1976

1976 Works

Paintings

Actuality (Is the Void Between Events) 1976

Canvas first shown in 1976; there are several related works on paper dating from 1974-5.

Inventory 1976

This variant of Inventory (1975) was first shown in 1991, and acquired for the Wesfarmers Collection shortly before Arkley's death.

Organic Model (Intuitive Reason) (1976)

Painting exhibited and reproduced under a variety of different titles since 1976.

Organic Model A (Thought Form) 1976

Characteristic canvas shown in Arkley's 1977 Coventry Gallery exhibition.

Organic Model F (Liquid) (1976)

Typically 'organic' white canvas, first shown in Arkley's 1976 Tolarno exhibition.

Organic Model G (Black Square) 1976 [Coventry]

Black and white version of this composition, first shown at the Coventry Gallery in 1977 and acquired for Chandler Coventry's personal collection.

Organic Model G (Black Square) 1976 [Tolarno]

The irruption of primary colour into Arkley's typically monochrome early palette is particularly noteworthy.

Pauses (Interchronic) 1976

An elegant, minimalist work first shown at Tolarno in 1976.

Primal (Thought Forms)

= Organic Model G (Black Square) [Tolarno] 1976

Private (Thought Form) (1976)

Minimal work apparently shown at Tolarno in 1976; the title has theosophical origins.

Recording (wave study) 1976

Canvas from Arkley's 1977 Coventry show; there are several related works on paper from 1975-6.

Still Life D.E. (Linear Analysis) (1976)

Apparently shown in Arkley's solo shows at Tolarno in 1976 and the Coventry Gallery in 1977.

Untitled ['Girl in a Car'] (1976-7?)

An Arkley curiosity featuring conventional use of the air-brush; produced no later than July 1979 (archive slide date).

Untitled [Inventory variant] (1976?)

Variant of Inventory 1976; it is unclear whether this work was on canvas or paper.

A characteristic 'white' canvas, purchased by the present owner at auction in 1991.

Works on Paper

A Primary Organic Model (1976) [W/P]

Another unidentified work on paper shown in Arkley's 1995 'White + Black' exhibition ('White' W/P cat.no.App.9)

Circular Model (1976) [W/P]

Unidentified work shown in Arkley’s ‘White + Black’ exhibition at Tolarno, Sept.1995 ('White' W/P cat.no.App.6)

Measured Model (E) (1976) [W/P]

Another unidentified work on paper shown in Arkley's 1995 'White + Black' exhibition ('White' W/P cat.no.App.8)

Measured Model (1976) [W/P]

Unidentified work shown in Arkley's 'White + Black' exhibition at Tolarno, Sept.1995 ('White' W/P cat.no.App.7)

Pauses (Interchronic) (1976) [W/P]

This work, extant in a cut-down state, may have been shown under a different title in 1995 ('White' W/P cat.no.195)

Untitled [‘Poles’] 1976 [W/P]

While apparently lacking a solid provenance, this looks like a typical work on paper from the period ('White' W/P cat.no.231)

Untitled [‘The Orient’ variant] 1976 [W/P]

Elegant work on paper exhibited at Monash in 1991, and auctioned in 2000 ('White' W/P cat.no.106)

Untitled [Winter Notations variant] 1976 [W/P]

Well-preserved large-scale work on paper related to Winter Notations 1975 [W/P].

Untitled [Christie’s] 1976 [W/P]

A typical early work on paper, comparable with

Untitled ['Abstract'] 1976 ('White' W/P cat.no.97)

Untitled [curving linear form] 1976 [W/P]

One of several small 'white' works on paper acquired together in 1990.

Untitled [geometric construction] 1976 [W/P]

Another smaller white drawing dating from 1976, combining both solid and sprayed black line-work.

Untitled [linear construction #1] 1976 [W/P]

One of a pair: see also Untitled [linear construction #2] 1976 [W/P]

Untitled [linear construction #2] 1976 [W/P]

One of a pair: see Untitled [linear construction #1] 1976 [W/P]

Untitled [Monash 8.2] 1976 [W/P]

One of the early works on paper exhibited in the 1991 Arkley survey at Monash ('White' W/P cat.no.116).

Untitled [Monash 8.7] 1976 [W/P]

Red/blue/yellow abstract work on paper, exhibited in the 1991 Arkley survey ('White' W/P cat.no.143)

Untitled [sprayed ‘waves’] 1976 [W/P]

Cascading black 'waves' sprayed over vertical lines ('White' W/P cat.no.80)

Untitled [sprayed curving shapes] 1976 [W/P]

Work related to Untitled [Christie's] 1977 [W/P] and Soft Nouveau 1978.

Untitled [tree forms with spray] 1976 [W/P]

Outlined tree forms with surrounding spray

Works on Paper Minor

1976 Works on paper (minor)

Again, no single minor works on paper appear to date from 1976, but his Sketchbooks and Visual Diaries are relevant.

NGVA 2006 (White paintings)

(photo: view of part of the 2006-7 Arkley retrospective, showing (from left) Organic Model G (Black Square) 1976 [Tolarno]; Pauses (Interchronic) (1976); Organic Model D (Intuitive Reason) (1976), Organic Model F (Liquid) (1976), and several of Arkley’s ‘white’ drawings (1974-6) [photo by Narelle WIlson, courtesy NGV])

In a quieter year, Arkley focused single-mindedly on his white paintings, ahead of his second solo show in August-September. Although no installation photos for that exhibition are extant, a good impression of its general character was provided by the reunion of a significant number of works originally shown in it, in the Arkley retrospective staged by the National Gallery of Victoria in 2006: see installation photo reproduced here. The cool, reflective approach of these paintings extended the style of his first solo show, combining influences drawn from abstract art with various philosophical and spiritual ideas the artist had been investigating during 1975-6, including Theosophy (see now comments on the 1976 Tolarno exhibition, and also further discussion in Spray 16-21, Carnival 94-100, and Smith, Howard Arkley, 2006).

During the year, Arkley and Elizabeth Gower were both awarded residencies at Moya Dyring studio, Paris, and Green Street studio, New York (Duncan 1991: 19-20): see 1977-78. At the end of the year, Arkley received his Dip.Ed. from Melbourne State College, and applied to register as a secondary teacher (documents in the artist’s archive).

1976 Exhibition

‘Howard Arkley’, Tolarno, Aug.-Sept.1976

– refer linked entry for full details