Private collection, Sydney

Stern Galleries, Sydney;

Private Collection, Sydney;

Shapiro Auctioneers;

Private collection, Sydney

Stern Galleries, Sydney;

Private Collection, Sydney;

Shapiro Auctioneers;

Private collection, Sydney

Collection of the artist;

Private collection, Sydney

Ben Quilty Live!, The University of Queensland Art Museum, 8 Mat – 19 July 2009; the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria, 15 August – 15 November 2009

The Art of Collecting, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Sydney, March – July 2014

Gallery Ecosse, Exeter, NSW;

Private collection, Sydney 

Autoportrait, Gallery Ecosse, Exeter, NSW, 6 July – 22 August 2013

Private collection, Sydney

Ben Quilty recalls he conceived this painting as something of a mask – a Captain Cook mask the artist himself could put on to imagine the world through the eyes of the famous 18th century explorer. Having read extensively through Cook’s diaries, Quilty became fascinated by the man’s initial self belief, an attitude that doubtless contributed to him becoming one of maritime history’s most famous navigators, astronomers and sailors. With the passage of time however, Quilty observed violent changes in Cook’s behaviour toward both his crew and the native populations he encountered.

Cook’s bouts of extreme violence, Quilty along with others postulates, was due in large part to debilitating and personality changing gut conditions, the result of chronic disease. In analysing this change the artist states that ‘Mask’ looks at ‘…the good, the bad and the ugly’. The rorschach technique employed is perfect, providing a multiple image which delves into the human psyche, a reflection and investigation of James Cook the man, and his changing psychological states.