Joanna Braithwaite, Monkey Puzzle, Oil on canvas, 13950 x 2300mm (unframed)

Estimate $13,000 - $15000 

In Joanna Braithwaite’s ‘menagerie’ paintings, monkeys operate as near-human surrogates. A key moment for the artist was visiting a New South Wales sanctuary for primates who have had previous lives in human environments. The slippage she senses between the animal world and human is highly evident such examples.  Monkey Puzzle can be contextualised by its close contemporary, Little Monkey, 1997, at Christchurch Art Gallery.