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Lot Essay
"Arkley's 'work immediately after his overseas sojourn centred around functional objects and commercially reproduced art, with the feminist-inspired Pattern and Decoration movement being the prime influence during this period. These overarching concerns with the local landscape would remain throughout Arkley's career.
The transformation of flywire through memories of Parisian Art Nouveau was epitomised in such works as 'Soft Nouveau' (1979) and 'Secession' (1979). 'Secession's' edgu title adds sharpness to its essentially decorative patterning of abstracted and repeated wrought-iron whorls. The work gains an extraordinary complexity through its reversed loops and changes of direction. 'Soft Nouveau', on the other hand, abstracts and accentuates the arcs of Art Nouveau while being softened by carefully executed shading and tonal shift." (A.Crawford & R. Edgar, op.cit., p. 26-27)
The transformation of flywire through memories of Parisian Art Nouveau was epitomised in such works as 'Soft Nouveau' (1979) and 'Secession' (1979). 'Secession's' edgu title adds sharpness to its essentially decorative patterning of abstracted and repeated wrought-iron whorls. The work gains an extraordinary complexity through its reversed loops and changes of direction. 'Soft Nouveau', on the other hand, abstracts and accentuates the arcs of Art Nouveau while being softened by carefully executed shading and tonal shift." (A.Crawford & R. Edgar, op.cit., p. 26-27)