Ken Whisson Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Ken Whisson Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 20, 2024
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022), Lines and Landscape 2004
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
PROPERTY FORMERLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF PAT CORRIGAN AM, SYDNEY KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) Lines and Landscape 2004 oil on linen 120.0 x 85.0 cm; 123.0 x 88.0 cm (framed) signed, dated and inscribed verso: Ken Whisson/ Title: "Lines and Landscape"/ or "Phenomenological Restitution"/ or "From Inside" or "Looking Out"/ 85cm x 120cm/ Painted: 7/4/04 & 19/8/04 & 27/8/04/ Oil colours on Belgian linen.
Menzies
Oct. 01, 2024
KEN WHISSON, (1927 - 2022), With A Nod Towards Arshile Gorky - 2000/01, oil on linen, 79 x 119 (frame: 82.5 x 122.5) cm
Est: $24,000 - $28,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) With A Nod Towards Arshile Gorky - 2000/01 oil on linen signed, titled and dated verso
Lawsons
Sep. 24, 2024
Ken Whisson, (1927-2022), Interior with Man and Women, c. 1963, ink on paper, 40 x 48 cm (unframed)
Est: $800 - $1,200
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Interior with Man and Women, c. 1963 ink on paper inscribed to backing board verso 'Interior with Man and Woman, 1963 or 1964'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 24, 2024
Ken Whisson, (1927-2022), Self Portrait, 1978, pencil on paper, 48 x 34 cm (unframed)
Est: $700 - $1,000
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Self Portrait, 1978 pencil on paper titled, signed and dated verso 'Self Portrait, Ken Whisson, Perugia, 4/1/78'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 28, 2024
KEN WHISSON, FROM HERE AND FROM THERE, 2001
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) FROM HERE AND FROM THERE, 2001 oil on linen 119.5 x 100.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: Artist: Ken Whisson / Title: "From Here and from / There" / Painted: 1/4/2001 + 23/12/01 / + 25 + 27/12/2001 PROVENANCE Niagara Galleries, Melbourne (label attached verso) Private collection, Melbourne Menzies, Sydney, 8 December 2011, lot 103 John Barnes, Melbourne, acquired from the above The Estate of John Barnes, Melbourne EXHIBITED Paintings 1947 – 1999, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 29 October – 23 November 2002, cat. 6 ESSAY Ken Whisson holds a unique place in Australian modernism from the second half of the 20th century. He was quite unlike many now famous self-promoters he met in his late teens. He listened to Albert Tucker and met Nolan, but he really admired the work of Joy Hester. Whisson welcomed recognition, however his determination to be an artist, uncompromisingly honest within himself, meant that any deftly arranged public persona eluded him. He never rated highly a couple of years at art school. But Whisson’s time with Danilla Vassilieff in 1945 – 46 was a crucial introduction to figurative expressionism in Melbourne. Vassilieff’s Koornong School was in Warrandyte, east of Melbourne and a stone’s throw from Lilydale, where Whisson was born. He would make do with part time employment, often menial jobs. The seeming awkwardness of his distorted figuration and compositions that veer towards abstraction were unplaceable in Australia’s contemporary context. Any suggestion of technical proficiency and good taste held no appeal. Despite exhibiting sporadically with modest critical reaction and commercial interest, a fuller appreciation of his art took hold in the mid-1970s and James Mollison, Director, National Gallery of Australia, played an influential role – his acquisitions and advocacy were generous. Whisson had travelled widely but in in 1977 he left Australia for Perugia, Italy, lived unpretentiously and used his kitchen table as his studio. His resoluteness to being an artist transcended being ‘professional’ in his outlook. But what we now see is a career that holds perennial interest. He does not fit into a common art historical pattern where early work develops into fully-fledged maturity, where stages of repetitive familiarity might be expected, and moments of brilliance mark individual distinctiveness. It is Whisson’s art as a whole career which holds our interest. His work has always been in plain sight but was seldom given its due until later in life. From Here and From There, 2001 includes life-long traits which combine in a single work. Intuition, as de Kooning put it, ‘an unsure atmosphere of reflection… a poetic frame where something could be possible, where an artist could practice his intuition’. And memory, ‘…has to come from a whole process of intuitive processes, from the intuitive focusing of memories, ideas, emotions including the seeds of new beginnings left somewhere in the past work…’1 Whisson offered his idea of technique in a 1994 lecture. He had listened to the Italian theatre director, Dario Fo speak, and found a parallel with his own work as a painter, ‘There are times when the actor has to make use of all the techniques at his disposal. However, he must make every effort not to use any of them unless it is unavoidable – he will gain every time… his and the audience’s imagination are given room to move.’2 1. De Kooning, cited in Sprague, Q., Ken Whisson: Painting & Drawing, Drill Hall Gallery Publishing, Canberra & The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2023, p. 2 2. Whisson, cited op. cit., p. 6 DOUG HALL AM © Ken Whisson/Copyright Agency, 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 27, 2024
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Country Race Meeting, 1975
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Country Race Meeting, 1975 signed lower left: 'WHISSON' inscribed verso extensively: 'GEORGE CROUCH / JUBILEE EXHIBITION / ARTIST KEN WHISSON / TITLE OF PAINTING 'COUNTRY RACE MEETING' / PAINTED JULY 1974' oil and clear enamel on composition board 85.5 x 105.0cm (33 11/16 x 41 5/16in).
Bonhams
May. 21, 2024
Ken Whisson, (1927-2022), Delicate Balance, 1984, oil on canvas, 88.5 x 118.5 cm
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Delicate Balance, 1984 oil on canvas signed, dated and inscribed verso '(in Bilico), 'Delicate Balance 6,10,84, Ken Whisson' inscribed canvas edge verso 'Touches of yellow etc.., added 11,8,85, 'In Bilico', Delicate Balance, Precarious Balance' 6,10, 84,[illeg] in fact goes. equally well either way Ken Whisson In Bilico' Delicate. Balance 6,10, 84, In Bilico Or 'Oopla' 6,10, 84'
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 07, 2024
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Flag for a Small Industrial Suburb (Flag of My Disposition No. 6), 1979
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Ken Whisson (1927-2022) Flag for a Small Industrial Suburb (Flag of My Disposition No. 6), 1979 signed, titled and dated verso: 'flag for a Small Industrial Suburb / Painted 18/2/79 / Flag of my Disposition No. / Ken Whisson' oil on canvas 79.5 x 118.5cm (31 5/16 x 46 5/8in).
