Image via DailyTelegraph.com.au

No doubt he’d be proud…

In huge news for the Aussie art world, Brett Whiteley’s ‘Henri’s Armchair’ has set an Aussie record, being sold off at a recent auction for $6 million. The betting started at $4.5 million at Menzies Art Auctions in Kensington yesterday, with it being over in literal minutes after three phone bidders and one absentee bidder were dropping hundreds of thousands at a time.

The piece from the Lavender Bay Series ended up being sold at $5 million, with an auction house price bumping it up to $6.136 million. As a result the painting is now one of the most expensive Aussie paintings to ever be sold, as well as the highest ever garnered for a Whiteley painting. The previous record was actually held by Sidney Nolan and his iconic painting of Aussie figure of history Ned Kelly, which was sold for a whopping $5.4 million.

Pretty amazing accomplishment for Whiteley, who twice won the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman pries. He sadly died from an opiate overdose in 1992, but no doubt his spirit lives on. Check out the clip below to get some advice from the art legend and now record setter.