Brett Whiteley 'Nectar (addiction), Portrait of Paul Verlaine' contemporary ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ has bewitched

‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ has bewitched audiences

Best known for landscapes such as this

The work’s only focal point

accession number: P114-1974

and the Queensland University of Technology Art Museum

Brett Whiteley 'Nectar (addiction), Portrait of Paul Verlaine' contemporary ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ has bewitchedBirds recur throughout Brett Whiteleys work, functioning as both motif and metaphor. As a child, he would steal eggs from nests and as an adult, paint them in his work. Forever moving around, he often thought of the flight paths of birds, his representations of them tinged with yearning for freedom and domestic stability. In 'Nectar', the artist creates an intimate and restrained etching of a bird drinking from a small flower. With simple mark making,