Bonhams
Mar. 12, 2024
Ken Whisson, (1927-2020), Trees, Buildings and Birds, 1992, lithograph on paper, 57 x 76 cm
Est: $400 - $600
Ken Whisson (1927-2020) Trees, Buildings and Birds, 1992 lithograph on paper edition: A/P, 10/10, numbered, titled, signed and dated below image 'A/P, 10/10, Trees, Buildings and Birds, '92'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Feb. 13, 2024
KEN WHISSON, PEOPLE AND BOATS, 2004
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) PEOPLE AND BOATS, 2004 charcoal, pen and ink on paper 40.0 x 55.0 cm (sheet) 61.5 x 76.0 cm (frame) signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: "People and Boats" / 18/12/04 / Ken Whisson further inscribed verso: Upper Esplanade St. Kilda / 18/12/04 / Large green handle / sable brush – much better than fine / silver handle new / brushes / ... Montval paper? / bought Subiaco PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso) Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2005 EXHIBITED Ken Whisson: Recent Paintings and Drawings, Watters Gallery, Sydney, 4 – 29 October 2005, cat. 18 © Ken Whisson This work is located in our Sydney Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 29, 2023
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022), Window and Aeroplane (for Paul Nash) 1999-2000
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) Window and Aeroplane (for Paul Nash) 1999-2000 oil on linen 85.0 x 120.0 cm; 87.5 x 123.0 cm (framed) bears inscription verso: Ken Whisson/ Perugia: 23/8/99/ + 17/1/2000/ Title: "Window and/ Aeroplane"/ Subtitle: "(For Paul Nash)"/ Dimensions: 85 cm x 120 cm/ Oil colours on Belgian linen canvas
Menzies
Nov. 29, 2023
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022), Prepositions and Adverbs of Time c1980
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
ARTHUR BOYD (1920-1999) The Dream of Nebuchadnezzar 1975 wool and cotton tapestry 236.0 x 335.0 cm edition: 1/6 signed lower right: Arthur Boyd woven by the Manufactura de Tapecarias de Portalegre, Portugal (monogram lower right, label attached verso)
Menzies
Oct. 24, 2023
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) For the Moment of Porto Alegre 2000-01 oil on Belgian linen 89.5 x 119cm
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) For the Moment of Porto Alegre 2000-01 oil on Belgian linen signed, dated and inscribed verso: Artist: Ken Whisson/ Title: "For the Moment of Porto Alegre"/ (For the bright and beautiful/ moment of Porto Alegre)/ Painted Perugia 13/2/2000/ + 9/7/2000 + 7/2/2001 artist's inscriptions across canvas edge verso 89.5 x 119cm PROVENANCE: Watters Gallery, Sydney 2001 (label verso) Private collection, Melbourne Menzies, Sydney, 17 May 2017, lot 56 Corporate collection, Melbourne Menzies, Melbourne, 27 February 2020, lot 52 Private collection, Melbourne
Leonard Joel
Oct. 08, 2023
WHISSON Ken (1927-2022), 'A Voice from the Sky,' 2003., Pen & Ink, 50x70cm
Est: $1,500 - $3,000
WHISSON, Ken (1927-2022) 'A Voice from the Sky,' 2003. Ex Watters Gallery, Sydney (label verso) Pen & Ink 50x70cm
Davidson Auctions
Aug. 23, 2023
§ KEN WHISSON 1927-2022 Country Sleep 1980 oil on canvas 100 x 120 cm
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
§ KEN WHISSON 1927-2022 Country Sleep 1980 oil on canvas signed, dated and inscribed 'COUNTRY SLEEP' verso (on stretcher) 100 x 120 cm PROVENANCE Ken Whisson, Melbourne Private Collection, Melbourne Fine Australian Paintings, Sotheby's Australia, Sydney, 29 November 1991, lot 527, illustrated Ian Rogers Fine Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above Private Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above on 6 November 1996 EXHIBITED Ken Whisson: The Italian Paintings, Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane, 18 October - 6 November 1980 Australian Perspecta 1981: A Biennial Survey of Contemporary Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 29 May - 21 June 1981, no. 143, illustrated (label verso) LITERATURE Bernice Murphy, Australian Perspecta 1981: A Biennial Survey of Contemporary Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, p. 155 (illustrated)
Smith & Singer
Aug. 23, 2023
KEN WHISSON 1927-2022 Motor Cars and Drivers 1975 oil on composition board 84 x 105.5 cm frame: original, Ken Whisson, Melbourne
Est: $45,000 - $65,000
KEN WHISSON 1927-2022 Motor Cars and Drivers 1975 oil on composition board signed 'WHISSON' upper right; signed, dated and inscribed 'ABOUT MARCH 1975 / MOTOR CARS AND DRIVERS' verso 84 x 105.5 cm frame: original, Ken Whisson, Melbourne PROVENANCE Ken Whisson, Melbourne Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane Private Collection Niagara Galleries, Melbourne Art Galleries Schubert, Surfers Paradise (label verso) Private Collection, Queensland Australian & International Fine Art, Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne, 9 May 2007, lot 16, illustrated $72,000 Private Collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above EXHIBITED Ken Whisson: Paintings and Drawings, Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane, 19 June – 15 July 1976, no. 4 Ken Whisson: As If, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 17 March – 15 July 2012; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 28 September – 25 November 2012, no. 82, illustrated LITERATURE Glenn Barkley & Lesley Harding, Ken Whisson: As If, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2012, pp. 84 (illustrated), 153 (illustrated)
Smith & Singer
Aug. 16, 2023
KEN WHISSON, EARTH AND SKY OR HEAVEN AND EARTH, C.1965
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) EARTH AND SKY OR HEAVEN AND EARTH, c.1965 oil on composition board 60.5 x 89.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: ABOUT 1965 / EARTH / AND SKY / KEN WHISSON / OR HEAVEN AND EARTH PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso) Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2012 Estate of the above EXHIBITED Art Month Sydney: A Special Exhibition, Watters Gallery, Sydney, 3 – 20 March 2010, cat. 13 LITERATURE Sprague, Q., Ken Whisson: Painting & Drawing, Drill Hall Gallery Publishing, Canberra & The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2023, p. 133 (illus.) © Ken Whisson
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 28, 2023
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022), Memory Traces 1989
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) Memory Traces 1989 oil on canvas 49.5 x 69.5 cm dated and inscribed verso: "Memory Traces"/ 7/1/89 + 18/1/89/ + 5/5/89/ and 7/11/89
Menzies
