Fish Trap, 2005

128 x 59.5 cm

Est. $4,000 – $6,000

Hammer $3,100

Provenance: Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala Art Centre, NT, Cat No. 2573Y Annandale Galleries, NSW, Cat No. BLA305 Bonhams, Important Australian Art, August 2022, Lot No. 65 Private Collection, NSW Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala Art Centre
Artwork story: Yolngu artist Gawirrin Gumana was an important cultural leader from the Gangan area, and the eldest son of the Dhalwangu Clan leader Birrikitji. Gangan is a freshwater area consisting of rivers, waterholes, and stringybark eucalyptus forest. His paintings were often focused on the area around the sacred watering hole, Blue Mud Bay, and the story of the ancestral hero, Laintjun who taught the meaning of the diamond pattern to the Dhalwangu clan, and brought with him the Yirritja totems. This painting demonstrates the use of the rarrk crosshatching that made Gawirrin's painting style distinctive. It includes ancestral animals such as turtles, fish, and crayfish. As an artist, he perfected the depiction of water in motion, showing how the water changes from the presence of the powerful creator Djan'kawu Sisters. Gawirrin was the last surviving member of the group that, in 1962, painted the historic Yirritja moiety Church Panels to proclaim the law and culture of the Yolgnu people long before the missionaries arrived in Arnhem Land. These panels can be viewed at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre in Yirrkala to this day.

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Sale 1 · Lot 65

Gawirrin Gumana

1935 – 2016

128 x 59.5 cm

Est. $4,000 – $6,000

Hammer $3,100

Provenance: Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala Art Centre, NT, Cat No. 2573Y Annandale Galleries, NSW, Cat No. BLA305 Bonhams, Important Australian Art, August 2022, Lot No. 65 Private Collection, NSW Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala Art Centre
Artwork story: Yolngu artist Gawirrin Gumana was an important cultural leader from the Gangan area, and the eldest son of the Dhalwangu Clan leader Birrikitji. Gangan is a freshwater area consisting of rivers, waterholes, and stringybark eucalyptus forest. His paintings were often focused on the area around the sacred watering hole, Blue Mud Bay, and the story of the ancestral hero, Laintjun who taught the meaning of the diamond pattern to the Dhalwangu clan, and brought with him the Yirritja totems. This painting demonstrates the use of the rarrk crosshatching that made Gawirrin's painting style distinctive. It includes ancestral animals such as turtles, fish, and crayfish. As an artist, he perfected the depiction of water in motion, showing how the water changes from the presence of the powerful creator Djan'kawu Sisters. Gawirrin was the last surviving member of the group that, in 1962, painted the historic Yirritja moiety Church Panels to proclaim the law and culture of the Yolgnu people long before the missionaries arrived in Arnhem Land. These panels can be viewed at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre in Yirrkala to this day.