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Click to enlargeSale 2 · Lot 21
Galarrwuy Wunungmurra
- Region
- Arnhem Land
- Language group
- Dhaḻwaŋu
Minhala (Freshwater Tortoise), 1994
140 x 53 cm
Est. $2,500 – $3,500
Hammer $1,600
- Provenance
- Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director), Invoice No. 4719 Private Collection, Albany NY
- Artwork story
- Galarrwuy Wunungmurra’s Minhala (Freshwater Tortoise) is a finely worked bark painting carrying the sacred diamond designs of the Dhalwangu clan. These patterns, linked to the ancestral being Barama, signify flowing water, billabongs, and the living presence of country. The tortoise motif sits within these geometric fields, evoking both species and story, law and land. Wunungmurra painted only occasionally, and works of this quality are rare. Acquired directly from Framed Gallery, Darwin, in 1996, this painting stands as a strong example of Arnhem Land bark painting of the period —at once ceremonial in meaning and striking in visual effect.