New PDF release: Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing

When he died in 1992 Brett Whiteley left in the back of many years of ceaseless activity—some works absolute to a specific position or time, others which are masterpieces of sunshine and line.

Whiteley had arrived in Europe in 1960 decided to make an influence. earlier than lengthy he used to be the youngest artist to have paintings bought through the Tate. together with his spouse, Wendy, and daughter, Arkie, Whiteley then immersed himself in bohemian big apple. yet inside of years he fled, having did not holiday through.

again in Sydney, he quickly grew to become Australia’s such a lot celebrated artist. He received the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes within the related year—his costs soared, as did his repute. between his pals have been Francis Bacon and Patrick White, Billy Connolly and Dire Straits. but habit used to be taking its toll: Whiteley struggled in useless to split his expertise from his illness, and an inglorious finish approached.

Written with exceptional behind-the-scenes entry, and handsomely illustrated with vintage Whiteley works of art, infrequent laptop sketches and candid family members photographs, this brilliant biography finds for the 1st time the complete portrait of a mercurial artist.

Ashleigh Wilson has been a journalist for nearly twenty years. He begun his occupation on the Australian in Sydney sooner than spending a number of years in Brisbane, overlaying every little thing from country politics to the Hollingworth trouble to indigenous affairs. He then moved north to turn into the paper's Darwin correspondent, a posting bookended via the Falconio homicide trial and the Howard government’s intervention in distant Aboriginal groups. in the course of that point he gained a Walkley Award for experiences on unethical behaviour within the Aboriginal paintings undefined, a chain that resulted in a Senate inquiry. He back to Sydney in 2008 and has been the paper’s Arts Editor seeing that 2011. He lives in Sydney.

‘Ashleigh Wilson has produced an exciting, soaking up and guaranteed account of Brett Whiteley’s lifestyles and work’. Mark Knopfler

‘With relentless precision, Ashleigh Wilson has supplied a peerless seize of the lifestyles and genius of Brett Whiteley. This storied trip of 1 of Australia’s so much mercurial twentieth-century artists may be most unlikely for the reader to place apart until eventually it really is complete. it's the dispassionate biography Whiteley has lengthy wanted: a profession clarified from the intense clouds of myth.’ Barry Pearce, Emeritus Curator of Australian artwork on the paintings Gallery of NSW

‘[Wilson brings] his topic to existence in a fast moving, exciting way…Clever number of detail…An very good biography.’ Books+Publishing

‘A full-dress lifetime of Whiteley that speeds and soars and not ceases to do homage to the tremendous disagreement and contradiction the artist represents…Wilson has written that rarest of items, a 400-page biography that's challenging to place down…[It] will make you weep for this exasperation of a guy and starvation for his art.’ Australian

‘An crucial and worthwhile source for any Whiteley scholar...Wilson’s fulfillment is considerable...Ashleigh Wilson’s Brett Whiteley: artwork, lifestyles and the opposite Thing is a benchmark e-book in Whiteley studies.’ Sydney overview of Books

‘Ashleigh Wilson’s new telling of Whiteley is a notable workout in sustained authorial discipline…Wilson has given Whiteley the biography he merits. Accommodating, even forgiving sometimes, yet by no means indulgent. Engaged and attentive, unaffectedly drawn to the artist, yet now not uncritical.’ Sydney Morning Herald

‘This new ebook is an engrossing examine the lifestyles, creative improvement and individual at the back of the enfant bad of the spotlight.’ top paintings & layout Books of 2016, Readings

‘The top biography I learn [this 12 months] was once Ashleigh Wilson’s Brett Whiteley: artwork, existence and the opposite Thing…Combines journalistic rigour and private compassion his landmark account of 1 of our best artists.’ Australian