Untitled [cactoid composition] 1986 [W/P]

An unusually large sketch in this medium, this drawing is closely comparable with several major canvases of this period, notably The Cacti Succulents (1986), where there is a similar sense of a group of hybrid ‘creatures’ in some sort of relationship.

Here, though, the individual forms are not so much menacing as humorous. The quirky character on tubular legs to the left echoes a number of Arkley’s mid-1980s doodles, especially those in his Mills and Boon books (e.g. Chateau of Fire 131 and Wintersbride 9).

This is one of several works on paper in the collection of the owner, Howard Arkley’s brother: see e.g. Untitled [‘Lines and Spots’] 1979 [W/P].

{new entry, added May 2025}

Provenance

• The artist
• Gift from the above to the present owner
• Auctioned by Deutscher and Hackett, Melb., 27 May 2025, lot 24: dets.and ill.as shown here… est.$8-10K; not sold