MAGGIE WATSON NAPANGARDI

Maggie Napangardi Watson’s work first appeared at auction in 1996, and by 2000 her sales had already begun to soar. Her total sales exceeded $3 million over the next two decades. Since 1996, her works have appeared at public auction 107 times with a 61% success rate and these have ranged in price from as little as $2000 for a small work, up to $348,000 for Mina Mina Dreaming 1995, her top sale, which broke the artist's record in 2008 against a backdrop of overall market decline. This work, alongside Digging Stick Dreaming 1995, (described as her magnus opus) has jostled over the years for the top ten spots in her sales records. Both have appeared at auction periodically and to some degree, compromise her sales results. Both were commissioned works, purchased through Peter van Groessen and originally sold through Kimberley art in Melbourne.

Maggie's reputation as one of the most important female artists of the Central Desert was essentially established by non-art-center provenanced works, through the galleries that originally sold them, and the institutions that have included them in thematic exhibitions, the latest being the NGV’s, The Stars we Do Not See, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC during 2005.

2007 was her best year with seven of eight works selling for a total value of $556,200. Today, she is second only to Emily Kngwarreye amongst female Aboriginal artists, an altogether remarkable fact given the sheer number of female artists who have emerged since the early 1990s. This fact alone should have all those interested in ‘investment’ sit up and take note.

The fluctuating trajectory of her two top sales provides a lesson in art investment. These, among a select number of large, major works, will continue to command premium prices. It is, however, Maggie’s less well-known and medium-sized works which are most definitely undervalued in the current market. Due to their relative scarcity, they should be seriously considered by anyone intent on putting together a collection. Since 2019, only 2 or 3 paintings have appeared each year at auction, and only one has remained unsold. Paintings in the $18,000- $28,000 range include lovely mid to smaller works that have ranged from the gleaming Hair String Dreaming, 1997 ($27,000, Menzies in June 2023), and the colorful Yala Jukurrpa, 1989, ($17,182, Leonard Joel, 2024), and Mina Mina 1997, ($22,091, Art Leven in 2021), and it is possible to collect lovely small paintings by this standout artist for below $10,000.


Maggie Watson's status as an artist of supreme interest is undisputed. Her artistic presence significantly enhances the representation of female desert artists but also addresses any overabundance of works by the more prolific Eastern Anmatjerre and Alyawerre artists from Utopia and the surrounding regions as well as the burgeoning Pintupi and Pitjantjatjara women’s art emanating from the Western Desert and beyond.

Watson’s major works, given their rarity, will continue to set and upset auction records at each subsequent offering. Meanwhile, smaller works with or without official ‘art centre provenance’ will continue to generate enthusiasm and interest.

© Adrian Newstead & Sophie Pearce