Find Lots

• Auction House:
  Deutscher and Hackett
• Sale Name:
  Important Fine Art + Indigenous Art
• Sale Date:
  18 Apr 2018
• Lot #:
  53
• Lot Description:
  Emily Kame Kngwarreye
  (c.1910 – 1996)
  Emu All Over, 1990
  synthetic polymer paint on linen
  150.0 x 121.0 cm
  bears inscription verso: artist’s name, Commissioned by Delmore Gallery, and Delmore Gallery cat. 0L07
  RELATED WORK/S: "Emu Story", 1990, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Isaacs, J., Smith, T., Ryan, J., Holt, D., and Holt, J., "Emily Kame Kngwarreye Paintings", Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998, pl. 2, p. 45; "After the Rain", 1990, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Neale, M.," Emily Kame Kngwarreye: Alhalkere, Paintings from Utopia", Macmillan Publishers, Melbourne, 1998, pl. 53, cat. 36, p. 86 and Neale, M. (ed.), "Utopia:" "The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye", National Museum of Australia Press, 2008, cat. D-14, p. 126
• Provenance:
  Commissioned by Delmore Gallery, via Alice Springs; Thomas Vroom Collection, Amsterdam
• References:
  Isaacs, J., Smith, T., Ryan, J., Holt, D., and Holt, J., "Emily Kame Kngwarreye Paintings", Craftsman; House, Sydney, 1998, pl. 10, p. 53 (illus.)
• Notes:
  ‘All the paintings of Emily Kngwarreye, so spectacular and diverse in style, express a central theme – that of her identification with the earth and land itself: Anmatyerre country, the country of the yam and the emu’.1 Emily Kngwarreye's paintings are complex and vibrant visions of her country" (Alhalkere)" and women's ceremonies ("Awelye)". Despite finding artistic recognition late in life, her practice had been developing for many years and was fundamental to her role as a senior Anmatyerre woman, painting women’s bodies and objects for ritual and ceremonies. It was this knowledge and history that informed her work and which the detailed surface of "Emu All Over", 1990 brings together in a shimmering example. "Emu all Over "is a significant early work, replete with a full complement of the artist’s stylistic elements. Painted on a black ground, the underlying tracery of dusky pink lines of the meandering roots of the yam below ground and the tracks of the travelling emu above, are covered by layers of green, ochre and pink dots representing the surrounding seeds, flowers and leaves. Fundamentally, this work represents the relationship between the emu and country. Beneath the soil the bush potato ("anatye")is ready for digging, while above, there is a flurry of movement as the male emu moves across the landscape feeding on the various seeds. Responsible for caring for the eggs and vulnerable hatchlings, the emu eats and regurgitates seeds onto the ground for his chicks to eat, keeping them close by and lessening the likelihood of them falling prey to predators. It was during the 1990s that Emily Kngwarreye emerged as one of Australia's leading contemporary painters, the demand for her work unprecedented as international and local collectors and museums clamoured to obtain an ‘Emily’. In the years until her death in 1996, Kngwarreye was hailed as 'an outstanding abstract painter, certainly among the best Australian artists, arguably among the best of her time'.2 Although she had little contact with the outside world for most of her life, she produced a body of work which radically altered the way in which we view and appreciate modern Aboriginal art. 1. Isaacs, J., ‘Anmatyerre Woman’, in "Emily Kngwarreye Paintings", Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998, p. 12 2. Smith, T., 'Kngwarreye Woman Abstract Painter', in "Emily Kngwarreye Paintings", Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998, p. 24 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE
• Estimate:
  A$80,000 - 120,000
• 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.