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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

White Whiteley

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Previous exhibition
from Thursday 10 May until Sunday 29 July 2012

To celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Patrick White's birth, the Gallery will display eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

This focus display brings the glowing finished representation together for the first time with sketches Whiteley made as the portrait took shape in his imagination. It brings to life, too, the incendiary association between two of Australia's blazing cultural stars.

Patrick White won the Nobel prize for ‘introducing a new continent to literature’. Coinciding with the one hundredth anniversary of White’s birth, the National Portrait Gallery will display eleven works centring on Brett Whiteley’s scintillating Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979–1980. The wild young artist painted White while the author was working on his autobiography, Flaws in the Glass; the two portraits, painted and written, developed together. The finished painting is one of Australia’s great portraits, but White felt betrayed by elements of the work. Drawn from the collections of the New South Wales State Parliament and the Brett Whiteley Studio, Art Gallery of New South Wales, this focus display brings to life the incendiary association between two of Australia’s blazing cultural stars.

6 portraits

1 Patrick White #1, 1980 William Yang. © William Yang. 2 Patrick White, 1987 Max Dupain OBE. © Max Dupain/Copyright Agency, 2024. 3 Patrick White, Castle Hill, Sydney, 1963 (printed 2000) David Moore. © Lisa, Michael, Matthew and Joshua Moore http://davidmoorephotography.com.au/. 4 Patrick White with Tom Jones, 1956 Axel Poignant. © Estate of Axel Poignant. 5 Patrick White, 1990 Rick Amor. © Rick Amor/Copyright Agency, 2024.
© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency