Find Lots

• Auction House:
  Gibson's Auctioneers & Valuers
• Sale Name:
  Australian & International Art
• Sale Date:
  24 Oct 2021 ~ 12noon (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  91
• Lot Description:
  Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula
  (1938-2001)
  Spear Dreaming, 1996
  synthetic polymer paint on canvas
  140 x 220 cm
  signed, dated, titled and inscribed verso: TURKEY TOLSON '96 SPEAR DREAMING / 97929662; catalogue no. 97929662
  Condition: The painted surface area appears to be stable and there is no visible, significant paint loss. Light scuffing to all edges of the image. The painting is unframed. The painting would be greatly enhanced by re-stretching as there is areas of sag and fold marks in the canvas. The overall condition of this work is very good.
• Provenance:
  Acquired directly from artist; Arthur Papadimitriou, Melbourne; acquired from the above (receipt included); Private Collection, Melbourne
• Notes:
  During mythological times a group of men camped at the site of Illyingaugau near the secret cave site of Mitukatjirri south-east of the Kintore community. The rows of dots through this work represent spears which men are straightening. This is done by slightly warming the spear over a fire and straightening while it is warm. These men were preparing their spears as they heard of a possible confrontation with a group of men from the Tjikari area further north.' Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula was one of the forefathers of the modern Western Desert art movement which began in the early 1970s. Many years later, he went on to develop a new formula that would bring Aboriginal art closer to Op-art abstraction than it had ever been before. Anyone who has stood in front of one of these paintings will remark on their hypnotic trance and hallucinatory qualities. Gaze long enough and you will be mesmerised by the spears as they dance over the coal, fire and Country. In his survey book, Aboriginal Art, Howard Murphy singled out Tolson's unique stylistic departure, noting that ‘many Papunya pictures are clearly built up on an underlying geometric framework that represents ancestral journeys and landscape features, but this is not true of all. Straightening the Spears at Illyingaugau by Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, for example, consists of sequences of parallel lines.' It was a simple yet radical artistic leap that would inspire countless artists to break from tradition. The synthesis of iconographical elements through the repetitive and meditative application of line and dot work didn't take anything away from the power of story-telling. The spears are represented jam-packed next to one another over hot coals in the straightening process. By focusing on just one aspect of the Dreamtime story, on the particular, Tolson also came close to some of principles of Minimalism: that less is more. He realised that contemporary artists didn't have to depict every detail of a Dreaming for the picture to be complete. This painting was originally in Arthur Papadimitriou's collection of Central Desert paintings – a collection that Katrina Strickland observed, is ‘taken very seriously by those in the know.' Papadimitriou, a school teacher in Mt. Liebig in the mid-1990s, was awarded a Chevalier De Ordre des Arts et des Lettres after he donated a similar work by Turkey Tolsen Tjupurrulla to the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. The present work is a striking example from the series. Petrit Abazi
• Estimate:
  A$12,000 - 15,000
• 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.