Title
Woman in bath
1963
re-worked 1964
Artist
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Details
- Other Titles
- Woman in the Bath 4
Woman in bath IV
Woman in the bath 4 - Dates
- 1963
re-worked 1964 - Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil, paper, fabric collage, graphite and tempera on plywood
- Dimensions
- 183.1 x 218.7 cm board; 188.0 x 224.0 x 6.3 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed l.l., white oil "Whiteley". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 2000
- Location
- South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries
- Accession number
- 191.2000
- Copyright
- © Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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Brett Whiteley
Works in the collection
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About
Brett Whiteley is one of Australia’s most celebrated artists, best known for his sensual and lyrical paintings of interiors, nudes and harbour scenes.
Following a period working abstractly in London, Whiteley's increasing preoccupation with the female torso led to his bathroom series which preserved the warm colours of his abstractions while contrasting them with the bathroom's deep blues and acid greens. The series signalled his breakthrough as a figure draughtsman and his desire to make his eroticism more explicit:
'All the paintings I have made in the last four years have been concerned one way or another with sex and the desire to record sensual behaviour.' - Brett Whiteley 1964Focusing on the naked form of his wife Wendy in the bath, Whiteley's ‘Woman in bath’ series, captured the tactility and tones of her flesh with a profound intimacy, rarely equalled in later paintings on this subject.
Something of the colours and broad shapes of Piero della Francesca’s works so admired by Whiteley was retained, but there was a closer tradition of figurative painting making an impact on him, particularly through the work of Pierre Bonnard and Francis Bacon. Indeed, Whiteley was impressed by one of Bonnard’s most striking bath paintings (in the collection of the Tate gallery) via a reproduction seen in the studio of British painter William Scott.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 15 exhibitions
Brett Whiteley (1964), Marlborough New London Gallery, London, 23 Apr 1964–23 May 1964
T.E. Wardle Invitation Art Prize (1965), Skinner Galleries, Perth, Perth, 02 Feb 1965–14 Feb 1965
The Mertz collection of contemporary Australian painting: Adelaide Festival of Arts 1966, National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 12 Mar 1966–11 Apr 1966
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, United States of America, 10 Mar 1967–24 Apr 1967
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersberg, Florida, St Petersberg, 24 Aug 1967–24 Sep 1967
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, University Art Museum (University of Texas), Austin, 26 Oct 1967–16 Nov 1967
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, State University of New York, New York, 07 Dec 1967–28 Dec 1967
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, University of Alabama, , 01 Feb 1968–07 Mar 1968
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, Greenville Power & Light Company, , 25 Apr 1968–16 May 1968
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, 12 Sep 1968–07 Nov 1968
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, West Virginia University, Morgantown, 12 Jan 1969–09 Feb 1969
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, , 14 Sep 1969–12 Oct 1969
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, 02 Nov 1969–30 Nov 1969
The Australian painters 1964 - 1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, Watkins Institute, Nashville, 08 Feb 1970–08 Mar 1970
Australian paintings of the 1960s: selections from the Mertz collection, Archer M Huntington Art Gallery (University of Texas), Austin, 30 May 1984–21 Aug 1984
Australian paintings from the Mertz collection, Archer M Huntington Art Gallery (University of Texas), Austin, 01 Jun 1990–12 Aug 1990
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
Brett Whiteley: Interiors (2001), The Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, 14 Jul 2001–14 Oct 2001
Iconic Whiteley (2009-2010), The Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, 12 Sep 2009–22 Aug 2010
The London years 1960-67 (2012), The Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, 14 Jul 2012–13 Feb 2013
The nude: erotic, sensual and sacred, The Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, 12 Apr 2013–01 Sep 2013
Naked, The Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, 18 Nov 2016–14 May 2017
Pathways to figuration, The Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, 31 Mar 2018–07 Oct 2018
Brett Whiteley: drawing is everything, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Dec 2018–31 Mar 2019
20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 27 publications
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 2000, 'Year in review', pg. 8-20, Sydney, 2000, 8.
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Anita Brookner, The Burlington Magazine, 'Current and forthcoming exhibitions', pg. 298, London, Jun 1964, 298. General review of Marlborough exhibition
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Craig Bush, Look, 'Years of enrichment: The society reaches another milestone', pg. 12-15, Sydney, May 2009, 13 (colour illus.), 14.
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Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Art Gallery of New South Wales: highlights from the collection, Sydney, 2008, 103 (colour illus.).