May. 23, 2023
Ken Whisson (1927-2020)
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
A Range of Untypical Types, 2011 indian ink on paper, titled verso 'A Range of Untypical types
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 23, 2023
Ken Whisson (1927-2020)
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Motor Cars and Drivers 1 wax crayon and indian ink on paper, titled, signed and inscribed verso 'Motor Cars and Drivers 1, Ken Whisson, Caloundra'
Shapiro Auctioneers
May. 02, 2023
KEN WHISSON 1927-2022 Car and Driver 1974 oil on composition board
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON 1927-2022 Car and Driver 1974 oil on composition board signed, dated and inscribed 'March 8th 1974 / K. WHISSON / 15/8 ALFRED SQ. SAINT KILDA VIC. / "CAR AND DRIVER"' 81.5 x 104.5 cm frame: original, Ken Whisson, Melbourne PROVENANCE Ken Whisson, Melbourne Private Collection 19th & 20th Century Fine Australian and International Art, Deutscher-Menzies, Melbourne, 28 November 2001, lot 73, illustrated Selwyn and Renata Litton, Sydney, acquired from the above EXHIBITED Paintings and Drawings by Ken Whisson, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 28 August - 9 September 1974, no. 12 Ken Whisson: A Survey, Shepparton Art Gallery, Shepparton; Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat; Warnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool; Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong; Pincaotheca, Melbourne; Hamilton Art Gallery, Hamilton, 1990 - 1991, no. 15, illustrated LITERATURE John McDonald, Ken Whisson: A Survey, 312 Lennox Street, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 13 (illustrated), 18
Smith & Singer
Mar. 21, 2023
Ken Whisson (1927-2020)
Est: $400 - $600
Trees, Buildings and Birds, 1992 lithograph on paper, edition: 52/99, numbered, titled, signed and dated below image '52/99, Trees, Buildings and Birds, Ken Whisson, '92'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 21, 2023
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) With A Nod Towards Arshile Gorky 2000-01 oil on linen
Est: $26,000 - $32,000
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) With A Nod Towards Arshile Gorky 2000-01 oil on linen signed, titled and dated verso: Ken Whisson / "With a Nod Towards Arshile Gorky" 21/1/2000 + 25/6/2000 + 17/1/2001 79 x 119cm PROVENANCE: Watters Gallery, Sydney (label verso) Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: © Courtesy The Estate of Ken Whisson
Leonard Joel
Mar. 16, 2023
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2020) Back of Nowhere, 1994 ink on paper 49.5 x 70 cm (frame: 73 x 92 x 3 cm) Legge Gallery label verso
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2020) Back of Nowhere, 1994 ink on paper 49.5 x 70 cm (frame: 73 x 92 x 3 cm) Legge Gallery label verso
Lawsons
Dec. 13, 2022
KEN WHISSON, LANDSCAPE MARKS NO. 6, 1987
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) LANDSCAPE MARKS NO. 6, 1987 ink on paper 41.0 x 50.0 cm (sheet) 64.0 x 72.0 (frame) PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1989 © Ken Whisson, This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 01, 2022
KEN WHISSON, CITYSCAPE/DEEP DREAM, 1994
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) CITYSCAPE/DEEP DREAM, 1994 oil on canvas 110.0 x 120.0 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: Ken Whisson / Perugia 22/1/94 / + 16/2/94/ + 18/3/94 / Title: “Cityscape / Deep Dream” PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney (labels attached verso) Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1997 EXHIBITED Ken Whisson paintings & drawings, Watters Gallery, Sydney, 22 October – 8 November 1997, cat. 7 (illus. in exhibition catalogue) ESSAY By the time Ken Whisson came to paint Cityscape / Deep Dream, 1994, he had been living permanently in Italy for 17 years and settled into the rhythm of painting and sending the paintings back to Australia for annual solo exhibitions. During these years, the artist was at last comfortable and at ease with commercial and critical success. He was also able to travel abroad more freely and made the most of his annual trips to Australia. He would usually stay a couple of months and visit relatives and friends in most major cities, as well as making trips into the country. A look over the dates of many Whisson works reveals the European winter was a very productive time and it is no coincidence that these periods of high productivity followed his trips abroad. His memories and recollections from his time away would be perfect material for an artist who draws deeply on what he has seen, and how he now sees it. The present work was painted between January and March 1994 following Whisson’s return to Italy. The upper area of the work appears to represent the vertical forms of a city, with details such as buildings, trees and chimneys represented by drapes of low-key colour. Two large clouds threaten to obliterate the sunrise. An abstracted subterranean world beneath presents an alternate perspective which appears open, airy and accessible. We are drawn into the interior of the city and feel the human scale of doors windows, walls and space. So, on one level we have the real experience of the entering the city as we fit into its domestic scale, and on another we have the imagined reality of the city, looming large, towering above. There is a familiarity about Whisson’s landscapes for they are constructed of essential matter-of-fact fragments of memory that most of us share; trees are green, roads are grey and so are clouds. Cows have four legs and a tail, so do dogs – but cows are bigger. Birds have wings and fly up and around, they are hard to see because they move fast and blur when they fly. Of course, in reality the details of these examples are nuanced; no two greens or two trees or two cows are ever exactly the same, but their essential values in terms of form, patterns, mass and colour, which trigger memories are generally shared ones. In Whisson’s landscapes, everyday features become stylised versions of themselves. It is his ability to take these and add weight, mass and shape that creates the common denominator through which we view these paintings; it is what causes them to appear familiar and evocative. This is the level on which Whisson works; he is exploring the mechanics of memory, which is something we all share. An image of a particular tree for example can trigger memories, as far back as childhood, in an instant. A particular shade of colour can evoke an avalanche of recollection from a holiday, a place or an event. Once the door is open, memory floods the mind to create fragmented narratives, which Whisson presents as layers of colour, form and line. His completed paintings are a form of mental cubism. Over a lifetime, Whisson quietly cemented his place in the canon of Australian painting. And until his sudden death at 94 in February this year, was painting daily with a fierce enthusiasm. The consistency of his output over many decades is unmatched and his often-polarising paintings are simply unique in Australian art. His 2012 retrospective exhibition held at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Victoria, was a brilliant and uplifting testimony to his importance. HENRY MULHOLLAND
