NINGURA GIBSON NAPURRULA

Despite completing her first paintings in 1995, and her current international acclaim, works by Ningura Napurrula did not begin appearing in the secondary market until 2001 and remarkably, as 2003 drew to a close, of the seven paintings that had been offered only one had sold for the paltry sum of just $1,880.

Ningura’s selection to complete the large ceiling panels for the Quay Branly Museum in Paris in 2004 catapulted her into the public eye, and as a consequence drew her out of Kintore and into Alice Springs, where she could more easily meet the burgeoning market demand for her works. With so few galleries able to acquire paintings through Papunya Tula it became inevitable that she would paint for the many other dealers ever ready to pay for paintings with ‘up front’ cash.

Since 2001 a remarkable 223 works have been offered for auction including 20 in 2008, 17 in 2009 and 14 in 2010, 2011 and 2016. As would be expected, these were met with very mixed results depending on the health of the market at the time. In fact, only 54% of all works offered have sold. The overheated primary market for her work post-2000 saw paintings available through a wide variety of outlets, from the best-exhibiting galleries right through to downmarket tourist shops. Since the beginning of 2005, this has meant that buyers have been able to purchase works by Ningura from the growing band of auction houses selling Aboriginal art at more affordable prices than primary market galleries. For example, the average price on the secondary market for a 122 x 152 cm work with Papunya Tula provenance has been around $20,000, while works from independent dealers have sold at auction for an average of around $10,000. Yet equivalent works have sold for up to $40,000 on the primary market.

Nevertheless, one should be careful when interpreting these results. In 2004, Papunya Tula Artists was one amongst several industry organizations to ‘draw a line in the sand’ and refuse to deal with galleries and agents who purchased works by ‘their’ artists that painted for others. Amongst the most contentious Papunya artists were Ningura Napurrula, Naata Nungerayai, and Makinti Napanangka all of whom began painting for a wide array of dealers from around this time. It is interesting to note that during 2006, at the time this argument was most virulent, Papunya Tula provenanced works by Ningura held the top two places amongst her results at auction and four of the top six results. A year later all but one of the top six results carried Papunya Tula provenance. In 2007, of the 17 works offered only eight sold and none of these came from Papunya Tula but still these sales set her third, seventh, ninth and tenth-highest records. It seems that works with this art centre provenance are more tightly held and will sell for a premium when offered, as they are likely to comprise a much smaller component of the artist’s work at auction in the future. This was evidenced in 2015 when two works with Papunya Tula provenance were sold in Sotheby's London sale of works from the collection of Dutch uber-collector Thomas Vroom. The combination of PT provenance with that of a branded collection proved irresistible. The major work set the artist’s best record to date when it sold for $154,644, and the other finished as her 10th-highest record. 2015 ended as her best year since 2006 at auction. Of 19 works offered, 15 sold for a total of $219,020. Results in 2016 were also encouraging, with 9 of 14 works selling for a total of $145,419. Foremost amongst these was the re-sale of the Papunya Tula masterpiece Women at Wirrulnga, 2005 measuring 244 x 183 cm which had originally sold for $84,000 in 2009. This time around, it achieved $91,500. The same painting now holds the artist's 3rd and 4th highest results at auction. 2017 brought middling results with 7 out of the 11 works offered selling, at an average price of $6,615. None of the four unsold works had PT provenance. And in 2019, 7 of 9 paintings on offer sold for an average price of $7094.

Paintings by Ningura work best on a large scale where she has room to create freer sweeping and more gestural shapes prior to infilling with a thick pastiche of dots. Given that the average price paid at auction for a work measuring 152 x 122 cm is $17,000 regardless of provenance while that for a 120 x 90 cm work is only $2,500, it seems there is a great deal of difference between works that are perceived to be ‘collectable’ and the more ubiquitous minor paintings. There is evidence that a significant number of very large works procured from this artist by private dealers, many up to 3 metres in length, were sold through 'investment' brokers for $80,000-100,000. I expect their owners to be deeply disappointed at the market reaction when they are offered for sale. Over time the preference for works with art centre provenance may possibly wain, yet I suspect the best of these will always fetch a premium over the better non-Papunya Tula paintings for which there is likely to be a ‘buyers market’ for some time into the foreseeable future.

© Adrian Newstead