1978

Late in January, Arkley and Gower returned to Australia. She began a new teaching job at Prahran CAE, and he launched into a series of new works based on his new interests in colour, pattern, and the door format (as foreshadowed in his photographs and notes from the trip overseas: see 1977).

Immediately after returning to Melbourne (according to Spray, 26ff., sourced directly from the artist 1995-6; see also Duncan 1991: 21-2, and several more recent accounts), Arkley was struck by the parallels between the intricacies of European decorative iron-work and the local equivalent, especially the suburban screen door, and promptly embarked on his new series of door-format paintings.

In fact, Arkley had already begun to develop many of the compositional ideas for his doors during the preceding year or two, as witnessed by D6 and D7 in the sequence of his Visual Diaries, dated May 1976 and Jan.1977 respectively, both of which contain numerous door-shaped compositional sketches, prefiguring many of his completed paintings dating from 1978-80. Conversely, the diaries do indicate that Arkley’s earlier interest in such themes gained new momentum and focus after his return from Europe and the USA. Crucial here is D8 in the series, labelled on the cover ‘after return from NYC and Paris etc. Jan.1978’, containing further sketches for pattern paintings and door shaped works, including several drawings relating directly to paintings produced in 1978 (see illustration above).