Whiteley on Trial
Page 38
Knowing that I had access to outstanding media lawyer Nicholas Pullen was greatly reassuring. Thank you, Nicholas, for scrutinising my words—and for your well-timed words of advice.
The genesis of this book was a series of articles I wrote in 2010 onwards for The Age, and thanks are due to the Fairfax editors and colleagues I worked with at the time and with whom I spoke about the alleged art fraud, including Ben Butler, Margaret Easterbrook, Wendy Frew, Royce Millar and Nick McKenzie. Thank you also to my former colleague Andrew Rule, now with the Herald Sun.
Apologies to those I may have forgotten as there were many conversations had that would have sparked lines of inquiry. I was fortunate to be at The Age when ‘quality journalism’ was more than a marketing slogan.
In the world of the law I discovered characters as entertaining and stimulating as I had been accustomed to working with in journalism and the arts. A special thanks to Tom Gyorffy, QC, for patiently versing me in matters of law. He was more than a mentor; he informed, challenged, enlightened, consoled and humoured me beyond reasonable requirement. I recited his mantra whenever I felt like giving up: Toughen up! The curative qualities of his wine are also not to be underestimated.
Thank you too to Crown Prosecutor Susan Borg for her ceaseless patience in addressing my queries with good humour despite the mounting difficulties and pressures on her. The Crown’s instructing solicitor Shane Kenna was also a font of legal knowledge. On the defence, Trevor Wraight, QC, and John Ribbands took my questions with good grace and professionalism.
Detective Senior Constable Justin Stefanec genially tolerated my many calls and helped with information whenever possible.
I am grateful to the many people in the arts who generously made time to speak with me, and who appear throughout the book, and to the many who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is difficult to single people out as this book is a mosaic of stories and insights; however, a special thanks is due to those closest to Brett Whiteley: Wendy Whiteley, Barry Pearce, Brett Lichtenstein and Stuart Purves.
Thank you to others who made time to be interviewed: Anita Archer, Barbara Cain, Andrew Crawford, Stephen Nall, Steven Nasteski, David Rellim, David Stein, Kathie Sutherland and Jud Wimhurst. And the many more who took my calls: Guy Angwin, David Cook, Chris Deutscher, Steven Drake, Peter Hickey, Terry Ingram, Jeremy James, Guy Morel, Bill Nuttall, John Playfoot, Ian Robinson, Richard Simon, Geoffrey Smith, Peter Stephenson and Arthur Thompson.
Of course, my particular thanks to Peter Gant, who agreed to meet with me more than once; and to ‘Elmyr de Hory’ for seven years of intriguing correspondence.
Criminologists Professor Kenneth Polk and Adjunct Professor Duncan Chappell have been valued contacts since my time at The Age and continued to offer their wisdom and knowledge in the field of art fraud.
Forensic art expert Dr Nicholas Eastaugh kindly responded to my queries about the most current techniques for dating artworks.
Thank you to my readers Kate Ballis, Duncan Chappell, Mark Fraser, Tom Gyorffy, John Mangan and Katrina Strickland.
Kate Ballis is owed a special thanks. In her former guise as a lawyer at MinterEllison she helped represent The Age during its civil case with Peter Gant. In her current guise as a spectacularly talented photographer, she generously photographed the suspect Whiteley works for MUP. Thank you too to MinterEllison’s David Poulton, Peter Bartlett and Veronica Scott.
Paula Keogh, Katrina Strickland and Julie Szego—writers and authors I am lucky to count as friends—were wonderful sounding boards during the ups and downs of the writing process and made me realise that self-doubt is part of the bargain.
Thank you to Pia Akerman for her company during the long trial, and for sharing her understanding of the strange world of the law. Illustrator Bill Luke kept us all entertained with his courtly cartoons.
The judge’s associate Lachlan Carter was endlessly polite and helpful in dealing with the administrative aspects of the law and obtaining access to court documents and exhibits.
