Suburban 1983



Synthetic polymer paint on wallpaper on canvas, 160 x 121

Signed, dated & titled (on verso, acc.to Deutscher & Hackett 8/15)

Coll.: unknown [last auctioned 8/15]

This work, which varies the composition of Untitled [Suburban study] (1982) [W/P], was first shown in HA Roslyn Oxley9, 6/83, and then at ANZART in Edinburgh in 1984, alongside Suburban Interior (1983). After many years out of sight, it surfaced at auction in Sydney in 2015.

When viewed prior to the Deutscher & Hackett auction in August 2015 (Melbourne preview), the work appeared to be in good condition. The wallpaper has a low-relief textured pattern, and is white gold in colour, by contrast with the more colourful wallpaper on which Suburban Interior (1983) is sprayed.

Provenance

  • Private collection, Sydney (according to Deutscher & Hackett 8/15)
  • auctioned by Shapiro, Sydney, 30 April 2015, lot 49 (ill.; no previous history noted; est.$30-40,000; not sold?)
  • auctioned by Deutscher & Hackett, Sydney, 26 Aug.2015, lot 16 (ill. & details as shown here; est.$35-45,000; sold for $42,000 + B/P = $51,240)

Exhibited

  • HA Roslyn Oxley9, 6/83, cat.5 (as 160 x 121)
  • ANZART at Edinburgh 8/84, and George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, 2/85 (‘Meaning & Excellence’)

Literature

  • Brown 1989: 24 (B&W ill.: titled ‘Suburban Interior’)