Catalogues112 of 257
Click to enlargeSale 2 · Lot 19
Charlie Matjuwi Burarrwanga
b. c.1934
- Region
- Arnhem Land
- Community
- Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island)
- Language group
- Gumatj
Four Diver Ducks and a Yirritja Body Design, 1992
159 x 63 cm
Est. $4,000 – $6,000
Hammer $3,000
- Provenance
- Collected by Dorothy Bennett Cat No. 340 Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director), Cat No. 7145EAB Private Collection, Albany NY Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Dorothy Bennett, dated 20 December 1992
- Artwork story
- This work by senior Gumatj elder Charlie Matjuwi depicts four diver ducks surrounded by diamond patterned crosshatched infill (rarrk) reflecting the ceremonial painting traditions of Elcho Island. Known for his strong linear compositions and striking use of natural pigments to carry ancestral narratives Matjuwi’s paintings are important in sustaining Yolngu ceremonial knowledge, with motifs linking the natural world to kinship and cosmology.