Thank you also to County Court publicist Paul Conroy for help in finding archival court documents, and to Supreme Court publicists Anne Stanford, Kerry O’Shea and Michelle Dall for their efficiency and timely responses to requests.
Finally, an immeasurable thank you to my parents for their constant belief in me, and to my partner, Mark, without whose emotional support this book could not have been completed.
Index
A Private Affair (catalogue)
absent from Australian libraries 182–3
contains out-of-date address 126–7
Gant gives Drake copy of 181
Gant on 230
James on 288
Macdonald on 214–15
Morel authenticates 22–3, 159–61
Orange Lavender Bay allegedly photographed for 34
placed in evidence 29–30, 87, 156
Playfoot sends to Sydney 114
running proof of found 217–19
sent to Crawford and Nasteski 176–7
tested by Deutscher and Hackett 116
‘weaknesses’ in 37
After the Swim Tangier (painting) 83
Allen, Christopher, on Whiteley 16
Angwin, Guy
given Lavender Bay through the Window as collateral 20
relations with Gant 127
relations with Lichtenstein 80–1
role in case x
testimony of 190–1
Archer, Anita
asks Lichtenstein to authenticate paintings 76–9
author interviews 120
case against dropped 292
relations with Pridham 20, 39, 188–9
role in case x
shows Hobbs paintings 165–6
testimony of 170–2
Arkie (painting) 119
Arkley, Howard, paintings in the style of 10
Art Newspaper, The 179
Art & Life (exhibition) 67
Australian Club, reimbursed for fake Tucker 40
Australian Financial Review, article on trial 151
Autumn Exhibition, 1988, (catalogue), Peter Gant Fine Art 126
Baden-Clay case 301–2
Baker, Paul 320–2
Balcony 2 (painting) 67–8, 198–201
Balmoral Art Galleries, Geelong 101
Basha Inquiry 173, 174 Baudelaire’s Drive (painting) 82, 167
Beltracchi, Wolfgang 320–1
Berger, George 69
Bergin, Patricia 40
Big Blue Lavender Bay (painting)
Archer involved in sale of 120–1
authenticity remains in doubt 312–14, 318
Drake expresses interest in buying 181–2
Gant on 225–7
Hartley claims to have seen 247
invoices relating to 253
Le Tet alleged owner of 142–3
Lichtenstein asked to authenticate 76–80, 192
Morel’s photographs of 155
no compensation paid for sale of 292
Pearce on 70–1
Pridham’s concerns over 188–9
produced in evidence 14–17, 152, 197–9
provenance of 155
Rincon frame for 37, 81
role in case ix
signature on 79
verification testing 31–3
Wendy Whiteley on 29, 62, 209–10
Big Orange Nude (painting) 90
Big Orange (Sunset) (painting) 72, 115, 209
Black, David 236
Blackman, Charles 11, 39, 53, 117, 126, 135, 178
Blundell, Graeme 58
Blundell, William, innuendos 63–4
Boland, Michaela 308
Bolt, Andrew 150–1
bomb pulse radiocarbon dating 318
Boon, Jaap 262–3
Borg, Susan
as prosecutor 152–6
calls Simon as witness 168–70
closing address to jury 248–51
on bail application 297–8
on prospects of case 149–50
on Wendy Whiteley testimony 187–8
questions Playfoot 172–3
questions Wendy Whiteley 207–8
relations with Croucher 163–5, 213–14
response to request for stay of sentence 277–9
role in case x
treatment of by OPP 308–9
Breitzmeier, Wolf 254
Brett (book) 57
Brett Whiteley: A Sensual Line, 1957–67 118
Brett Whiteley Art & Life (catalogue) 44
Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills 71–2
Browne v Dunn position 216
