteen of Morrison’s albums, with Astral Weeks listed twice. He owned twenty four of Bob Dylan’s records, but also works by Mozart, Keith Jarrett and Rickie Lee Jones.

Whiteley made portraits of Bob Dylan, a major figure and a lifetime influence. Later he got close to the British band Dire Straits. Whiteley designed the cover of the band’s 1984 live album Alchemy and band members acquired paintings for their collections.

The nature of the inscription suggests that Whiteley was trying to convey the scene in its entirety, including the music that was playing in the background as he worked. It also contributes to the serenity and spiritual dimension that the painting has. The painting includes so many of Whiteley’s ideas, his themes and his preoccupations and taking into consideration the way in which the chair is painted, you sense that the artist has just been sitting there, reading and listening to music. It’s tempting to see the painting as a sort of phantom self-portrait.

CLICK HERE TO READ KEN WACH'S ESSAY ON 'My Armchair' 1976

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