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• Auction House:
  Theodore Bruce
• Sale Name:
  Timed Online Auction | Art | Australian, Aboriginal & International
• Sale Date:
  28 Nov 2022 ~ 6pm (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  6113
• Lot Description:
  Bobby Barrdjarary Nganmirra
  (Oenpelli, c.1915-1992)
  Luma Luma c. 1980s
  Earth pigment on bark
  139 x 45 cm Frame: 165 x 70 cm
  Inscribed verso
  Condition: Mould affected, under glass
• Provenance:
  James R Lawson 10 December 1996 L 115, label verso; The Collection of Michelle Perry & Graham Kuo, Sydney
• Notes:
  Nganjmirra was born around 1915 at Malworn, his father's country between the Goomadeer and Liverpool rivers in West Arnhem Land. Marlwon is best known as a Yawk Yawk (female water spirit) Dreaming site, the primary Dreaming of Bobby Nganjmirra's branch of the Djalama clan. Nganjmirra was brought up in Marlwon living a traditional lifestyle, visiting Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) for a short time in 1930 at the invitation of a stockman who visited the group. He subsequently spent a short time at school there and on Goulburn Island. After the Second World War he worked with the anthropologists Roland and Catherine Berndt and later, in 1975, he became a member of the Aboriginal Arts Board, having by that time concentrated on bark painting for some years. Most of Bobby Nganjmirra's work was produced in ochre on bark, although he also did sketches on paper and a number of large scale ochre and acrylic works on paper for the John W. Kluge Commission at the end of his life in 1991-2. These were undertaken at the Injalak Art Centre, which was established in 1989. The incredibly wide range of his subject matter, from many sacred and profane stories to natural subjects, is testament to his high ceremonial status, knowledge and artistic confidence. He painted the stories of his own Yirridjdja moiety clan such as Luma Luma, Likanaya and Marrayka (the Yawk Yawk Sisters, first ancestors of the Djalama clan), as well as those of neighbouring areas such as Nimbuwah rock and Baby Dreaming from Kudjekbinj. His style is notable for its expressiveness - the mouths, eyes and noses of his figures contort to many emotive shapes and their limbs appear to dance in all directions. A naive and sketch-like stylistic tendency in many of his works is more the result of the primacy of 'story' in his painting over decorative qualities. Like many other western Kunwinjku painters he favoured multiple figures in his compositions, again heightening the sense of narrative. Most western Kunwinjku art draws upon the figurative rock painting tradition, and some of Bobby Nganjmirra's earliest works display the parallel red hatching on white silhouettes typical of works on rock. However he soon turned to cross-hatching, a style associated with painting for the Mardayin ceremony. Bobby Nganjmirra's work has been featured in a number of major exhibitions, including Old Masters - Australia's Great Bark Artists at the National Museum of Australia in 2013, The Continuing Tradition at the National Gallery of Australia in 1989 and Kunwinjku Bim at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984. After his death Bobby was known for some time by his skin name Nawakadj, as in the monograph on his stories and work Kunwinjku Spirit: Nawakadj Nganjmirra, Artist and Story-teller edited by Neil McLeod. However, in Gunbalanya he is still sometimes referred to by his nickname 'Ten Million' (the price he was purported to have raise for his paintings), reflecting the humour of this early master of modern Kunwinjku art. After his death Bobby was known for some time by his skin name Nawakadj, as in the monograph on his stories and work Kunwinjku Spirit: Nawakadj Nganjmirra, Artist and Story-teller edited by Neil McLeod. However, in Gunbalanya he is still sometimes referred to by his nickname 'Ten Million' (the price he was purported to have raise for his paintings), reflecting the humour of this early master of modern Kunwinjku art. Profile author: Dan Kennedy, https://www.cooeeart.com.au/artists/nganjmirabobby/
• Estimate:
  A$2,500 - 3,500
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

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