Gauguin (also known as Portrait of Paul Gauguin on the Eve of His Attempted Suicide, Tahiti) 1968

BRETT WHITELEY (1939-1992)

Gauguin (also known as Portrait of Paul Gauguin on the Eve of His Attempted Suicide, Tahiti) 1968

oil, acrylic, charcoal, graphite, plastic, glass, wood & printed paper collage construction on panel
152.5 x 264.5 cm (irreg.)

signed, dated and inscribed lower right: portrait of Paul Gauguin on the eve of his attempted suicide, Tahiti/ Brett Whiteley 1968, N.Y.

Provenance:

The artist Chelsea 23rd Street Corporation,

New York, 1969

Sotheby's, New York, 15 May 2014, lot 227

Company collection, Melbourne

Menzies, Melbourne, 24 July 2014, lot 40

Company collection, Melbourne

Exhibited:

Brett Whiteley: Recent Work, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, 1968, cat.4 (illus.) Alchemy-Pop, Brett Whiteley Studio, Sydney, 31 October 2014 - 15 March 2015

Reference:

McGrath, S., Brett Whiteley, Sydney, Bay Books, 1979, pp.86, 87 Pearce, B., Brett Whiteley, Art and Life, Thames & Hudson and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1995, p.231 (illus. p.140, pl.83) Wilson, A., Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2016, pp.148, 149, 152, 440 (illus. p.274, pl.1)

This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by Kathie Sutherland.

Related Works:

Study for Gauguin, 1968, pencil, ink, collage and adhesive tape on paper, 35.5 x 56.0 cm, private collection, Sydney The American Dream, 1968-69, oil, tempera, collage, photography, found objects on eighteen wood panels, 244.0 x 2196.0 cm, Art Gallery of Western Australia collection, Perth; illus. in Pearce, B., Brett Whiteley, Art and Life, Thames & Hudson and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1995, pp.134-139, pl.80a-f Portrait of Arthur Rimbaud, 1970-71, oil, gold leaf, synthetic polymer paint, mummified lacquered cat's head and collage on six wooden panels, 203.0 x 518.0 cm. Queensland Art Gallery collection, Brisbane; illus. in Pearce, B., Brett Whiteley, Art and Life, Thames & Hudson and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1995, pl.122 Portrait of Baudelaire, 1970, oil, gold leaf, synthetic polymer paint, mummified lacquered cat's head and collage on five wooden door panels, 203.0 x 478.0 cm, private collection, Melbourne; illus. in Pearce, B., Brett Whiteley, Art and Life, Thames & Hudson and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1995, pl.123. Vincent, 1968, oil, ink, mirror and razor on board, 220.0 x 164.5 x 38.0 cm, private collection, Australia; illus. in Pearce, B., Brett Whiteley, Art and Life, Thames & Hudson and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1995, pl.116

Estimate: $1600000 - 2000000

Result Hammer: $1650000