Private Auction Announcement - Brett Whiteley

Smith & Singer are honoured to present Brett Whiteley’s exceptional masterpiece Yellow 1975 for private auction at 5.00 pm, Tuesday 10 October 2023.

Included in Brett Whiteley’s solo exhibition at Bonython Art Gallery, Sydney, in 1975, the work immediately received rapturous reviews:

‘The River is the third theme he explores and from this comes perhaps the most beautiful painting in the show.  Titled Yellow, it is the image of a curving white river splitting the space of a yellow background punctuated by tall blue cypress trees.  In the foreground a pond plays host to a white-necked crane and a timid brown rabbit.  The painting is one of Whiteley’s most lyric and poetic works to date.’ (Sandra McGrath, ‘Whiteley’s Homage to Matisse’, The Australian, Sydney, 25 October 1975, p. 26)

Yellow was acquired by the present owners from its initial exhibition in 1975 and has remained hidden from public view for almost half a century.  Reproduced here for the first time in colour and in its full glory, the re-emergence of Yellow is a cause for celebration. 

We are particularly delighted to be entrusted with the sale of Yellow, a masterpiece in Brett Whiteley’s oeuvre and a key composition within the history and development of landscape painting in Australia.

To arrange a private viewing in Melbourne or Sydney please contact us on the details below.