Whiteley painting for Sothebys auction
Published March 15th, 2007
Sotheby’s estimates Whiteley’s ‘Opera House’ will fetch between two and three million dollars and is likely to break last year’s Whiteley record of $2,040,000 for `Frangipani and Humming Bird’.
On Wednesday, Whiteley’s `View From The Sitting Room Window’, also painted in Lavender Bay, sold for $1.5 million.
Other pieces to go under the hammer from the Qantas collection include Sidney Nolan’s ‘Rainbow Over Pilbara’, estimated to sell for up to $35,000, Rupert Bunny’s `The Garden Seat’ estimated to fetch up to $300,000.
There will also be works by John Olsen, John Peter Russell and Jeffrey Smart.
Sotheby’s Australia chairman Justin Miller said the pieces were sure to be well received by the public.
“Their entry into the market is bound to create excitement among collectors,” Mr Miller said.
Qantas said it will use the proceeds to fund state-based scholarships for Australian artists.
Whiteley’s ‘Opera House’ was bought by Qantas in 1982 and has been hanging in the airline’s lounge at Sydney airport ever since.
Sotheby’s head of painting, Georgina Pemberton, said the painting was typical of Whiteley’s work of the period, with a mix of media including paint, canvas and cardboard, and even a seashell he bought at a shop in Sydney’s Rocks area.
“One of the most delightful touches is the little shark’s fin in the water behind the Opera House,” Ms Pemberton said. “His sweeping lines perfectly capture the dramatic sails of the Opera House, with his added trademark ultramarine blue in the midnight sky.”
