- 69
JIMMY NAKKURIDJDJILMI NGAINJMIRRA
Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 AUD
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Description
- Jimmy Nakkuridjdjilmi Ngainjmirra
- A MERMAID - YELELBAN
- Bears artist's name and title on Oenpelli C.M.S label on the reverse
- Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
- 79 by 39.5 cm
Provenance
Painted in Western Arnhem Land in the early 1970s
Church Missionary Society, Oenpelli, C.M.S code number H390
Jerome Gould, Los Angeles
Private collection
Church Missionary Society, Oenpelli, C.M.S code number H390
Jerome Gould, Los Angeles
Private collection
Condition
The bark is attached to a wooden stretcher on the reverse and is in very good condition, with little pigment loss and no signs of repair or 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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Cf. For other works by the artist, see Two barramundi fish, c.1970, in Mundine, D. et al, They are Meditating: Bark paintings from the MCA's Arnott's Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2008, p.190, and The Mother Protector, 1960s, in O'Ferrall, M.A., Keepers of the Secrets: Aboriginal Art from Arnhemland in the Collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1990, p.46, pl.52. For a painting of the same subject by the artist's brother, Bobby Barrdjarray Ngainjmirra, see Yawkyawk, 1975, in Taylor, L., Seeing the Inside: Bark painting in Western Arnhem Land, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996, p.203, pl.8.3
An extraordinary image of a Yawkyawk ancestor of the Kunwinjku and Kuninjku peoples of Western Arnhem Land, the artist has depicted the figure of the half woman/ half fish ancestor decorated in conventional rarrk or cross-hatching, as well as introducing the X-ray technique common to paintings in the region whereby the internal organs of the subject are depicted. In the ancestral narratives, the Yawkyawk are usually described as two women who, in order to escape a threatening giant, grow fish tails and dive into a billabong to make good their escape. The waterweed depicted is analogous to the Yawkyawk's hair.
An extraordinary image of a Yawkyawk ancestor of the Kunwinjku and Kuninjku peoples of Western Arnhem Land, the artist has depicted the figure of the half woman/ half fish ancestor decorated in conventional rarrk or cross-hatching, as well as introducing the X-ray technique common to paintings in the region whereby the internal organs of the subject are depicted. In the ancestral narratives, the Yawkyawk are usually described as two women who, in order to escape a threatening giant, grow fish tails and dive into a billabong to make good their escape. The waterweed depicted is analogous to the Yawkyawk's hair.