Suburban Landscape 1987 [Howard Arkley & Christine Johnson]

This canvas first appeared in the Greenpeace artists’ benefit exhibition held at the Linden Gallery, St Kilda, in 1990: see Lew 1990, and Trioli, “The Green-Art Effect” 1990, both with reproductions clearly showing this work.

It is a closely similar variant of Suburban Window 1987 [Howard Arkley & Christine Johnson] (exhibited at Roslyn Oxley9 in Sept.1987), only differing in a few details, notably in the garden outside, which is considerably more colourful and less heavily shadowed in the present version.

But it retains the central notion of an “obvious stylistic disparity” noted by John McDonald in 1987 in relation to the first version – an idea that Christine Johnson recalls had proved popular, thus explaining the production of a replica (telephone communication, 5 October 2015). For more detailed comments on this collaborative process, see the entry on the Roslyn Oxley9 painting, and Victoria Lynn in the 2015 TarraWarra catalogue, mentioning “at least two” versions of this composition (citing Johnson). Unfortunately, my own discussion of the work in Carnival in Suburbia, in the context of Arkley’s collaborative career, is accompanied by an inaccurately coloured reproduction based on a slide in Arkley’s archive, and incorrectly titled Suburban Window.

The canvas was included in Christie’s November 1992 auction of works from the estate of Georges Mora (who died on 7 June 1992), as Arkley’s work alone, with the title and and other details as noted above. It may also have been auctioned the year before, by Sotheby’s (see provenance details below), although there is no catalogue photograph, and it is unclear who owned the work at the time.

[NB in a previous entry on this work in the present catalogue, provenance and exhibition details for this work were inadvertently conflated with those of the Roslyn Oxley9 painting, also dated 1987. For their help with disentangling the complex history of both pictures, thanks are due to Christine Johnson, Victoria Lynn and Anthony Fitzpatrick in 2015, and Asta Cameron from Menzies Art Brands, Feb.2025, ahead of the auction of the Roslyn Oxley9 canvas]

Provenance

• (presumably) auctioned by Sotheby’s, Melb., 19 Aug.1991, lot 156, as Howard Arkley: Suburban Landscape (Spotted Dog and Spotted Curtain) (not illustrated; est.$3-5,000; not sold)
• auctioned by Christie’s, Melb., 24 Nov.1992 (‘The Estate of Georges Mora’), lot 18, as Howard Arkley: Suburban Landscape (Spotted Dog and Spoted [sic] Curtain) (160 x 120 cm; B&W ill.; est.$3-5,000; sold for $2,800 plus buyer’s premium)
• Private collection, Melbourne

Exhibited

• Linden Gallery, St Kilda, 7/90 (‘Greenpeace Artists’ Benefit’): as Howard Arkley: Suburban Landscape 1987 (courtesy Tolarno Galleries)
• HA TarraWarra 12/15-2/16 (details as above)

Literature

• Lew 1990 (with photo of Arkley standing in front of the work)
• Trioli, ‘The Green-Art Effect’ 1990 (Age EG cover story on the Greenpeace exhibition, with colour reproduction)
• Litson 2001 (including Christine Johnson’s comments on the composition)
• Carnival 147 and Fig.5.7 (as Suburban Window, by Arkley & Johnson)
• Fitzpatrick & Lynn, Howard Arkley and Friends (2015), pp.51-52 (Victoria Lynn)