ROVER THOMAS (JOOLAMA)

Painted at Warmun (Turkey Creek)
Displayed in the Turkey Creek Roadhouse up until 1987
Purchased directly from the artist at Warmun in 1987
Duncan Kentish, Adelaide

This painting has been stabilised by a professional conservator. There are several areas of pigment loss (especially to the white 'dots'). There are 5 drill holes near the corners where it was attached to the road house walls. There is scuffing to the edges of the 'masonite' board, and the work is re-housed in a contemporary wooden box frame.
"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 similar, map-like paintings of the eastern Kimberley see Bedford Downs, 1984, in the Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, in Carrigan, B., Rover Thomas: I want to paint, Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, 2003, catalogue number 9, illus.; and Roads meeting, 1987, in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, in Thomas, R. with K. Akerman, M. Macha, W. Christensen and W. Caruana, Roads Cross: The paintings of Rover Thomas, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1994, p. 19, illus

Characteristically, Rover Thomas' paintings of the eastern Kimberley depict a landscape that bears the evidence of ancestral history layered with the more recent history since European settlement. This, however, is one of a series of works where the subject is primarily the country as it appears today as a result of the new settlers' endeavours, rather than that of the Ancestors. The painting maps the area in and around the township of Turkey Creek (Warmun).

In this orientation, the direction of north is approximately towards the left edge of the painting. In a probable reading of the image, the dark organic shape in the top left of the painting may represent Lake Argyle from which the Ord River flows, as a meander, towards the right, running under Texas Downs Road which in turn meets the Great Northern Highway towards the lower centre of the painting.

This is country very familiar to Rover Thomas. Warmun became his and his kinsmen's home, re-settling there after having been driven off the cattlestations on which they worked until the early 1975. The Ord River valley was flooded in the early 1960s to create Lake Argyle and turn the eastern Kimberley into a fertile irrigation area.

The surface of the painting is, in parts, raku-like. The natural resins used by the artist create a rich, textured surface, with contrasting areas of impasto and thinner, brushier paint