Goose Hunting Story, 1996

185 x 212 cm

Est. $3,000 – $5,000

Hammer $3,400

Provenance: Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director), Cat No. 4702EAB Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: Goose Hunting Story depicts the seasonal harvesting of magpie goose eggs in the Arafura Swamp, a central narrative in Ganalbingu life. The artist renders the vertical reed beds with exacting geometric clarity, each panel animated with dotted clusters and ochred forms that evoke the nesting sites. Canoes, spears, and human figures anchor the scene in lived practice, while the repetition of forms creates a hypnotic, almost architectural rhythm. The subject belongs to Milpurrurru’s broader engagement with the cosmology of the Ganalbingu, whose clan identity is intimately tied to the goose. The painting resonates with the yearly ceremonial cycle: the songs, dances, and rituals that mark the egg-gathering season, connecting ancestral myth with ecological survival.

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Sale 2 · Lot 27

George Milpurrurru

1934 – 1998

185 x 212 cm

Est. $3,000 – $5,000

Hammer $3,400

Provenance: Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director), Cat No. 4702EAB Private Collection, Albany NY
Artwork story: Goose Hunting Story depicts the seasonal harvesting of magpie goose eggs in the Arafura Swamp, a central narrative in Ganalbingu life. The artist renders the vertical reed beds with exacting geometric clarity, each panel animated with dotted clusters and ochred forms that evoke the nesting sites. Canoes, spears, and human figures anchor the scene in lived practice, while the repetition of forms creates a hypnotic, almost architectural rhythm. The subject belongs to Milpurrurru’s broader engagement with the cosmology of the Ganalbingu, whose clan identity is intimately tied to the goose. The painting resonates with the yearly ceremonial cycle: the songs, dances, and rituals that mark the egg-gathering season, connecting ancestral myth with ecological survival.