SHORTY LUNGKARDA TJUNGURRAYI

Shorty Lungkarda did not begin painting until late in 1971. While he was an important and respected tribal leader, he was not one of Bardon’s close confidants, unable to speak English and having arrived sometime after the first artists began painting. His works were first exhibited in Alice Springs and while they bear Stuart Art Centre catalogue numbers they are not accompanied by handwritten notes or schematic outlines prepared by Bardon specifically for each painting. Only two of his 1971 works have come up for auction, and, being his very first attempts in an unfamiliar medium, they do not bear comparison to those created in 1972 and later. No lots appeared for offer at auction in 2010. Two appeared in 2011, but both failed to sell. In 2012 the artwork Big Cave Story, 1972 achieved the artist’s sale record price of $216,000. Sotheby's had offered the work at a pre-sale estimate of $180,000-220,000 in its June Important Aboriginal Art sale. Since 2012 only one important work has been offered and it had appeared at auction on two previous occasions. The untitled 1972 work first appeared at Sotheby's in 1996 and sold for $36,800. It appeared again in 2000 and sold for $68,500. Sotheby's handled it for a third time breaking into the artist's top 5 results at $107,213.

Lungkarda died in 1987 before a number of his contemporaries rejected traditional iconography in favour of a more abstracted spare picture plane, thereby turning away from the style developed with Bardon in the early 1970s. Shorty’s own works, therefore, are valued principally on the strength of their iconic imagery, which emulated his tribal authority and status. In common with the majority of artists of his generation, most of his top-selling works were created during 1972. However, significantly, a 1974 work is among his highest results at $123,500. Tingari Ceremony at Ilyingaugau 1974 sold in Sotheby’s June 2000 auction (Lot 36) equalling a record that was established at Sotheby’s as early as 1997, for an untitled 46.5 x 53 cm board. This 1972 work, while quite minimal in style, is so unique and striking that once seen it is not easily forgotten. It is one of the rare occasions where a record price stood unchallenged throughout almost an entire decade, eclipsed only in 2009. The 1974 painting is a large work on canvas measuring 169 x 102 cm featuring a complex overlay of dotted concentric circles that emanate a powerful and mesmeric three-dimensional effect.

In cases where a work has been re-presented at auction and failed to reach its generally increased reserves, the reason seems to lie with the imagery or poor execution. One particular case is a work entitled Children’s Story 1972. While the image is interesting, it is not the artist’s best, failing to reflect the tremendous growth in the market during the period between 2000 and 2005. It originally failed with a pre-sale estimate of $30,000-50,000 in 2000, and when Sotheby’s auctioned it again in October 2005 with the increased estimate of $80,000-120,000, it was once more passed on. Once more offered in 2009 at the pre-sale estimate of $50,000-70,000 it failed yet again (Lot 55). It found its way, however, into the superannuation fund of Melbourne uber-dealer Bill Nutall who offered it for a fourth time (this time through Bonham's reinvigorated Aboriginal art department) in May 2012 carrying an estimate of $40,000-60,000. Finally it sold for $45,600.

Regardless of this, Shorty's best works will continue to rise in value. due to the fact that there are so few of them. More satisfying results for the owners were the $32,300 increase in value over the purchase price in 1995 for a very pleasing and unique 40 x 33 cm 1972 board sold in Sotheby’s June 2000 auction (Lot 35), as well as the increase in value from $8,050 in 1999, to $21,600 for a 1980 work when sold at Sotheby’s in July 2006 (Lot 89).

Untitled 1972 fetched $168,000 and held the artist's record between 2009 and 2012. It had an impressive pedigree, previously belonging to Margaret Carnegie and having been included in a number of prestigious exhibitions including Lauraine Diggins' A Myriad of Dreaming in 1989, as well as the important Australiana Moderna e Contemporanea e Arte Aborigena in Milan in 2002. The work displayed the same fragile veiling of white dots against an ochre dark background as is seen in the other stellar pieces of this period. Notably, it had been offered by Sotheby’s in 2004 with a higher estimate of $100,000-150,000 but had failed to attract a buyer. Perhaps its request for inclusion in a forthcoming show Origins at the National Gallery of Victoria to celebrate their 50th anniversary added to the work's allure.

Clearly, Shorty’s results in the secondary market are dominated by his 1972 works; 18 of the 27 offered have sold. Only one of the four 1973 paintings has found a new home with poor clearance rates also recorded for paintings produced in 1976 and 1977. Few, if any, paintings created after 1980 have appeared on the secondary market despite the artist's passing. Sotheby’s have achieved all ten of the artists highest results

Shorty Lungkada was one of the foundation artists of the Aboriginal art movement. His most emblematic early images with their powerful iconic content will continue to be both highly desirable works of art and Blue Chip investments which should grow in value over time.

© Adrian Newstead