The Erin Pearson Collection

A private collection · Brisbane

White Flag

Jonny Arnold

The Work

A quiet, poignant sketch in pen and ink. A young boy sits cross legged, seen from behind, perched right at the top of a jagged pile of city skyscrapers, holding a white flag planted beside him. The linework is loose and confident, and the city beneath him is a chaotic tangle of towers, small and unstable looking against the empty grey wash of the sky. There's a real tenderness to the image. A child, alone above the whole weight of a city, simply raising a flag of surrender. It carries the same honest, human quality that runs through Arnold's figurative work.

Year
c. 2013 to 2014
Medium
Pen and ink on paper
Image size
235 mm x 330 mm
Framed size
405 mm x 510 mm
Catalogue
0071

Provenance

This piece was part of the very first exhibition of Jonny's work, held at my first studio space at the back of Woolloongabba Art Gallery, around 2013 to 2014. I bought it at the time to hang in my son's room.


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Framing

Framed in a simple stained oak moulding, with conservation grade UltraVue glass. A quiet, understated frame that lets the linework carry the piece.

About Jonny Arnold

Jonny Arnold is a self taught contemporary painter originally from Oxfordshire, UK, now based in Queensland, Australia. His artistic roots lie in street art, but over recent years he has turned increasingly toward fine art, focusing on figurative work. He works predominantly in oils and acrylics, and is driven by exploration of movement, light, narrative, and the physicality of paint.