Café Sweethearts, South Melbourne 80, 127, 129, 190
Cain, Barbara x, 270
Cain, Dudley 271–2
Cameron, Suzanne
commits defendants to trial 36–8
examines witnesses 28
role in case x
Wendy Whiteley and 29–30
catalogue raisonné, contentious nature of 118–19
Cathcart, Michael 59
Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation 31–3, 54–5, 299
Centro Property Group 105
Chamberlain, Lindy 297
Champion, John 308
Chappell, Duncan 320–1
Charney, Noah 59
Christie’s Australia 39–40
connoisseurship in judging authenticity 43, 66–7, 322
Connors, Dermot x, 21, 242
Cook, David 175, 177, 317
Corinthian Doors 80
Crawford, Andrew
offers Orange Lavender Bay to Nasteski 51, 86
on Orange Lavender Bay 113–16
role in case x
shows Orange Lavender Bay to Wendy Whiteley 65
testimony of 175–6
Croucher, Michael 132–3
asked for stay of sentence 277–80
delays sentencing 294
directions to jury 243–5, 258, 264–5
handling of case 213–14
judges case 151–3, 163–4
on artistic technique 199–201
on Borg 247–8
on compensation order 290–4
on Wendy Whiteley testimony 187–8
role in case x
submission to appeal 303–4, 306–8
view of case 247–8
Currin, John, paintings by 83–4
Curvers, Germaine 64, 69–70
David Stein Studio 49
de Hory, Elmyr see ‘Elmyr de Hory’
Defteros, George x, 28, 293
Deutscher, Chris
declines to sell Orange Lavender Bay 116
on saleability of paintings 312–13
questions painting’s authenticity 139
reported comments to Playfoot 174
role in case x
Dickerson, Robert 39, 134–5, 178, 273–4
Dickerson Gallery, Sydney 134–5
Difficult Pleasure (documentary) 16, 61, 238–9
Door Impressions (company) 23–4, 154–5
Douglas, Francis 120
Dowsley, James x, 293
Doyle, Luke 182–3
Drake, Ola 20
Drake, Steven
buys Orange Lavender Bay 20, 112
Gant in debt to 39
response to outcome of case 314
role in case xi
testimony of 181–2
dramatis personae ix–xvi
Drawing and Painting: Materials and Techniques for Contemporary Artists (book) 44
Drewe, John 134
Driscoll, Michael 59
Drysdale, Russell 320
Eastaugh, Nicholas 318–19
‘Elmyr de Hory’ (author’s anonymous source)
first communication with 19
on Archer 119–20
on Drake 40–1
on end of case 242
on Gant 19–20, 33, 130–2
on Milburn and James 315
on Playfoot seeking compensation 289
on relations between Gant and Siddique 286
role in case x
Evans, Michael 105
Expert Versus the Object, The (book) 43, 117
F for Fake (film) 19, 264
Faun and Parrot (painting) 39–40
Faun being Attacked by Parrots (painting) 40
Featherstone, Don 61
Fontana, Lucio, artwork by 143
Four Corners (TV show) 39
Fox, Emanuel Phillips 69–70
Fraid, Morry 16, 111
Freedman, Ann 178–9
Galbally, Francis 138
Gallery Irascible 102
Gant, Austin Gilbert 97, 144–5
Gant, Chrissy 97, 284–5
Gant, Deborah 131
Gant, Peter Stanley
Angwin lends money to 128–9
appeal by 298, 301–5, 311–12
Archer’s dealings with 120–5
Archibald Prize portrait of 323
arrested by police 11–12
artworks bought by 17, 74
artworks sold by 8–9, 86, 116, 172
author interviews 95–107, 144–6, 286–7
character references for 284
charges brought against 38–40
committed to trial 36
court appearances 95, 132–4, 149–50, 270–2
culinary skills 108
family attend trial 259–60
found guilty of art fraud 8, 265–7
Gyorffy on 41–2
horse-racing interests 97–8
in Thompson case 273–4
