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拍品專文
Brett Whiteley moved to Sydney in 1969 where he settled permanently with his family in a large three storey Victorian house at Lavender Bay. Here he had inspiring views of Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge as well as the nearby parks, brimming with lush palms and Moreton Bay figs. Immediately Whiteley set about depicting the beauty of the Harbour with its boats, yachts, piers and ferries. He revelled in the beauty of his surroundings. At Lavender Bay, Whiteley produced a remarkable group of bold paintings and drawings that have become iconic depictions of the unique beauty of this harbour.
In her monograph on the artist Sandra McGrath notes that Lavender Bay series is the beginning of Whiteley's mature phase and is among those of his 'master period'. Whiteley was at the peak of his career when he painted Lavender Rain Pier in the Rain in the mid 1970s. His confident, joyous works of this time won many of the most coverted prizes for Australian Art: the Archibald Prize (1976, 1978), the Sulman Prize (1976, 1978) and the Wynne Prize (1977, 1978).
In his intruduction for the catalogue of his Lavender Bay exhibition at Australian Galleries, Melbourne, in November 1974, whiteley describes how "The paintings.....begin from the premise of recording the glimpse seen at the highest point of affection - points of optical ecstacy, where romanticism and optimism overshadow any form of menace of foreboding."
McGrath's description of a comparable work, Lavender Bay in the Rain, accurately describes the achievements of Lavender Bay in the Rain; "...a pearly grey, deliciously wet and Turneresque picture, showed that Whiteley had become not only an outstanding painter of mood, but an artist whose ability to observe nature was Streeton-like in its revelatory quality." (S McGrath, Brett Whiteley, Sydney, 1979, p 174)
Typically, this picture is dominated by a totally flat picture surface without horizon - activated by the diagonal sweep of the pier, clusters of bollards and the falling rain. With its elegant abstracted composition and restrained paint application the work demonstrated Whiteley's affinity with the principles of eastern art and philosophy, Lavender Bay Pier in the Rain has the sensual mood of peace and tranquility which pervades the Lavender Bay paintings.
In her monograph on the artist Sandra McGrath notes that Lavender Bay series is the beginning of Whiteley's mature phase and is among those of his 'master period'. Whiteley was at the peak of his career when he painted Lavender Rain Pier in the Rain in the mid 1970s. His confident, joyous works of this time won many of the most coverted prizes for Australian Art: the Archibald Prize (1976, 1978), the Sulman Prize (1976, 1978) and the Wynne Prize (1977, 1978).
In his intruduction for the catalogue of his Lavender Bay exhibition at Australian Galleries, Melbourne, in November 1974, whiteley describes how "The paintings.....begin from the premise of recording the glimpse seen at the highest point of affection - points of optical ecstacy, where romanticism and optimism overshadow any form of menace of foreboding."
McGrath's description of a comparable work, Lavender Bay in the Rain, accurately describes the achievements of Lavender Bay in the Rain; "...a pearly grey, deliciously wet and Turneresque picture, showed that Whiteley had become not only an outstanding painter of mood, but an artist whose ability to observe nature was Streeton-like in its revelatory quality." (S McGrath, Brett Whiteley, Sydney, 1979, p 174)
Typically, this picture is dominated by a totally flat picture surface without horizon - activated by the diagonal sweep of the pier, clusters of bollards and the falling rain. With its elegant abstracted composition and restrained paint application the work demonstrated Whiteley's affinity with the principles of eastern art and philosophy, Lavender Bay Pier in the Rain has the sensual mood of peace and tranquility which pervades the Lavender Bay paintings.