Vogue Australia — December 2017

DECEMBER 2017 103

KATE BALLIS

s the widow and muse of one of Australia’s most celebrated and

ultimately tragic artists, Wendy Whiteley was often being

invited to the homes of wealthy art collectors. And so she

thought nothing of it when Andrew Pridham, an investment banker and

chairman of the Sydney Swans, asked her to morning tea at his harbour-

side mansion in the exclusive suburb of Mosman in April 2008. Pridham’s

residence was large and glamorous, with manicured lawns and a rarefied

air, but what most caught Wendy’s eye was the huge blue painting

proudly hanging in the entrance lobby. Pridham had bought it for $2.5

million from Melbourne art dealer Anita Archer as a prime example of

Brett Whiteley’s work. It was a view of Whiteley’s beloved Lavender Bay on

Sydney Harbour, home to the couple and their daughter, Arkie, from 1969,

and the subject matter for which he was best known.

Wendy quietly surveyed the painting and saw the hallmarks of her

late husband’s work: the harbour depicted in his preferred ultramarine

blue; a long, white central pier jutting into the water; a shaggy trio of

orange palm trees in the foreground; yachts moored near the pier; boats

skimming across the water; birds flying above. But what she saw just

wasn’t right. Wendy had spent decades with Whiteley, travelling the

world with him, studying the masters alongside him at Europe’s

greatest museums, posing as his model, and cleaning up after him in

the studio. She was intimately familiar with his work, and she had

never seen this painting before. That morning, Wendy kept her

suspicions to herself. She hinted that she wasn’t comfortable with the

painting and that she would make her own enquiries with Archer.

A

Wealth, scandal and

sensational twists and

turns characterised

Australia’s biggest art

fraud case, involving

works by celebrated

artist Brett Whiteley. By

Gabriella Coslovich.

A brush

with the law

ART

The alleged forgery

of Brett Whiteley’s

Big Blue Lavender

Bay, called into court

during the trial.

VOGUE CULTURE

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