Synthetic polymer paint on cotton duck, 150 x 69
Private collection, Melbourne
Details and ID photo as shown here forwarded by the present owner, Feb.2022 (a better photograph will be added in due course).
The painting is clearly related to Recommended Rooms Tableau (1993) [3/M], shown at the Bellas Gallery in May 1993.
{NB new entry added May 2022}
This painting was a gift to art writer Stephen Zagala in 1993, in recognition of his writing and research into Arkley’s work: refer Bibliography, 1993 and 1996 (under O’Connell).
The work is inscribed on the back: “For Stephen 1993 // Title Study for Chair Tableau Blue X // Date 1980-1981 // Medium Acrylic on Canvas // Howard Arkley 93.” As these details indicate, it relates to the blue (‘X’) chair in Muzak Mural Chair Tableau (1980-81) [3/M] and other studies from that time, notably Four Chairs W,V,X,T 1980 [W/P].
In my opinion, the style of the present work clearly points to its having been made in 1993, and the mention of 1980-81 in the inscription simply refers to those earlier works mentioned above. However, at its November 2021 auction this painting was listed as dating from 1980-81.
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 173 x 135
Signed, dated and titled (verso inscription)
Private collection, Melbourne
Arkley treated this domestic interior experimentally, the stylized treatment of most of the painting contrasting with the illusionistic brickwork of the back wall, and the unusual shadows under the chairs.
A variant of Triple Fronted 1987 and Family Home: Suburban Exterior (1993), produced in an edition of approximately 6-8 hand-coloured impressions.
There are several impressions in private and public collections (e.g. NGA, as noted), and other examples have been auctioned, e.g. the impression noted and reproduced here, sold by Deutscher-Menzies in 2004 (signed and dated 1993).
Unidentified work on paper shown in HA Tolarno 9/95 (‘White + Black’): no photo. Presumably a variant of Notocactis (1986).
Unidentified work shown in HA Tolarno 9/95 (‘White + Black’); no photo. Presumably a cactoid composition.
This is a sophisticated example of Arkley’s mature use of stencilled patterning and coloured line-work. The dining setting and lamp in the far room rely on a page from Gold’s Instant Decorator – also used (differently) for Roomrite 1992 [1993].
The florid carpet and the style in general are also closely comparable with various other Arkley interiors dating from 1992-4, e.g. A Roomfull (1994).
Exhibited in Arkley’s “Recommended Rooms” show at Bellas, Brisbane, 5/93 (documented by a slide in Arkley’s archive), this elegant canvas was purchased at the time by a Brisbane collector. In 2019, it sold for a substantial price at auction in Sydney.
This work is a modified variant of Suparoom (1992); see also Supa Interior (1999) [aka Deluxe Space]. The source in each case is Gold’s Instant Decorator: lounge room #2.
This extravaganza of pattern-making was exhibited in ‘High Pop’, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, April-May 1993 (documented in installation photos in Arkley’s archive). The use of stencils and coloured line-work is particularly prominent here, elaborating on the 1992 ‘Mix’n Match’ series at Tolarno.
The source (modified) is the model lounge room from Gold’s Instant Decorator, also the basis for various other 1993 works including Neapolitan Delight (1993) [lounge-room].
This work was acquired in 1994, together with Neapolitan Delight 1993 [lounge-room]. There is a slide in Arkley’s archive, and the work was also reproduced on the cover of Art & Australia in 1997.
The compositional source is a detail from the “Traditional Living Room” template in Gold’s Instant Decorator. Here, however, by contrast with several other Arkley interiors from this period based on Gold’s book, there is a relatively restrained approach to pattern and colour, and a stronger formal emphasis through the focus on a limited number of furniture elements.