Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley (April 7, 1939, Sydney, Australia - 1992) was an Australian artist.
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 1970s he returned to Australia, an established and collected artist.
In 1976-1977 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, north of Wollongong, New South Wales.
Among his works are a series of paintings and drawings of the British murderer, July 1, 1960) is an Australian politician and a member of the