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 01, 2022
KEN WHISSON, UNTITLED (CARLTON CAFÉ KITCHEN), 1969
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) UNTITLED (CARLTON CAFÉ KITCHEN), 1969 oil on composition board 86.5 x 61.0 cm PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney, acquired from the above in July 1987 Deutscher and Hackett, Sydney, 5 April 2017, lot 66 Laverty collection, Sydney EXHIBITED The Colin and Elizabeth Laverty collection – a selection of Indigenous and non–Indigenous art exhibition, Geelong Gallery, Victoria, 18 February – 15 April 2012 ESSAY Untitled (Carlton Café Kitchen), 1969 was acquired in 1987 by the celebrated art connoisseurs, Colin and Elizabeth Laverty who frequently selected numerous works by an artist with the aim of charting his or her development. Ken Whisson was a particular favourite, and at one time the Laverty collection would have held around a dozen or more examples of his works spanning his career. Like many Whisson collectors, they began with his mid-career paintings and then worked back to acquire earlier examples, many of which had remained unsold prior to the mid-1970s when the artist first began to achieve commercial success. The present example is perhaps one of the earliest in their collection. Collecting Whisson’s paintings was largely driven by Elizabeth rather than Colin – who had a particular predilection for abstract art. Elizabeth was the figurative arm of the collecting duo and in view of this it is not surprising that their two sensibilities should find common ground on the surface of Whisson’s work, for few artists tread the line between pure abstraction and figuration with the dexterity of Ken Whisson. The present example is untitled as Whisson wants his audience to approach the painting with a completely open mind. He encourages us to discover the painting the way he did – to appreciate its painterly forms and colour values as they evolved on the surface. In this instance, as a concession to the viewer he offers a secondary title included in parenthesis, ‘Carlton Café Kitchen’. It is tempting to construct a reading around this, and why not? The interior as he depicts it is stark and minimal, the surface is divided by upper and lower slabs of colour. Within the space which we assume to be a café, two figures gyrate in typical Whisson fashion. One figure appears to be behind the black square, possibly a counter or stove – perhaps cooking, with the dark form above a plume of smoke. The second figure approaches the counter, possibly as a customer or fellow worker in the café’s kitchen. The real contrast and the substance of the work is the opposing treatments between the organic flesh forms of the humans and the rigid architecture of the workplace. In the late 1960s, Whisson returned from abroad and moved into the bohemian suburb of Carlton. Untitled (Carlton Café Kitchen) was painted at time when the suburb had rich migrant community – jazz music, discussion about art and politics, and anti-Vietnam war sentiment filled the air. Cafes and speakeasies were the natural places for political discourse, and therefore for a political junkie such a Whisson, it follows that these places would be a natural subject for the artist. Any politics, be they local or international, about art and science were central to Whisson’s life and work and accordingly, he would have been a regular voice at rallies gathering and debates – willing to take on even the most passionate adversary with his fever pitch beliefs. Whisson’s works from this period are not for the faint hearted; they are rigorous, uncompromising propositions that challenge the viewer to set aside preconceived ideas about what a painting should be and instead, to wrestle them towards the fantastic, uncharted world of what a painting could be. HENRY MULHOLLAND
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 09, 2022
KEN WHISSON, SMOKE, FARMHOUSE & RUNNING DOG, 1997
Est: $1,800 - $2,400
KEN WHISSON (1927 – 2022) SMOKE, FARMHOUSE & RUNNING DOG, 1997 ink on paper 45.5 x 57.0 cm 67.5 x 78.5 cm (frame) signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: Ken Whisson/Smoke, Farmhouse and Running dog / 14/3/97 PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso) Private collection, Sydney Deutscher~Menzies, Melbourne, 1 May 2002, lot 115 The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above EXHIBITED Ken Whisson, Watters Gallery, Sydney, 1997, cat. 17 Land Songs, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Victoria, 19 February – 26 June 2011 LITERATURE Nainby, B., Stanhope, Z., and Furlonger, K., The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, in association with Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne, 2009, p. 237 This work is located in our Sydney Gallery © Ken Whisson
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 27, 2022
KEN WHISSON, WATER AND LIGHT, 1999
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) WATER AND LIGHT, 1999 oil on canvas 90.0 x 119.5 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title verso: 7/2/99 Title: “Water and Light” / or / “Seaside with / Green Lines and Black Boat”/ … / Ken Whisson / Perugia 7/2/99 / PROVENANCE Watters Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso) Private collection, Sydney Deutscher~Menzies, Melbourne, 1 May 2002, lot 97 The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above EXHIBITED Ken Whisson Landscape Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney, 20 October – 6 November 1999, cat. 11 (illus. in exhibition catalogue) Essential, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Victoria, 8 May - 5 September 2010 Mute Reason, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Victoria, 27 April - 25 August 2013 on long term loan to Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria LITERATURE Whisson, K., and McDonald, J., Ken Whisson: Paintings 1947 – 1999, Niagara Publishing, Melbourne, cat. 85, pp. 101 (illus.), 122 Nainby, B., Stanhope, Z., and Furlonger, K., The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, in association with Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne, 2009, pp. 17, 176 (illus.), 237 ESSAY A notable feature of many Ken Whisson’s paintings is a curious tendency to apply multiple titles for each work. In this painting, in his usual fashion, Whisson has inscribed alternate titles on the reverse of the canvas as follows: Water and Light or Seaside with Green Lines and Black Boat. These variable titles, or descriptions, offer an insight into the artist’s working methods and underline his free-form, intuitive approach. The official exhibition title, Water and Light, anchors the work to a subject, while the second, more detailed title gently reflects the artist’s thought processes as the work evolved on the canvas. In this painting, Whisson’s two titles are worlds apart and serve different purposes. Water and Light places it in the natural world, while the second, more poetic title provides a kind of street map to the interpretation of the work, with its green lines acting as pointers for viewers to enter the work. On one hand these can be read as descriptions of what Whisson sees on the surface and responds to as the work evolves. On the other, they point to the artist’s overarching subject, which was to explore experience through memory. The second title also points to the figurative elements of this painting and assists in teasing out a literal interpretation. While the entire composition is soaked in a white light, a blue mark to the left which one can assume to be water suggests a horizon and divides the canvas evenly. Into this scene, we follow Whisson’s figures as they pose and gyrate throughout the work. We can distil the seaside scenario quite easily – although the work was created in landbound Perugia in Italy – the blue ocean presents as a horizon with its drifting diagonal hinting at distance and perspective. The black boat tethered to its mooring is minimal and abstract – a flash of memory. The palette of Water and Light is typical of Whisson’s use of bright primary and secondary colours. He wants his paintings to be noticed and the bright colour arrests the viewer’s attention and draws the eye through the work. The high key colour of Whisson’s work is at odds with the lack of colour in his daily surrounds. As a regular visitor in recent years, I was struck by the absence of colour within his small apartment. The overall feel was of warm greys between white walls devoid of artworks. In his tiny bedroom studio, which contained only the bare necessities for painting, even the brightly coloured works in progress were turned to the wall leaving only the blank reverse visible. Whisson would talk about not wanting to waste his eyesight and preserved it by minimising screentime and rarely going outdoors without his safety sunglasses. The only colour came from a large window, where from his second floor, he had a view of trees and a neighbouring swimming pool, where he watched birds swoop for insects on the water’s surface. In a sense the window acted as a screen through which the artist would watch the world, following nature’s passing light. The neutrality of the apartment’s interior amplified the power of this exterior scene. Whisson’s dedication to his work has parallels with the reclusive Ian Fairweather. But where Fairweather chose to isolate on himself on Bribie Island, Whisson’s isolation was in inner cities, amongst the people and his essential connections to the world, such as literature and international newsfeeds via the radio. In the early years when Whisson set out on his journey as an artist he was aware that it would be a long road and it would take time to achieve success. For this reason, he lived frugally, ate sensibly and exercised. And until his sudden death aged 94 in February this year, was painting daily with as much vigour and passion as he ever had. The consistency of his output over many decades is unmatched and his often-polarising paintings are simply unique in Australian art. HENRY MULHOLLAND © Ken Whisson
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 30, 2022
KEN WHISSON (1927-2020) Fairly Vivid, 1979 pencil and ink 50 x 59 cm (frame: 67 x 76 x 3 cm) signed and dated lower right
Est: $1,200 - $1,800
KEN WHISSON (1927-2020) Fairly Vivid, 1979 pencil and ink 50 x 59 cm (frame: 67 x 76 x 3 cm) signed and dated lower right
Lawsons
May. 09, 2022
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) From the Newspapers No. 2 1998 oil on linen
Est: $18,000 - $24,000
KEN WHISSON (1927-2022) From the Newspapers No. 2 1998 oil on linen signed, dated and inscribed verso: Ken Whisson/ 12/4/98 + 30/5/98/ 31/5/95 + 5/6/98 "From the Newspapers No. 2" 90 x 119.5cm PROVENANCE: Niagara Galleries, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITIONS: Ken Whisson: As If, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Heide, 17 March - 15 July 2012, and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 28 September - 25 November 2012
Leonard Joel
May. 04, 2022
KEN WHISSON, FLAG FOR DAVID IRELAND, NO. 1, FOR THE UNKNOWN INDUSTRIAL PRISONER, 1979
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
KEN WHISSON (1927 - 2022) FLAG FOR DAVID IRELAND, NO. 1, FOR THE UNKNOWN INDUSTRIAL PRISONER, 1979 oil on canvas 100.0 x 119.0 cm signed upper left: WHISSON inscribed with title on stretcher bar verso: FLAG FOR DAVID IRELAND No 1 FOR THE UNKNOWN INDUSTRIAL PRISONER PROVENANCE Niagara Galleries, Melbourne Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above on 29 June 1988 RELATED WORK Flag for David Ireland No. 2, 1979 – 80, oil on canvas, 89 x 119 cm, in the collection of the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Victoria ESSAY This masterful work by Ken Whisson takes its title from David Ireland’s 1971 novel, The Unknown Industrial Prisoner, a dark comedy about a post WWII industrial dystopia set in an oil refinery in Sydney. The characters in the book are known only by odd nicknames such as ‘The Samurai’, ‘The Good Shepard’, ‘The Glass Canoe’, or the local madam known as ‘The Old Lamp Lighter’. These names heighten the calamitous nature of the book, each offering insights into physical or attitudinal aspects of the characters. Whisson’s paintings often meld figures into interiors or landscapes; thus when considered within the context of the artist’s