Kangaroo Being Hunted, 1975

natural earth pigments on bark

74 x 61 cm

Est. $3,000 – $4,000

Hammer $4,200

Provenance: Purchased from Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, NT, 1975 The collector was working at the Sydney University/ NT Joint Crocodile Research Project, Maningrida, at the time of acquisition
Artwork story: In 1973 John Namerredje Guymala moved with his wife and children to Yaymini outstation, far to the south of Maningrida, which he shared with Wally Mandarrk and his family. A rock art painter, his earliest barks were executed in the traditional Oenpelli x-ray style, most likely under Mandarrk's influence: monochrome grounds, one or two dominant figurative elements, the internal organs of animals rendered in the parallel rarrk of the western Arnhem Land tradition. The rarrk crosshatch clan patterns he painted to decorate his figures have been described as epitomising the Bininj notion of aesthetics in painting referred to as kabimbebme, literally "colour coming out." This bark, acquired from Maningrida Arts and Crafts in 1975 by the researcher attached to the Sydney University/NT Joint Crocodile Research Project, belongs to that early period. Kangaroo Being Hunted is precisely the kind of work Namerredje was making in these years: a near-black ground, a single dominant figurative encounter, the internal spine of the kangaroo marked in a line of deep red-brown dots running the length of its torso. The animal rears upright, its head raised and alert, forepaws extended. To the right, a male hunter stands in full stride, one arm raised with a spear thrower, a spear already in flight across the upper register. At the lower left, foliage and a second partial figure complete the scene. Namerredje's work was selected for The Art of Aboriginal Australia, which toured North America from 1974 to 1976, and for Kunwinjku Bim, the landmark exhibition held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984, six years after his death.

Catalogues184 of 257

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Sale 3 · Lot 36

John Nameradje

Region: Arnhem Land
Community: Gunbalanya (Oenpelli, Kunbarllanjnja)
Language group: Kunwinjku

Kangaroo Being Hunted, 1975

natural earth pigments on bark

74 x 61 cm

Est. $3,000 – $4,000

Hammer $4,200

Provenance: Purchased from Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, NT, 1975 The collector was working at the Sydney University/ NT Joint Crocodile Research Project, Maningrida, at the time of acquisition
Artwork story: In 1973 John Namerredje Guymala moved with his wife and children to Yaymini outstation, far to the south of Maningrida, which he shared with Wally Mandarrk and his family. A rock art painter, his earliest barks were executed in the traditional Oenpelli x-ray style, most likely under Mandarrk's influence: monochrome grounds, one or two dominant figurative elements, the internal organs of animals rendered in the parallel rarrk of the western Arnhem Land tradition. The rarrk crosshatch clan patterns he painted to decorate his figures have been described as epitomising the Bininj notion of aesthetics in painting referred to as kabimbebme, literally "colour coming out." This bark, acquired from Maningrida Arts and Crafts in 1975 by the researcher attached to the Sydney University/NT Joint Crocodile Research Project, belongs to that early period. Kangaroo Being Hunted is precisely the kind of work Namerredje was making in these years: a near-black ground, a single dominant figurative encounter, the internal spine of the kangaroo marked in a line of deep red-brown dots running the length of its torso. The animal rears upright, its head raised and alert, forepaws extended. To the right, a male hunter stands in full stride, one arm raised with a spear thrower, a spear already in flight across the upper register. At the lower left, foliage and a second partial figure complete the scene. Namerredje's work was selected for The Art of Aboriginal Australia, which toured North America from 1974 to 1976, and for Kunwinjku Bim, the landmark exhibition held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984, six years after his death.