Brett Whiteley

Brett Whiteley, an Australian artist, was born April 7, 1939 in Sydney, Australia. He died in 1992 in a motel in Thirroul, north of Wollongong, from a heart failure caused by a combination of drugs and alcohol.

Always very talented, in 1960, Whiteley won a Travelling Scholarship from the Italian Government, and moved to Europe. He married Wendy Julius in 1962, and their only child, daughter Arkie Whiteley, was born in London in 1964. In the early 1970's he returned to Australia, an established and collected artist. In 1976/77 he won the Archibald, the Suliman, and the Wynne prizes - all three of Australia's most pretstigious art prizes - and he was at the peak of his career. Increasingly dependent on alcohol, and then addicted to heroin, Whiteley's work output declined, although its market value continued to climb. He made several attempts to dry out and get off drugs completely, all ultimately unsuccessful. In 1989, he divorced Wendy, whom he had always credited as his 'muse', and in 1992 he died of a heroin overdose alone in a motel in Thirroul, New South Wales.

Among his works are a series of paintings and drawings of the British murderer, John Christie.

External links

• Brett Whiteley Studio - website of the artist's home in Sydney, Australia, now preserved as a museum. Website includes biographical details and an image gallery
• Brett Whiteley Profile - Includes a selection of paintings, artist quotations, biography and links to more resources on the artist.
• http://www.cookshill.com/hmri/artists/brett_whiteley_bio.html

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Brett Whiteley (July 1, 1960-) is also an Australian politican and a member of the Tasmanian Parliamentary Liberal Party.

External links

• http://www.taslib.net/html/biography6.html