PROTON-NEUTRON, 1979

Part 1: Important Fine Art
Melbourne
28 November 2012
4

HOWARD ARKLEY

(1951 - 1999)
PROTON-NEUTRON, 1979

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

203.5 x 78.5 cm

signed and dated verso: H Arkley 79

Estimate: 
$25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $19,200 (inc. BP) in Auction 27 - 28 November 2012, Melbourne
Provenance

Collection of Chandler Coventry AM, Sydney
Private collection, Melbourne

Exhibited

Howard Arkley, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, May, 1979, cat. 11
Howard Arkley, Coventry Gallery, Sydney, March 1980, cat. 1

Literature

Crawford, A. and Edgar, R., Spray: The Work of Howard Arkley, Craftsman House, Sydney, revised edition, 2001, p. 29 (illus.)
Gregory, J,. Carnival in Suburbia, The Art of Howard Arkley, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2006, pp. 54–57, 100 (illus. back cover and p. 100, studio photograph p. 57)
Arkley Works electronic catalogue raissoné reference: http://arkleyworks.com/?p=911 

Catalogue text

'The culmination of Arkley's approach at this time, in terms of source material, technique and composition, is Proton/Neutron, 1979. He recalls the source of this work as being a coffee-shop table top in Chapel Street. A solid red background with abstracted curves in white and black covers the surface in a repetitious pattern. Proton/Neutron was created with a commercial striping machine used for car detailing, which Arkley had bought in New York. As he had done with the spray gun, Arkley found the striping machine to be an instrument of industrial production that he could effectively co-opt.'1

1. Crawford, A. and Edgar, R., Spray: The Work of Howard Arkley, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1997, p. 31 DH1136