10 Rillington Place
1964
Medium
oil and graphite on canvas on plywood, charcoal on paper, gelatin silver photographs, cord, cup, object, wood and glass
Measurements
150.0 × 137.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Samuel E. Wills Bequest, 1986
© Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
After several months spent in Italy in 1961, Brett Whiteley moved to London where he lived in an apartment close to where notorious murderer John Christie had strangled several women during the 1940s and early 1950s. Becoming preoccupied with these brutal murders, Whiteley produced a series of paintings depicting violated female bodies at close range, twisted and contorted near the point of abstraction. The nude female form became a recurrent motif for the artist and he returned to it repeatedly throughout his career, often in highly sexualised images of his wife Wendy.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Inscription
inscribed in brown ink on reverse: "10 RILLINGTON PLACE WII." / OIL TEMPERA (TEMPERA with a line through it) ON CANVAS, / PHOTOGRAPHS, CUP AND / OBJECT, MOUNTED BOARD / 59" x 54" / (150 x 137cms) / Brett Whitley 1964.
Accession Number
AC2-1986
Department
Australian Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Abstract Art Human Figures Violence
Subjects (specific)
dismemberment murders (deaths) nudity women (female humans)