Neapolitan Delight 1993 [kitchen]



Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 175.2 x 134.7
Signed, dated & titled (verso)
Coll.: unknown (last auctioned Nov.2019)

Exhibited in Arkley’s “Recommended Rooms” show, Bellas, Brisbane, 5/93; slide in Arkley’s archive.

Arkley’s earlier kitchen image, Ultrakleen 1992, was based on a different composition in Gold’s Instant Decorator. This canvas, however, uses another page in Gold’s book, featuring bentwood chairs in the foreground. Arkley has modified the homely source, adding unsettling details: an alarmingly tilted tiled floor pattern, and a cupboard door shown slightly ajar.

NB this painting should not be confused with Neapolitan Delight (1993) [lounge-room].

Provenance

  • Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
  • Acquired for private collection, Melbourne, 1995
  • Auctioned by Sotheby’s, Sydney, 20 Nov.2019, lot 33 (revised details and ill.as shown here; est.$800,000 – $1,000,000; sold for $1.2 million plus buyer’s premium [$1,464,000])

Exhibited

  • HA Bellas, Brisbane, 5/93, cat.2 ($7,000)