Hunting Party, 1990

102.5 x 74 cm, 117 x 88 cm frame

Est. $4,000 – $6,000

Hammer $2,500

Provenance: Painted for Reg Mason of Arnhem Land Art, NT Private Collection, NSW
Artwork story: Lofty Nadjamerrek was born and spent his youth in the Mann River region of Western Arnhem Land. He began painting in the late 1960s, and by the early 1990s he had become one of Western Arnhem Land's most significant artists. His subjects ranged across a wide array of secular and spiritual themes. Figurative elements were predominantly white, often with X-ray details of internal organs, combined with his own uniquely identifiable rarrk patterns restricted to red parallel lines. These were contained within an unadorned red, brown or black ochre background. In this work a hunting party surrounds a Yolngu bark shelter with dilly bags hanging at each end of a cross-pole suspended on two forked sticks. During the later part of his life, Lofty painted on Arches paper due to the difficulty of collecting suitable bark. After a lifelong legacy of creativity, he was awarded the Order of Australia in 2004, for his lasting contribution to Australian culture.

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Sale 1 · Lot 64

c.1926 – 2009

102.5 x 74 cm, 117 x 88 cm frame

Est. $4,000 – $6,000

Hammer $2,500

Provenance: Painted for Reg Mason of Arnhem Land Art, NT Private Collection, NSW
Artwork story: Lofty Nadjamerrek was born and spent his youth in the Mann River region of Western Arnhem Land. He began painting in the late 1960s, and by the early 1990s he had become one of Western Arnhem Land's most significant artists. His subjects ranged across a wide array of secular and spiritual themes. Figurative elements were predominantly white, often with X-ray details of internal organs, combined with his own uniquely identifiable rarrk patterns restricted to red parallel lines. These were contained within an unadorned red, brown or black ochre background. In this work a hunting party surrounds a Yolngu bark shelter with dilly bags hanging at each end of a cross-pole suspended on two forked sticks. During the later part of his life, Lofty painted on Arches paper due to the difficulty of collecting suitable bark. After a lifelong legacy of creativity, he was awarded the Order of Australia in 2004, for his lasting contribution to Australian culture.