DAWIDI

Painted in the Milingimbi area, Central Arnhem Land in 1961
Private collection

The bark is pierced with a small hole at the top centre and has a slightly bowed curvature. There are three reasonably significant cracks running through the centre of the image and the bark has suffered some areas of loss of pigmentation, in particular to some areas of the white pipe clay and the yellow python eggs at the centre of the image. The bark is in relatively good condition for a painting of this age though would benefit from conservation and some restoration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Cf. For related paintings by the artist see Wagilag Creation Story, 1963, in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Wititj ga Warngurra' ga girri' (Wititj with bandicoot and tools), 1964, and for a painting with a similar composition, see Dhalngurr, 1966, in the collection of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, in Caruana, W. and N. Lendon (eds.), The Painters of the Wagilag Sisters Story: 1937-1997, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1997, p.44, plate 14, p.105, plate 57 and p.107, plate 59 respectively, illus

From 1956 until his death in 1970, a period which saw a growing public interest in Aboriginal art from Arnhem Land, Dawidi was the senior painter of the Wagilag Sisters chronicle for the Liyagalawumirri people, who by then were living at the mission on Milingimbi off the coast of central Arnhem Land. The Wagilag Sisters was the artist's constant subject and he painted several versions describing the various episodes of the narrative, the ancestral landscape where it is set, and its ritual manifestations. In this work the focus is on Wititj the Olive Python coiled around the snake's eggs in a configuration which is emblematic of paintings about the Wagilag Sisters. Wititj is depicted again along the right edge of the bark, this time rising erect into the sky to boast of his act of swallowing the Sisters to other ancestral Rainbow Serpents belonging to neighbouring clans. Other elements of the chronicle depicted are Djarrka the Goannas, Dhapalany the Itchy Caterpillars and Wurrdjarra the Sand Palm (beside the serpent on the right). The triangular shapes may represent the storm clouds Wititj made as he created the first monsoon season, or the rocks into which the Sisters were ultimately transformed and now rest at the site of Mirarrmina