Lot 32
  • 32

JOHNNY WARANGKULA TJUPURRULA CIRCA 1920-2001 | Water Dreaming

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula
  • Water Dreaming
  • Synthetic polymer powder paint and natural earth pigments on composition board
  • 93 by 19 cm

Provenance

Painted at Papunya in 1971
Collection of Dr. Colin Jack-Hinton, former Director of the Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory (1970-1993)
Sotheby's, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 30 June 1997, lot 223
Fiona Brockhoff, Melbourne
Bonhams, Important Australian and Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 19 November 2012, lot A26
The Dennis and Debra Scholl Collection, Miami

Condition

Synthetic polymer powder paint and natural earth pigments on composition board, framed. The work appears to be in excellent condition overall with no visible evidence 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."

Catalogue Note

Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula was one of the first artists to paint in acrylic when the painting movement commenced in the community of Papunya in 1971: he took to the medium with gusto, was very prolific and is now regarded as among the most significant artists from that period. He was also a traditional custodian and ceremonial leader connected with Kalipinypa, the Water Dreaming site which is noted for its permanent freshwater holes, its relative abundance of rainfall and storms after which the fertile nature of its environment becomes evident in the proliferation of edible plants that can sustain large groups of people congregated for ceremony. Kalipinypa is a recurring subject in Warangkula’s œuvre and Water Dreaming, 1971, is one of the artist’s earliest renditions of this ancestral landscape. In it, the artist shows a circular waterhole that is surrounded by meandering lines representing lightning, and, in the upper register, rows of dots indicating rain and hail. In the lower section of the painting Warangkula has depicted bush foods, most probably the wild raisin kampurrarpa (Solanum-centrale) which flourishes after rain.

The painting was collected by Dr. Colin Jack-Hinton, the original director of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory from 1970 to 1993. Jack-Hinton was aware of the artistic renaissance at Papunya in the early 1970s and in a prescient and bold move acquired 104 paintings for the Museum from the first four consignments that Geoffrey Bardon, the art teacher at the local school, had sent to the Stuart Art Centre in Alice Springs for sale.1 Jack-Hinton acquired six paintings that had become separated from their documentation for his personal collection from the Centre. Water Dreaming, 1971, is one of these paintings.

The long, narrow support on which Water Dreaming, 1971, is painted is a shape that was favoured by several of the early Papunya artists as it relates to the form of long, ovoid objects that are used in ritual. These so-called 'panel' paintings persisted well after the introduction of canvas at Papunya. Similar early panel paintings by Warangkula include: Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa, 1971, and Water Dreaming ceremony in cave, 1971, both in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, illustrated in Ryan et al, 2011, pp. 263-4 respectively; Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa, 1971, is also illustrated in Bardon and Bardon 2004, painting number 69, p. 162; and Untitled (Kalipinypa), 1971-72, and Water Dreaming, 1971-72, are illustrated in Scholes 2017 at pp. 67 and 82 respectively.

WC

1 Most of these paintings had not been on public view until the exhibition Tjungunutja: From having come together opened at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, in July 2017