Neocummgii (1984) [W/P]



Alternate title: Stapelia-Peduncle
Synthetic polymer paint on paper, 53.0 x 73.0
Signed and dated in pencil l.l. (‘Howard Arkley 85’); also signed, dated and titled verso (‘Name Howard Arkley / Date 1985’), and signed, dated and inscribed with title on label verso, in the artist’s hand-writing: ‘Howard Arkley / 1986 / Stapelia-Peduncle’
Private collection, Queensland

This lively work, typical of Arkley’s mid 1980s cactus imagery, has a particularly complicated history.

Despite the inscriptions noted above, it is listed here under 1984, the year when it was first shown, in May, in Arkley’s ‘Cacti & Succulents’ exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9, apparently as ‘Neocummgii’ (cat.no.4). Arkley’s archive contained an ID slide without title or date. However, the work was later reproduced in Spray as Neocummgii 1984, confirming the details shown here.

When the drawing re-surfaced at Sotheby’s in 2000, the title and date were given as Stapelia-Peduncle 1986 (as indicated in the verso label). Accordingly, it was listed with those details in the original edition of the present catalogue. Later investigations when the work was auctioned in 2016 and 2023 revealed another verso inscription with the date 1985, and closer examination of the inscription at lower left suggested that the date shown there was also 1985.

Finally, when the work was listed for auction by Deutscher and Hackett in 2026, it was agreed to revert to its original title and date as shown above. Many thanks to Eliza Burton (Registrar, Deutscher and Hackett), for forwarding new photos of recto and verso, and for discussing the issues noted above. It should be pointed out that alternative titles and dates are quite common in Arkley’s oeuvre, especially in the later 1970s and 80s.

{revised entry April 2026; work previously listed as Stapelia-Peduncle}

Provenance

  • Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne (handwritten label verso)
  • Private collection
  • Auctioned by Sotheby’s, Melb., 2-3 May 2000, lot 105 (ill.; as Stapelia-Peduncle 1986, s+d l.l., 53 x 72): est.$6-9,000; sold for $17,250 inc.B/P
  • Offered for sale via LookArt website (accessed 19/3/02: as Stapelia-Peduncle 1986, 52.5 x 72.8)
  • Auctioned by Leonard Joel, Melb., 6 Sept.2016, lot 198 (ill.; as The Stapelia Peduncle (aka Neocummgii) 1986, 53 x 72 cm, signed lower left; 53 x 72; noting 1st exh.Roslyn Oxley9 5/84 as ‘Neocummgii’: est.$16-24,000; sold for $17,360 inc. B/P
  • Private collection, Melbourne
  • Auctioned by Menzies, Sydney, 29 Nov.2023, lot 89: ill., details as above; est.$20-30,000; sold for $24, 545 inc.B/P
  • Private collection, Queensland
  • Scheduled for online auction by Deutscher and Hackett, 12-19 May 2026, as Neocummgii (also known as Stapelia-Peduncle), 1984

Exhibited

  • HA Roslyn Oxley9, 5/84, cat.4 (as Neocummgii, 77 x 107)

Literature

  • Spray 72 (ill. as ‘Neocummgii’, 1984; 120 x 160)