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Christie's, Australia Pty. Ltd., Christie's Australia. The Harold E Mertz Collection of Australian Art: Melbourne 28 June 2000, Melbourne, 2000, 71 (colour illus.). lot no. 57; estimated price $350,000 - $550,000; titled 'Woman in Bath IV'; dated 1964
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Kenneth Coutts-Smith., Arts review [vol. 16, no. 8], 'Brett Whiteley: Marlborough New London Gallery', London, 02 May 1964-16 May 1964, page unknown. General review of Marlborough exhibition
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Émile Langui., Art since mid-century: The New Internationalism, 'Expressionism since 1945 and the Cobra Movement', Greenwich, 1971, 85 (illus.), 87, 88. vol.2 Figurative Art; plate no. 92; NOTE: this image depicts the early version of the painting before re-working
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Ross K Luck, The Australian painters 1964-1966: contemporary Australian painting from the Mertz collection, Adelaide, 1967, 28, 66 (colour illus.). cat.no. 75; titled 'Woman in Bath', dated 1964
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Marlborough New London Gallery (Curator), Brett Whiteley, London, Mar 1964, (illus.). not paginated; cat.no. 16; titled 'Woman in the Bath 4'; dated 1963
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Sandra McGrath, Brett Whiteley, Kensington, 1979, 38, 40.
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National Gallery of South Australia (Editor), Bulletin of the National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Apr 1966, front cover (illus.). Reproduction shows interior shot of the Mertz Collection exhibition with 'Woman in bath' on wall in the Intermediate Gallery.
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Barry Pearce, Look: 1953-2003 celebrating 50 years, 'Presenting our own artists: how the AGS put balance into the Australian collection', pg. 42-44, Sydney, May 2003, 44.
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Barry Pearce, Look, 'A quiet love affair: private passion over 33 years gives birth to a book', pg. 26-29, Sydney, Sep 2014, 27 (colour illus.). extract
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Bryan Robertson, Brett Whiteley Art & Life, 'The London years', pg. 8-14, London, 1995, 22-23, 84-85 (colour illus.), 227. plate no. 32; titled 'Woman in bath'; dated 1964; NOTE: this work was not in the exhibition; general reference to bathroom series
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Joseph Rykwert, Domus (no. 416), 'Mostre a Londra', pg. 48, Milan, Jul 1964, 48. General review of Marlborough exhibition
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Georgina Safe, The Australian, 'Buyers pay till it Mertz, and will keep works at home', pg. 6, Sydney, 30 Jun 2000, 6. Auction of Mertz Collection and purchase of 'Woman in bath IV' by AGNSW.
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Charles S. Spencer, The Studio, 'Brett Whiteley: Classicism and actuality', pg. 108-111, London, Mar 1964. General review of Marlborough exhibition
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Kathie Sutherland, Brett Whiteley: A sensual lilne 1957-67, 'Revelation: Rome to London 1960-1962', pg. 42-84, Victoria, 2010, 102, 110-111 (colour illus.), 270. cat.no. LL1
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Jill Sykes (Editor), Look, 'AGNSW current exhibitions: The London Years', pg. 53, Sydney, Aug 2012, 53 (colour illus.). Article featured in ‘AGNSW exhibitions’.
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Alejandra Szczepaniak, Look, 'The year of giving generously', pg. 22-23, Melbourne, Dec 2000-Jan 2001, 23 (colour illus.).
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The Brett Whiteley Studio, Brett Whiteley: Interiors, Sydney, 2001. List of works.
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Nevile Wallis, The Spectator, 'Bride in the bath', pg. 663-664, London, 15 May 1964. General review of Marlborough exhibition
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Judith White (Editor), Look, 'Indigo icon', pg. 25, Melbourne, Oct 2000, 8 (colour illus., detail), 24 (colour illus.), 25.
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Miranda Wood., Sun-Herald, '$3332,000 paid to see woman in bath', Sydney, 30 Jul 2000, page unknown (colour illus.). Article about Gallery's purchase of this painting; review of 'Australian Icons' exhibition.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Life, 'Australian Art', Chicago, 03 Apr 1967, 28 (colour illus.). titled 'Woman in Bath'
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Adelaide Festival of Arts 1966: special exhibitions at the National Gallery of South Australia, 'The Mertz collection of contemporary Australian art', Adelaide, 1966, not paginated. cat.no. 97; titled 'Woman in Bath VI'; not dated
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Editor Unknown (Editor), Daily news, 'It's his wife!!", Perth, 07 Jan 1965, page unknown (illus.). General review of T.E. Wardle Invitation Art Prize 1965
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