leftist politics, the idea of Ireland’s refinery workers painted against the industrial backdrop afforded perfect material for Whisson. The book’s fractured narrative creates a sense of space akin to cubism, which also aligns well with Whisson’s working methods. The narrative is written as a series of short, fragmented episodes, and there is no real plot, but rather an unravelling sequence of events. Similarly, Whisson’s paintings are spatial with no linear narrative in the sense that each work finishes, where it ends up and vice versa. The current work belongs to a series considered very important in Whisson’s career. Known amongst collectors and critics as his ‘Flag paintings’, they were painted in Italy in the late 1970s and represent an important transition between works created before his move to Italy and everything that followed. Typically, Whisson’s flag paintings lean towards total abstraction – their pockets of bright forms interspersed with areas of white paint create an open fractured surface, which was to become a lasting feature of Whisson’s work. Each painting in the series has a title such as Flag for a Small Lethal Army, Flag off My Disposition, or in this case, Flag for David Ireland, No 1. The word flag provides each work with a political charge, albeit of personal significance to the artist. As former MCA curator Glen Barkley wrote, ‘… Flag for The Red Brigades and the Hudson Institute, 1978, brings together the unthinkable… the Hudson Institute with its atomic annihilation scenarios… and the Red Brigade terrorist group, who had made the unthinkable a reality by pursuing a violent political trajectory that culminated in the kidnapping and murder of the Italian prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978.’1 Recognisable forms that existed in his work until now, become interwoven through shape, colour and line into the overall compositions. In pictorial terms, this worked well for Whisson and his depiction of Ireland’s industrial dystopia where workers are regarded simply as extensions of the refinery in the eyes of the company and as such, morph into the industrial landscape. Significantly Ireland’s title ‘The Unknown Industrial Prisoner’ – while clearly describing the anonymity of the workers in the plant – is also the name of a welded steel, abstract sculpture typical of the time. It was created by a manager at the plant and was said to be ‘…symbolic of the intense pressures on modern industrial man and the sense of compression and isolation in a confined space.’2 By the time Whisson had painted this work, he had settled permanently in Italy and into the rhythm of painting, and was regularly sending the paintings back to Australia for annual exhibitions, either with Ray Hughes in Brisbane, or the Watters Gallery in Sydney. Over a lifetime, Whisson quietly cemented his place in the canon of Australian painting. And until his sudden death at 94 in February this year, was painting daily with as much vigour and passion as he ever had. The consistency of his output over many decades is unmatched and his often-polarising paintings are simply unique in Australian art. His 2012 retrospective exhibition held at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Victoria, was a brilliant and up lifting testimony to his importance. Whisson was a painter dedicated to an art that is not simply fashionable, but deeply rooted in ideas and painterly possibilities. 1. Barkley, G., and Harding, L., Ken Whisson. As If, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2012, p. 23 2. Ireland, D., The Unknown Industrial Prisoner, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 1971, p. 394 HENRY MULHOLLAND © Ken Whisson
Deutscher and Hackett
Apr. 29, 2022
Kenneth (Ken) Ronald Whisson (Australian 1927-) Modern City Seen From A Great Distance, 1995
Est: £15,000 - £25,000
Kenneth (Ken) Ronald Whisson (Australian 1927-) Modern City Seen From A Great Distance, 1995 inscribed, titled and dated 'Perugia 23/6/95 +21/12/95' (to reverse), oil on canvas (111cm x 121cm (43.6in x 47.6in)) Provenance: Richard Salmon Gallery, London. Footnote: Exhibited: Richard Salmon Galleries, London, Ken Whisson: Paintings and Drawings, May-July 1997. Kenneth (Ken) Whisson has been at the forefront of Australian contemporary art for over 60 years, producing paintings that hold a unique place in the history of Australian art built around his own inner reality and the world at large. Born in Lilydale, outside Melbourne in 1927, Whisson emerged from the influential school of figurative expressionism after studying under the Russian émigré artist Danila Vassilieff (1897-1958). Since then his paintings have evolved, combining influences from this formative period, whilst looking forward to an increasing interaction between solid shapes and linear descriptions as in Modern City Seen From A Great Distance. In explanation of his work, Whisson described: "The best, perhaps only, way to relate to my paintings and in general to the kind of modern paintings that move between being and non-being or better, and more exactly, between what sees and what is seen, is to not look for what is not there. To put it more simply, perhaps, my paintings succeed in their intention when the images, that which is clearly intended as image, is also meaningful as form, but fail if that which is intended only as form is seen also as image.... I should add that there is sometimes only a fairly oblique relationship between my works and their titles. The titles, even in these cases, are intended as a lead into understanding the work." (Kenneth Whisson, 19 September 2000). In Modern City Seen From A Great Distance the scene is broken down into numerous viewpoints scattered across the canvas, with landscape elements drawn in paint. It is not meant to be one particular place, but rather an imaginary landscape with the intention of re-counting a series of architectural shapes, including components that might stand in for bushes or trees. The current work is in a classic later Whisson style, where the white canvas has become an important element of the whole composition. Memory also plays a large part in Whisson’s work, and his retreat into his own childhood in rural Lilydale and artistic past, provide rich motifs for his paintings. These ideas and experiences of displacement, following his relocation to Perugia in Italy in the late 1970s, continue throughout his work and help to elaborate on his personal and unconventional aesthetic that alludes to a heightened and perhaps even sometimes a hallucinogenic reality.
Lyon & Turnbull
Feb. 22, 2022
KEN WHISSON, DRUMMER, c.1973
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON born 1927 DRUMMER, c.1973 oil on composition board 85.0 x 108.5 cm signed, dated and inscribed with title on handwritten label verso: KEN WHISSON / “DRUMMER” / ABOUT 1973 inscribed verso: DRUMMER ABOUT 1973 / CHERELLE / HUTCHINSON / 66 ST ANDREWS ST / BRIGHTON inscribed with title on frame verso: DRUMMER PROVENANCE Cherelle Hutchinson, Melbourne Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne The National Australia Bank Art Collection, acquired from the above in November 1978 (label attached verso) EXHIBITED Possibly: Ken Whisson, Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane, 17 June – 6 July 1973 The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of National Australia Bank, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 15 October – 28 November 1982 Collection of Modern Art in the Seventies, Latrobe Valley Arts Centre, Victoria, 9 May - 2 June 1985 The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of National Australia Bank, Geelong Art Gallery, Victoria, 30 April - 29 May 1988 The Seventies Exhibition: Selected Paintings from the National Australia Bank Collection, MacLaurin Hall, The University of Sydney, Sydney, 6 September - 1 October 1989, cat. 38 LITERATURE Lindsay, R., The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of National Australia Bank, The National Bank of Australasia, Melbourne, 1982 'Insight into Recent Art', The Express, Victoria, 2 May 1985, p. 12 (as 'The Drummer') ESSAY Born in Lilydale Victoria in 1927, Ken Whisson was part of a generation of artists that included Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, and the European migrant Danila Vassilieff, who as his teacher, had a profound early influence on the young artist. There is an almost cult status around Ken Whisson and his work. To own a Whisson painting is to belong to a coalition of collectors that share a commitment to a form of painting that is not simply fashionable, but deeply rooted in ideas and painterly possibilities. And the more contorted and fluid his forms are, the more desirable the works become to his collectors. By the early 1970s Ken Whisson had abandoned any obligation to painterly traditions; his paintings from this period, those on board in particular, exhibit a direct uncompromising approach which is purely intuitive. These works are defined by an absence of conventional technique, for Whisson deploys his unique home-grown techniques, while working towards an unseen and unplanned conclusion. Paradoxically, adopting this approach can be as difficult to master as the dry academic techniques so widely taught, recognised and valued as ‘good painting’ – which are the antitheses of Whisson’s work. Drummer, painted around 1973 when the artist was living in St Kilda, is a bright, bold example of his St Kilda period. Painted on board, these works are characterised by crisp, broken horizons and gyrating figures. These are set against slabs of landscape disrupted by angular thought balloons or images of ships that appear to have broken free and float across the surface. The current example appears as a theatrical tableau, the play between the two figures (male and female) and their place in the surrounding environment make up the work. They may represent a memory of buskers working the St Kilda promenade. The male on the right appears to be the drummer from which we get the title. As he drums the female figure gently swings along, her soft profile looking to the left as if alerted to a third party. The cylindrical form placed at the front centre of the work suggests a drum, however in the case of Whisson, a title can be misleading and the figure may or may not actually be a drummer –perhaps standing suggestively near a form such as post or bollard instead. There is a profound clarity or purity about Whisson’s paintings. Apart from several early works where the influence of Danila Vassilieff and Sidney Nolan is evident, the majority are highly original paintings. They are direct and uncompromising, composed of complex personal images which challenge the viewer to question what passes for good painting. HENRY MULHOLLAND © Ken Whisson
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 12, 2021
KEN WHISSON. Interior with Two Males and Two Females, 2003 Pen and Indian ink on paper 50 x 63cm Wa
Est: $2,500 - $3,750
KEN WHISSON. Interior with Two Males and Two Females, 2003 Pen and Indian ink on paper 50 x 63cm Watters Gallery Label Provenance: Watters Gallery, Sydney. Private Collection,
Christian McCann Auctions
Dec. 12, 2021
Ken Whisson A Summers Day, 2002. Ink on Paper. H 38cm, W 50cm. Inscribed Verso. Provenance: Watters
Est: $2,500 - $3,750
Ken Whisson A Summers Day, 2002. Ink on Paper. H 38cm, W 50cm. Inscribed Verso. Provenance: Watters Gallery, Sydney. Private Collection, TAS.
Christian McCann Auctions
Nov. 23, 2021
KEN WHISSON (born 1927) Birds, Cat and Bright Blue House 2001 oil on linen
Est: $20,000 - $25,000
KEN WHISSON (born 1927) Birds, Cat and Bright Blue House 2001 oil on linen signed, titled and dated verso: Ken Whisson/ "Birds, Cat and/ Bright Blue House"/ 1/06/01 + 26/06/01 119 x 84.5cm PROVENANCE: Niagara Galleries, Melbourne (label verso) Private collection, Brisbane
Leonard Joel
Nov. 23, 2021
KEN WHISSON (born 1927) Untitled 2003-04 ink on paper
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
KEN WHISSON (born 1927) Untitled 2003-04 ink on paper dated lower left 33 x 48cm PROVENANCE: Niagara Galleries, Melbourne (label verso) Private collection, Brisbane
Leonard Joel
Nov. 17, 2021
Ken Whisson (born 1927) Fukuyama, Factory, Forest, 1999
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Ken Whisson (born 1927) Fukuyama, Factory, Forest, 1999 signed, dated and inscribed verso: 'Ken Whisson / Perugia 26/1/99 + 26/2/99 / Title: 'Fukayama Factory Forest' oil on linen 85.0 x 120.0cm (33 7/16 x 47 1/4in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Sep. 28, 2021
Ken Whisson (b. 1927)
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
A Summers Day, 2002 ink on paper, inscribed verso 'Ken Whisson, 2002, A Summers Day'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 28, 2021
Ken Whisson (b. 1927)
Est: $1,200 - $1,800
Interior with Two Males and Two Females, 2003 pen and Indian ink on paper
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 28, 2021
Ken Whisson (b. 1927)
Est: $18,000 - $28,000
The Palm-Wine Drinkard: the Chief's Daughter and The Baby Whose Name Is Zurrjir, 2004 oil on linen, inscribed verso 'Ken Whisson, The Palm-Wine Drinkard: The Chief's Daughter and the Baby Whose Name is Zurrjir, 2004'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 28, 2021
Ken Whisson (b. 1927)
Est: $18,000 - $26,000
Among the Clouds, 1967 oil on composition board, inscribed on label verso 'Ken Whisson, Among the Clouds'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jul. 28, 2021
Ken Whisson (b. 1927)
Est: $800 - $1,200
Sewing Machine ink on paper
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 28, 2021
§ KEN WHISSON (born 1927) Outer Suburb of Melbourne Under Rain 1994 oil on linen
Est: $28,000 - $35,000
§ KEN WHISSON (born 1927) Outer Suburb of Melbourne Under Rain 1994 oil on linen artist's name, title and date inscribed verso 85 x 120cm PROVENANCE: Watters Gallery, Sydney (label verso) Private collection, Sydney Sotheby's, Melbourne, 14 May 2013, lot 14 Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITIONS: Ken Whisson: An Exhibition of Paintings, Watters Gallery, Sydney, 18 October - 4 November 1995, cat. no. 8 (illus.) Blue Chip XVI: The Collector's Exhibition, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, 4-29 March 2014, cat. no. 26 OTHER NOTES: Sydney based artist, Ken Whisson, has been widely recognised as one of the most dedicated painters of Australian suburbia. With a career spanning across sixty years, Whisson's work has been exhibited broadly including at the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne. Outer Suburb of Melbourne Under Rain 1994 demonstrates Whisson's increasingly linear and graphic abstraction on the Australian landscape. Over time, Whisson has developed his own method, entwining his subjects together through bold outline, repetition and muted colour creating a sense of ubiquity and unity between ground, sky and medium. Visually, this work is fixed on a section of land where urbanisation meets industrialisation. The artist hints at family homes through the triangular shapes of coloured roofs and greenery, combined with dark and imposing structures and dividing roads. These homes are at the periphery of the industrial environment and the fringe of suburbia. By focusing on the industrial landscape, Whisson encourages the viewer to see what is often unseen. These fastly-changing urban areas can often become lost to the plight of industrialisation, invisible to the surrounding world, yet somehow vital to the increasing demands of the economy. His works are not just paintings but constructions, with human life overcome by the intersecting and overlapping shapes of the material world. Lucy Foster Art Specialist
Leonard Joel
Jun. 24, 2021
Robert Malherbe - Blackheath Autumn, 2017
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
Robert Malherbe - Blackheath Autumn, 2017
Cooee Art
Apr. 22, 2021
Ken Whisson (born 1927) Fukuyama, Factory, Forest, 1999
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Ken Whisson (born 1927) Fukuyama, Factory, Forest, 1999 signed, dated and inscribed verso: 'Ken Whisson / Perugia 26/1/99 + 26/2/99 / Title: 'Fukayama Factory Forest' oil on linen 85.0 x 120.0cm (33 7/16 x 47 1/4in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Apr. 21, 2021
KEN WHISSON, FACE AND FLAG FACE OR DEEP DREAM, 1976
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KEN WHISSON born 1927 FACE AND FLAG FACE OR DEEP DREAM, 1976 oil on composition board 82.0 x 109.0 cm signed, dated, and inscribed with title verso: “FACE AND FLAG FACE” / OR “DEEP DREAM” / PAINTED 24 / 3 / 76 / KEN WHISSON. bears inscription verso: TITANIUM WHITE / TO RAY HUGHES … BRISBANE / “FACE AND FLAG – FACE”/ OR “DEEP DREAM” / 24 / 3 / 76 PROVENANCE Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane Ray Hughes, Sydney (bears label verso) The Estate of Ray Hughes, Sydney EXHIBITED probably: Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane, 1976 Ken Whisson, As If, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 17 March – 15 July 2012; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 28 September – 25 November 2012, cat. 90 LITERATURE Barkley G., and Harding, L., Ken Whisson. As If. ,Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2012, p. 154 (illus.) ESSAY There is an almost cult status around Ken Whisson and his work. To own a Whisson is to belong to a club which reflects collectors’ shared commitment to a form of painting that is not simply fashionable, but deeply seated in ideas and painterly possibilities. Born in Lilydale in 1927, Ken Whisson was part of a generation of artists that included Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, and the European migrant Danila Vassilieff, who as his teacher, had a profound influence on the young artist. Face and Flag Face or Deep Dream, 1976, belongs to a fascinating group of works created prior to Whisson’s departure from Australia for Italy in 1977, and is typical of his St Kilda period. As well as the current work, paintings of that time included Disembarkation at Cythera (Idiot Wind), 1976, held in the collection of National Gallery of Australia and What Should we Do When we Get to Illyria, 1974, which was notably owned by the artist, Rosalie Gascoigne. From his flat in Acland Street, St Kilda, Whisson had a view of the maritime traffic coming and going from Port Melbourne, and consequently these works are all characterised by motifs of ships, clouds, figures and flags. Two ships feature prominently in Face and Flag Face or Deep Dream; one sits on the horizon beneath a soft grey cloud and a second ship appears to be turned toward the viewer. The latter abruptly breaks the horizon line in a manner that flattens the picture plane and disrupts the conventional idea of western pictorial perspective. In Disembarkation at Cythera (Idiot Wind) Whisson depicts migrants arriving at Port Melbourne, commenting, “My people were more like poor Italian migrants who have come from a splendid, beautiful place to the awful environment of Port Melbourne … an industrial place.”1 Whisson was clearly sensitive to the experience of migrants coming to Australia from Europe with its centuries of painting, literature and architecture – a world to which he was about to permanently move – and arriving in a foreign country, carrying with them hopes and dreams of life in a new world. In Face and Flag Face or Deep Dream, we have a similar arrangement, however here the artist has painted a clean, titanium white rectangle which dominates the foreground. Above and around it the forms appear to hover and float, as though trying to find their place, both in the new world in which they have arrived, and in the painting. The white area is suggestive of both a fresh beginning for the migrants as well as the artist’s blank surface. The notion of the flag face in the title perhaps speaks to the individual identity of migrants. The current example is consigned from the Estate of the gallery owner Ray Hughes, who exhibited Ken Whisson’s work from 1973 onwards. Hughes’ long association with Whisson helped define his Gallery as one that took pride in representing artists who existed outside the fashionable mainstream of curatorial elites. Whisson’s painting represents the antithesis of painterly conventions, he abandons any preconceived expectations, which frees his mind to expand onto the canvas. No matter how suggestive these interpretations are, it is of course all conjecture, Whisson’s works are complex personal images, which puzzle many and polarise opinion. In the end its all a matter of memory and which memories matter in the mind of the artist. 1. Blackman, B., Interview with the artist, 20 April 1984, National Library of Australia Oral History Program, tape 1:2 HENRY MULHOLLAND © Ken Whisson
Deutscher and Hackett

Lots Per Page:

Ken Whisson Sold at Auction Prices

Painter

Upcoming Lots

Past Lots

0 Lots

Categories

Auction Date

Seller

Seller Location

Price Range

Popular Artists

Get Invaluable on Your Phone

Bid On-the-Go!