James on 289
Le Tet’s relations with 141–2, 179
legal aid provided to 132, 140–1
Nall on 134–5
O’Malley interviews 285–6
on Big Blue Lavender Bay 18
on Milburn’s testimony 28
on Orange Lavender Bay 254
on Sloggett 261–2
panels belonging to 5
police interviews with 37, 220–34, 250
reputation of 108–9
role in case xi
runs art gallery 101–2
sentencing of 291, 294–7
Simon meets 24
State Library Victoria file on 126
Sutherland’s relations with 119
two charges against dropped 242–3
Ghost Kelly (painting) 89
Gleeson, James, on Whiteley 16
Golden Summer (painting) 137–8
Grabsch, Richard xi, 162
Grace Fine Art 184
Grey Harbour (painting) 65
Grishin, Sasha, on Whiteley 16
Grundy, Terence xi, 98–100, 133–4
Gurvich, Daniel xi, 302–3
Gyorffy, Tom
author interviews 41–3
examines witnesses 26–7, 34–6
on art fraud 322–3
on success of appeal 308–10
role in case xi
strategy of 154
view of case 169–70, 203–4, 260–1
Hackett, Damian 113, 116, 174, 177
Hammer, Joshua 321
Hannebery, Justin xi, 292–4
Harper, Robyn xi, 182–3
Hartley, Jonathan 246–7
Hawley, Janet 60
Head of a Man (painting) 8
Heard, John 100–1
Henson, Bill 84
Herbert, AP 170
Heroin Clock (artwork) 73
Hewitt, Charles 76
Hickey, Peter xi, 299–300
High Court, Baden-Clay judgement 301–2
Hilton, Margot 58
Hirst, Damien, paintings by 84
Hobbs, Ralph xii, 153, 165–6
Holland, Alex 40
Holland, Neil 236
Hopkirk, Frannie, on Wendy Whiteley 57, 62
Hufnagel, Saskia 321
Hughes, Robert
on art prices 295
on the art market xvii, 145
on Whiteley 16
The Art of Australia 101
Hughes, William 137–8
infra-red reflectography analysis 54–5, 203–5
Irving, Clifford 264
Jacaranda Tree, The (On Sydney Harbour) (painting) 63
James, Jeremy
author interviews 315–16
in Thompson case 273
on Gant and Siddique 287–8
role in case xii
statutory declaration by 30
testimony of 34–7, 215–19, 249–50
James, Kenneth 34
Johnson, Michael 49
Julius, Wendy see Whiteley, Wendy
Kenna, Shane xii, 44, 149
Kenneth James printing 34–6
Kerr, Philip 107
Kilindini (painting) 69–70
King, Betty 133
Knoedler Gallery 178–9
Koons, Jeff, artworks by 84
Korn, Greg 217
Kowalski, Vanessa
asked to authenticate paintings 31, 155–6
on View from the Sitting Room Window 299
role in case xii
shows Lichtenstein painting 79
testimony of 37–8, 203–7
Kraus, Peter 117
Kuhn, Christopher 105
Lalique car mascots, doctored 39, 111
Larkins, Catherine 284
Lascaris, Manoly 81
Laurie, Simon S 44
Lavender Bay in the Rain (painting) 65
Lavender Bay, Sydney 56–60, 65, 74
Lavender Bay through the Window see Through the Window Lavender Bay (painting)
Le Tet, Robert
action brought by 116, 129
called as witness 149
communicates with Stefanec 179
dealings with Gant 158
involved in sale of Big Blue Lavender Bay 121–5
paintings bought by 119
relations with Gant 142–4
role in case xii
testimony of 179–81
Liberto, Ivan and Pamela 31, 294–5
Lichtenstein, Brett
asked to authenticate Big Blue Lavender Bay 62, 122–3
author interviews 75–82
framing methods 37, 167
on Orange Lavender Bay 87
role in case xii
testimony of 192–5
views Whiteley painting 190
Lichtenstein, Peter 75
Lillico-Thompson, Catherine 280–1
Lock, Melissa 75–8
Lovett, Don 111
Luke, Bill 264
M & J Quality Doors 162–3
Macdonald, James
discussions with Sloggett 201–2