Find Lots

• Auction House:
  Theodore Bruce
• Sale Name:
  Art | Australian | International | Aboriginal Auction
• Sale Date:
  14 Sep 2020 ~ 6pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  6128
• Lot Description:
  Mick Kubarkku (Gubargu)
  (b.c.1922) Western Arnhem Land
  Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent, with Crocodile Head c.1994
  Earth pigments & ochres on bark
  154 x 66 cm
  Condition: Good condition
• Provenance:
  The Darwin Gallery Certificate of Purchase Catalogue no. EAB 1040
• Notes:
  Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent, is the most powerful of the serpents in Western Arnhem Land. He has a sister, Ngalkunburriyaymi, & his mother, Jingana or the Earth Mother, who created sacred sites in the Dreamtime, they are not as important as Ngalyod. He Lives in a sacred waterhole in a rocky gorge during the dry season, at the beginning of the wet he sends vapour into the sky to form storm clouds, on which he sits, growling & sends thunder echoing across the heavens. His forked toungue makes zigzag lightning, piercing th eheavy clouds to bring down torrential rain. In sacred ceremonies Ngalyod is given due honour & respect, so he will be happy & continue to keep the balance of the seasons. If he is angered he may withhold rain in the wet season & bring down floods in the dry. In his early barks, Kubarkku restricted himself to the dotted infill reminiscent of rock paintings. However, later he incorporated his father’s ‘rarrk’ cross-hatching from the Mardayin ceremony into a rugged and individual painting style. Gowan Armstrong, Maningrida’s chaplain, recalled that ‘the ever cheerful Mick Gubargu (sic) began to bring his crocodile paintings from about 1970s onwards‘ (cited in Altman 2004: 176). These were accompanied by barks depicting other totemic animals including barramundi, turtle, kangaroo & echidna. The crosshatching that adorned these & other totemic figures at the time was not the meticulous geometric rarrk, common throughout Arnhem Land. It was less refined than that of many of his contemporaries, having a similarity in style to the rock markings found in the country near Kubumi, where he lived during the most artistically productive period of his life. His subject matter & stories were a direct continuation of that cave-art tradition executed with a raw, rough, and direct quality, in which the use of white dotted areas on black is a stylistic marker. Large, uneven dots were often applied to the heads, hands and feet of his figures as well as the internal divisions. Kubarkku's rarrk typically comprised horizontal, vertical or sloping bands of red ochre, relieved by patches of black dots on white. Cooee Art The artist's works are included in the Collection of the NGA, NGV, Museums & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory
• Estimate:
  A$4,500 - 6,500
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

  Can't see the realised price? Upgrade your subscription now!

• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.