Wild Passionfruit Dreaming (Arrutnenge), 1989

91 x 61 cm

Est. $600 – $1,200

Hammer $2,400

Provenance: CAAMA Shop, Alice Springs, Cat No. 25-889 Austral Gallery, St Louis (Mary Reid Brunstrom), Invoice No. 687 Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: Painted in 1989 at Antelyte (Boundary Bore), this work is one of the first acrylic paintings ever created in the Eastern Desert region. The roundels and branching forms trace the fruit and its tendrils of the Arrutnenge (wild passionfruit), while the dense dotting and concentric arcs evoke both country and ceremony. The large U-shapes represent women gathered for awely(e) (women’s ceremony), linking the painting to ancestral narratives and the seasonal abundance of bush foods. Through its layered fields of acrylic dots, the work embodies both a visual map of country and an intergenerational story, situating Petyarr(e)’s practice within the broader Anmatyerr(e) tradition while marking her individual style of rhythmic, flowing composition.

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Sale 2 · Lot 12

Nancy Petyarre

c.1938 – 2009

91 x 61 cm

Est. $600 – $1,200

Hammer $2,400

Provenance: CAAMA Shop, Alice Springs, Cat No. 25-889 Austral Gallery, St Louis (Mary Reid Brunstrom), Invoice No. 687 Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: Painted in 1989 at Antelyte (Boundary Bore), this work is one of the first acrylic paintings ever created in the Eastern Desert region. The roundels and branching forms trace the fruit and its tendrils of the Arrutnenge (wild passionfruit), while the dense dotting and concentric arcs evoke both country and ceremony. The large U-shapes represent women gathered for awely(e) (women’s ceremony), linking the painting to ancestral narratives and the seasonal abundance of bush foods. Through its layered fields of acrylic dots, the work embodies both a visual map of country and an intergenerational story, situating Petyarr(e)’s practice within the broader Anmatyerr(e) tradition while marking her individual style of rhythmic, flowing composition.