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Lot #21 - Tiger Palpatja

  • Auction House:
    Mossgreen
  • Sale Name:
    The Alan Boxer Collection of Australian Indigenous Art
  • Sale Date:
    17 Mar 2015 ~ 6.30pm
  • Lot #:
    21
  • Lot Description:
    Tiger Palpatja
    (Born Circa 1920)
    Wanampi Tjukurpa (2011)
    synthetic polymer paint on linen
    121.5 x 198 cm
    bears Tjala Arts cat. no. 203-11 verso
  • Provenance:
    Tjala Arts, South Australia; Chapman Gallery, Canberra; The Alan Boxer Collection, Canberra
  • Notes:
    This painting is sold with a Tjala Arts certificate. The subject of this painting has a particular resonance for the artist. It relates to the ancestral Wanampi Rainbow Snake brothers into whose country, Piltati, Palpatja was born. The artist was a senior law man for this site. He lived a traditional life in the desert before moving to the mission at Ernabella in South Australia where he became a shearer. Palpatja commenced painting in the public sphere at nearby Amata, aged about 84, where he was represented by Tjala Arts, the local art centre. In 2009 he moved back to his homelands where Tjungu Palya also became an agent for his work. Palpatja is represented in several major public and private collections including those of the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery and Artbank. He has participated in several important group exhibitions including Tjala Arts, at the Kluge-Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, USA, in 2006; Indigenous Art & Law & Healing at the University Club, University of Western Australia in 2009; and Tjukurpa Pulkatjara: The Power of Law at the South Australian Museum in 2010. The Wanampi narrative concerns two brothers and their wives, the traditional division of labour and the relationship between the sexes. The women, two sisters, had grown weary of constantly providing food for the men who did nothing else but perform ceremonies. When the women refused the men food, the latter determined upon revenge. They transformed into giant Wanampi Rainbow Snakes and tricked the sisters into digging into the Snakes' burrow, forming a trench some 25 kilometres long, now a watercourse from Aparatjara to Piltati where they created a gorge. Finally the brothers caught and swallowed the women. The elder brother is now a bloodwood tree at Piltati. Wally Caruana
  • Estimate:
    A$8,000 - 12,000
  • 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.



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