Guwak and Possums, 1979

natural earth pigments on stringybark

136 x 44 cm

$6,000

Provenance: Purchased from Yirrkala Art: An Exhibition of Aboriginal Bark Paintings and Carvings, an exhibition presented and arranged by the Department of Prehistory and Anthropology, Australian National University (ANU), and curated by Howard Morphy. Subsequently held in a private collection
Artwork story: Renowned as the finest Mangalili painter of the 1970s and 1980s Narritjin was the keeper of the important possum tree story, a portion of which is depicted in this work. In the early morning hours Guwark, the Cuckoo, worn out from his travels, rested in the top of a tree. He heard his friend, Marrngu, the Possum, moving about and called out to him. They sat looking at Gunyan, the crab, playing on the beach below the cliff where the possum tree stands. In this painting of the sacred tree at Djarrakpi, the possums are shown climbing up and down the tree spinning fur string. The emus are scratching for water among the sand hills while the female Mokoys (Nyapilingu spirits) look on The artist painted this while a visiting felllow, with his son Banapana, in the Humanities Research Centre at ANU in 1979. It was purchased by Maureen Hickman at an exhibition at ANU, curated by Dr Howard Morphy, at the end of their fellowship. The artist is represented in the Aboriginal Arts Board Collection, the National Museum of Australia, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Museum of Contemporary Art, Arnotts Collection, Sydney. Musee des Arts Africans et Oceaniens, Paris, France. Musee Ethnographique, et Suisse de Folklore, Basel, Switzerland. Museum of Victoria, Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, amongst a host of others.

Stockroom

Click to enlarge

Narritjin Maymuru

c.1916 – 1981

Region: Arnhem Land
Community: Djarrakpi
Language group: Yolŋu (Yolngu) – Maŋgalili (Manggalili)

Guwak and Possums, 1979

natural earth pigments on stringybark

136 x 44 cm

$6,000

Provenance: Purchased from Yirrkala Art: An Exhibition of Aboriginal Bark Paintings and Carvings, an exhibition presented and arranged by the Department of Prehistory and Anthropology, Australian National University (ANU), and curated by Howard Morphy. Subsequently held in a private collection
Artwork story: Renowned as the finest Mangalili painter of the 1970s and 1980s Narritjin was the keeper of the important possum tree story, a portion of which is depicted in this work. In the early morning hours Guwark, the Cuckoo, worn out from his travels, rested in the top of a tree. He heard his friend, Marrngu, the Possum, moving about and called out to him. They sat looking at Gunyan, the crab, playing on the beach below the cliff where the possum tree stands. In this painting of the sacred tree at Djarrakpi, the possums are shown climbing up and down the tree spinning fur string. The emus are scratching for water among the sand hills while the female Mokoys (Nyapilingu spirits) look on The artist painted this while a visiting felllow, with his son Banapana, in the Humanities Research Centre at ANU in 1979. It was purchased by Maureen Hickman at an exhibition at ANU, curated by Dr Howard Morphy, at the end of their fellowship. The artist is represented in the Aboriginal Arts Board Collection, the National Museum of Australia, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Museum of Contemporary Art, Arnotts Collection, Sydney. Musee des Arts Africans et Oceaniens, Paris, France. Musee Ethnographique, et Suisse de Folklore, Basel, Switzerland. Museum of Victoria, Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, amongst a host of others.