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Baldessin/Whiteley

Parallel Visions

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square

31 Aug 18 – 28 Jan 19

George Baldessin and Brett Whiteley were both born in 1939 and were to have a profound impact on Australian art.

In the 1960s and 1970s, they experienced meteoric success in their respective cities of Melbourne and Sydney. They were figurative, expressionist, attracted to popular culture, avant-garde art and existentialist ideas, and explored themes of sexuality and the urban environment. They were innovative in their use of medium, brilliantly provocative in their artistic language and created art that epitomised their epoch. Both died tragically young: Baldessin in 1978, and Whiteley in 1992.

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PaintingSculpture & Installation

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Installation views

<br/> Installation view of <em>Baldessin/Whiteley: Parallel Visions</em> on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square. Photo: Amelia Stanwix Photography<br/> Amelia Stanwix Photography Baldessin | Whiteley 4 installation Baldessin | Whiteley installation Baldessin | Whiteley installation 2 INST041331 Baldessin | Whiteley 3 installation Baldessin | Whiteley 5 installation Baldessin | Whiteley 6 installation

Virtual Tour

Select works

Brett WHITELEY<br/> <em>Evening coming in on Sydney Harbour</em> 1975 <!-- (recto) --><br /> oil on cotton on canvas<br /> 228.2 x 190.0 cm<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Presented by Mrs Adrian Gibson as the winner of the 1975 Sir William Angliss Memorial Art Prize, 1976<br /> A8-1976<br /> © Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency <!--3208--> George Baldessin <br/> <em>Pear</em> 1971–72, cast 2017<br/> bronze, ed. D5/7<br/> (169.0 x 80.0 cm) diameter<br/> McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Langwarrin<br/> © The Estate of George Baldessin Brett WHITELEY<br/> <em>Sacred baboon</em> (1975) <!-- (recto) --><br /> brush and ink, wood stain, watercolour, gouache and cut printed colour illustration on cardboard<br /> (81.6 x 67.6 cm) (image and sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1978<br /> A23-1978<br /> © Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency <!--27856--> George Baldessin<br/> Banquet 1976<br/> cast bronze<br/> 26 x 26 x 31.5 cm<br/> © Estate of George Baldessin Brett WHITELEY<br/> <em>Park under sunlight</em> 1976 <!-- (recto) --><br /> oil on canvas<br /> 210.0 x 152.4 cm<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mrs Margaret Stewart, Founder Benefactor, 1985<br /> AC13-1985<br /> © Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency <!--3209--> George BALDESSIN<br/> <em>Figure in enclosure</em> (1964) <!-- (view 8) --><br /> plaster, bronze patination<br /> 121.5 x 93.0 x 71.0 cm<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mr Joseph Brown OBE, Fellow, 1980<br /> AC73-1980<br /> © George Baldessin/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--3308--> Brett Whiteley<br/> <em>Untitled warm painting I</em> 1961<br/> synthetic polymer medium, charcoal, pencil and string on composition board<br/> 121.5 x 122 cm<br/> National Gallery of Australia, Canberra<br/> © Wendy Whiteley George BALDESSIN<br/> <em>Bedfellows</em> 1974 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching and aquatint<br /> 49.6 x 62.5 cm (inner platemark) 50.1 x 63.2 cm (outer platemark) 70.0 x 79.9 cm (sheet)<br /> artist's proof<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Gift of Ian and Sonya Rutherfurd, 2007<br /> 2007.342<br /> © The Estate of George Baldessin/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--83847--> George BALDESSIN<br/> <em>Personage and factory smoke</em> 1974 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching and aquatint printed in black ink, and stencil printed in brown inks<br /> 60.5 x 76.3 cm (plate) 69.0 x 89.5 cm (sheet)<br /> edition of 25<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Gift of William Peter Kerr and Edwin James Schefferle, 2015<br /> 2015.426<br /> © The Estate of George Baldessin/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--116893--> Brett Whiteley<br/> <em>My armchair</em> 1976<br/> oil on canvas<br/> 206.5 x 283.5 cm<br/> Private collection, Melbourne<br/> © Wendy Whiteley George BALDESSIN<br/> <em>MM of Rue St Denis</em> 1976 <!-- (recto) --><br /> charcoal and conté on paper<br /> 119.9 x 80.6 cm irreg. (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased with the assistance of The Docking Drawing Fund (NGV), 2001<br /> 2001.537<br /> © The Estate of George Baldessin/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--69084--> Brett WHITELEY<br/> <em>Lipstick</em> (1981) <!-- (recto) --><br /> colour lithograph, fibre-tipped pen, watercolour and collage<br /> 106.5 x 73.6 cm (image) 107.0 x 75.4 cm (sheet)<br /> printer's proof<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Gift of Fred Genis, 1985<br /> P33-1985<br /> © Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency <!--26384--> George BALDESSIN<br/> <em>Personage and window</em> 1967 <!-- (recto) --><br /> gouache, brush and pen and coloured ink<br /> 97.2 x 61.4 cm (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1971<br /> P100-1971<br /> © The Estate of George Baldessin/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--24803-->

Watch

Baldessin/Whiteley: Parallel Visions Sasha Grishin, Wendy Whiteley & Tess Edwards-Baldessin
Baldessin’s Pears George Baldessin
The American Dream Brett Whiteley
Whiteley’s Lasting Legacy Wendy Whiteley

Publication

Exhibition catalogue

Baldessin/Whiteley: Parallel Visions

Sasha Grishin with Harriet Edquist, Angela Hesson, Katrina Strickland and Ashleigh Wilson

Born forty-two days apart in 1939, Australian artists George Baldessin and Brett Whiteley had much in common. Both were highly innovative artists; both were largely figurative and expressionist in their art practices; and both were attracted to the avant-garde, pop culture and existentialism.

Tragically, both died young. Baldessin/Whiteley: Parallel Visions features essays exploring aspects of the lives and work of both artists, a rich selection of images and a comprehensive timeline. In following the parallel artistic practices of Baldessin and Whiteley, the publication creates a broader sense of how the work of the two artists ultimately epitomised the times in which they lived. Edited by Sasha Grishin, contributors include Harriet Edquist, Angela Hesson, Katrina Strickland and Ashleigh Wilson.

Publisher: National Gallery of Victoria
290mm x 240mm, portrait, 214 pages,
hardback
Fully illustrated in colour
ISBN: 9781925432435
Category: Australian art
RRP: $39.95 Published: August 2018

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Media release

16 Jul 18

Partners

Works in this exhibition are protected under the Australian Government's Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Scheme. Find out more