Submitted by aarAdmin on Fri, 11/27/2020 - 00:00
Brett Whiteley created a new Australian art record on Thursday November 26 when his Henri’s Armchair 1974-75 sold for $6.125 million including buyer’s premium and GST at Menzies single lot auction in Sydney.
Well-known leading Sydney barrister the late Clive Evatt QC purchased the painting directly from the artist and kept it at his Turramurra home until his death in 2018, loaning it to various institutions during that time.
The painting eclipses the $5.4 million record set in 2009 for Sydney Nolan’s First Class Marksman 1946 sold by Menzies to prominent art dealer Roger McIlroy.
It will remain in Sydney as the work was purchased by a lower North Shore buyer.
Menzies head of art Justin Turner said it was rare for Whiteley work of this scale, subject matter, provenance, exhibition history and literary referencing to come onto the public market.
“Brett Whiteley is obviously one of the most celebrated Australian artists. He’s had three paintings sell around the $3 million mark, his most popular series of paintings is from the Lavender Bay series and this is a major painting from that series,” he told the Melbourne Age.
The Henri Matisse-inspired canvas was painted using oil, ink and charcoal on canvas and shows Whiteley’s studio-home and its view over Sydney Harbour.
