Coco Chocolate releases Brett Whiteley series

There is a Brett Whiteley fashion range tie-in and the odd mug or throw pillow, but merchandising of the late, great Australian artist is generally guarded and sparse.

All of which made Good Food wonder how some of Whiteley's most famous paintings have found their way onto a new range of Coco Chocolate that hit shelves this month?

"[Brett's widow] Wendy says Brett loved chocolate," chimes Coco Chocolate owner Rebecca Knight.

But how did she secure rights to his works? Knight is a massive Whiteley fan – she even owns one of his screen prints – and Wendy Whiteley and her Lavender Bay gardening crew pop into her Milson's Point shop.

So the chocolatier approached Wendy Whiteley with an idea of producing a range to raise funds for Wendy's Secret Garden in Lavender Bay. "Wendy loved the idea," she says.

It helped that Coco is famed for its lavender-flavoured chocolate and Brett for his Lavender Bay paintings.

Wendy Whiteley took the process seriously, adjusting the colour of the images three times before it was approved.

The range is available at the Art Gallery of NSW, Accoutrement at Coco Chocolate or via cocochocolate.com.au.