Floral Facarde [sic] 1995

This work is a variant of Spray Veneer (1994), but based on the floral stencil used for Floriated Residence (1994). The correct title and provenance were clarified in November 2016, following correspondence with the Arkley Estate and a meeting with the owner (who also owns other Arkley canvases, acquired prior to 1995).

The vivid, nuanced palette and densely decorative detail mark it as one of the most intensely “Baroque” of the artist’s mid 1990s house paintings. The inscribed title exemplifies Arkley’s creative approach to spelling.

For another 1995 painting on the same scale, and using the same floral stencil, but based on a different composition and employing a lighter palette, see Floriated Address 1995.

Provenance

• Commissioned by the present owner directly from the artist in 1995
• Noted and reproduced in NGVA Arkley retrospective planning files, 2006