Arabesque 1979 [Floral]



Alternate title: Floral
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 203.6 x 78.6
signed, dated and titled [on reverse, in fibre-tipped pen: ‘Arabesque / H Arkley 79’; Tolarno label on back, also dated 1979]
Private collection, Melbourne

First shown at HA Coventry 3/80, and photographed there (installation slides in Arkley’s archive). This picture should be distinguished from the two similarly-titled but different door-format paintings Arabesque (1979) [Coloured Paisley] and Arabesque 1979 [Curvilinear].

The alternative title ‘Floral’ may reflect the similarity of the pattern to that used for the square-format canvas Floral (1981) (Art Gallery of Western Australia).

Provenance

  • earlier history unknown
  • in present coll. by 1991 (ref. HA exh.files at MUMA)

Exhibited

  • HA Coventry 3/80, cat.11 (as Arabesque)
  • HA Monash 1991, cat.16 (as Floral 1979, 180 x 78.5)
  • HA retrospective 2006-7 (shown in Melbourne only; as Floral 1979)
  • HA TarraWarra 12/15-2/16 (as Arabesque [noting alternate title of Floral])

Literature

  • Duncan 1991 (HA Monash exh.cat.), p.17: details as above
  • Spray 30 (as Floral; illustrated upside down)