News location:

Canberra Today 22°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Whiteley on White

THE National Portrait Gallery has joined in the celebrations of the Patrick White centenary with “White Whiteley: the portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley”.

Patrick White won the Nobel Prize literature in 1973 for “introducing a new continent to literature”.

To mark the centenary of the birth of the only Australian so far to be “the brief and incendiary association between two of Australia’s blazing cultural stars; White and artist Brett Whiteley”.

Incendiary is the right word. As the Nobel laureate’s biographer David Marr has often commented, White was quick to fall out with friends, and in this case, it was Whiteley’s finished work, “Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979–1980”, that was the cause of a dispute between the two men, described by actress/writer Kate Fitzpatrick.

White believed that Whiteley had taken liberties with a list of White’s likes and dislikes made during the preparatory process but not meant for public airing.

Painted while the author was working on his autobiography, “Flaws in the Glass”, the work is, in the view of the NPG, one of Australia’s great portraits.

Senior curator Dr Sarah Engledow explained that far from painting in a fit of inspiration, Whiteley prepared his portraits meticulously.  His plan for the White portrait is hung next to the finished painting, showing the detail and even the changes made by the artist.

The portrait will be shown at the gallery with 11 preparatory studies of White that can be viewed as “fascinating not only because they show various sides of White, but also because they reflect various aspects of Whiteley’s style and practice”.

Visitors who have already seen the Patrick White exhibition at the National Library of Australia will be able to draw comparisons between these works and Whiteley’s idiosyncratic portrait of White as a rock on the Sydney Harbour headland.

“White Whiteley” is drawn from the collections of the NSW State Parliament and the Brett Whiteley Studio and Art Gallery of NSW.

The exhibition will be shown at the National Portrait Gallery from May 10-July 22.

[box]As well, the NPG is staging a series of “conversations” celebrating the life of Patrick White:

Saturday, May 19, 3-5pm, Kerry Walker, actor and Neil Armfield, director discuss the life and work of Patrick White.

Saturday, May 26, 2.30-4pm, director Jim Sharman discusses White as something of a portrait artist himself, creating memorable characters who have entered the public imagination.

Saturday, June 2, 2.30-4pm, Wendy Whiteley discusses the rise and fall of the relationship between Patrick White and Brett Whiteley.

Sunday, June 10, 2.30-4pm, in this illustrated lecture, his biographer David Marr charts White’s life in his face, from society child to national seer.

All lectures at the Liangis Theatre, bookings essential to 6102 7070 or bookings@npg.gov.au [/box]

 

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Helen Musa

Helen Musa

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Music

Cunio takes top job at NZ School of Music

Immediate past head of the ANU School of Music, Kim Cunio, is to become head of school at Te Kōki, the NZ School of Music, part of the Victoria University of Wellington, reports HELEN MUSA.

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews