Brett Whiteley (1939-1992)

In his introductory notes in the exhibition catalogue of Brett Whiteley: The Complete Graphics 1961-1982, held at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Whiteley wrote of the screen printing process 'The very flatness of screen printing suited me perfectly, as the shallow picture-plane that I used in oil painting, which had been greatly influenced by Piero and 15th century Italian painting, was exactly the same approach to building up a vision in both cases, skin over skin, using only line to conjure or excite the stillness of colour. The last screen to be used each time in this series was always aimed at a think nervous black line that would bring a third space or irony to the subject. ... There is one advantage in screen-printing, that the image you draw is the image you get; with etching + line cuts you have to keep in mind the reverse coming out.' (Brett Whiteley 'A few words about printmaking' in R. Mandy, Brett Whiteley The Graphics 1961-1982, Perth, 1983, pp.4 and 6)