Emily Kame Kngwarreye was born around 1910 at Alhalkere (Soakage Bore). Emily is an Eastern Anmatyerre speaker and one of the senior artists of the Utopia-n Art Movement. She was adopted by Jacob Jones an important lawman in the Anmatyerre community and worked as a stock hand on pastoral properties in this area, showing her forceful independence. At this time women were only employed for domestic duties.
Emily, like many other women at Utopia moved into painting with acrylics during the summer of 1988-89 with 'A summer Project'. Emily moved happily into the new medium from her work in batik on silk as painting allowed her to explore techniques and vision with her artistic expression. Her painting reflects the layered transparency of batik, but her colour is translucent and has been built up through many touches of paint which overlap and meet to create an illusion of depth and movement.
Although her works relate to the modern art tradition, this resemblance is purely visual. The emphasis on Emily's paintings is on the spiritual meaning, based in the tradition of her people. At first she painted aspects of her culture that is sacred, falling foul of the tribal elders. That is when she moved into painting her culture as a whole. Though many Aboriginal paintings are focused on Dreamings, Emily chose to present a very broad picture of the land and how it supports their way of life. These images embrace the whole life story of myth, seeds, flowers, wind, sand and 'everything'.
"Whole lot, that's the whole lot. Awelye (my Dreamings), Alatyeye (pencil yam), Arkerrthe (mountain devil lizard), Ntange (grass seed), Tingu (a Dreamtime pup), Ankerre (emu), Intekwe (a favorite food of emus, a small plant), atnwerle (green bean), and Kame (yam seed). That's what I paint; the whole lot."
The form that these take in her paintings are lively and moving. Colours merge and change form to communicate a strong cosmological message. She has gone from particular subjects to show abstraction of her complete world, moving her beyond her cultural roots.
Emily is one of the most successful artists to come out of Utopia and is arguably amongst the most important Australian painters of the last decade. Emily, in her 80th year was described by the art collector, Michael Hollows, as being one of the most unusual and graphic of all Australia's renowned Aboriginal artists.
Her work is featured in all Australian state galleries and most reputable private collections in Australia, and is seen regularly in exhibitions and collections around the world. A host of solo exhibitions in the 90's has provided Emily with a significant plateau of fame, exceeding that of most Aboriginal artists of her time.
Emily's gift as an artist has touched many people but it was her personal presence that left the greatest impact. The Hollow family had the privilege of knowing Emily on a personal level, being able to watch her paint and talk to her about her own opinions of fame.
On the 2nd of September 1996 Emily passed away, a great loss to the art world and those people who knew her personally or through her paintings.
Awards:
1992: Australian Artists Creative Fellowship
“When you consider that she never studied art, never came into contact with the great artists of her time and did not begin painting until she was almost 80 years of age, there can only be one way to describe her. She was just a genius.”
– Akira Tatehata –Director, National Museum of Art, Osaka
A portrait of the famous Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Tim Jennings, owner of Mbantua Gallery, first met Emily in the late 1980’s when she was part of a women’s group working in batiks, a few years before she began painting in acrylics. He was close to Emily and members of her extended family right up until her death in 1996 and recalls her being a strong minded woman even though she spoke very little English.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye was a senior custodian for Alhalkere country. She began painting quite late in her life and had first been introduced to silk batik with a group of women from Utopia in 1977. Emily had been working with and exhibiting batik in Australia and abroad between 1977 and 1987 before taking up acrylics on canvas.
Canvas gave Emily and the other artists a greater freedom of expression to experiment with different styles in which to portray their Dreaming stories. Because batik had been the first medium that the artists at Utopia had really experimented with, and it being rather a 'one-hit' medium, they developed quite contrasting styles on canvas and Utopian Art now has probably the most diverse range of styles than any other Aboriginal Art.
A portrait of Emily Kngwarreye with her painting. Emily's trademark style of superimposed bold gestural dotwork, sometimes overlaying linear patterns derived from Ceremonial body paint designs, would have been technically impossible in batik. In this way, Kngwarreye, as an artist, was able to fully express her Country and Dreamings more accurately, as she had been taught.
"Emily’s work has been regularly compared to the New York abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko. A principal distinction the critics make, and it is key to understanding the acclaim surrounding the paintings of the Utopian artist, is that Kngwarreye is better, more profound."- Sydney Morning Herald, 31/5/08
Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s paintings are described by leading international art academics as being equal to the works of Monet, and other great Impressionist and Abstract artists such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Rothko.
Experts have argued that Earth’s Creation is a more important painting for Australia than Jackson’s Blue Poles, the highly controversial American work that put the National Gallery of Australia onto the world stage in 1973, and remains one of its most celebrated works today.
Earth's Creation Aboriginal Art
Earth’s Creation was painted by a genius Australian, with no formal or even informal training in art. She knew nothing of any other schools of art - she’d never even seen another painting. She had barely 20 or so words in English. She spoke in ancient Australian languages, Anmatyerre and Alyawarr. She painted “everything” in a way that was never done before, and has never been seen since.
“What’s important is that she never would have visited anything like New York, she was a product of a very, very remote community. So there are similarities in style, but her source was entirely different - her work was rooted deeply in her culture and deep in Australia’s desert.” -
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (C.1910-1996) "Bush Yam" Acrylic on canvas. Painted in 1994 for Desert Art Gallery. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity. Artwork is framed and ready to hang.
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910 - 1996) Untitled acrylic on canvas signed verso 'Emily'; Certificate of Authenticity from Barbara Weir (as witnessed by Christopher Simon OAM, Yanda Aboriginal Art)
KNGWARREYE, Emily Kame (Aboriginal c1910-1996) Untitled (Alhalkere), 1994. Unsigned but accompanied by copy of certificate of authenticity from Utopia Art Sydney, signed by Christopher Hodges (#U/C 1-494) Acrylic on Canvas 38.5x30.5cm
Emily Kame Kngwarreye: Two Volumes, King, Natalie. Emily Kame Kngwarreye, published by Thames and Hudson (2020), Inscribed to Sue, & signed, hard cover Neale, Margo. Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, published by The Yomiuri Shimbun (2008), hard cover, dust jacket
PROPERTY FORMERLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JOCK CHALMERS, NORTHERN TERRITORY EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group Awelye 1996 (also known as Awelye - My Story and Emily's Story) synthetic polymer paint on canvas 117.0 x 532.0 cm signed verso: Emily bears inscription verso: AWELYE bears date and inscription underneath stretcher verso: EMILY KAME KNGWARRE/ "EMILY’S STORY"/ UTOPIA 1996 accompanied by a statement of authenticity from Donald Holt, Delmore Downs Station, Northern Territory
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, SYDNEY EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group My Country 1991 synthetic polymer paint on linen 90.5 x 60.0 cm bears inscription verso: 91J58/ Emily Kngwarreye/ CSCA84 bears inscription on stretcher verso: BSG576MWH
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE 1908-1996 Untitled (1996) synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed '96A12 / Emily Kngwarreye / Commissioned by / Delmore' verso 121 x 91 cm PROVENANCE Emily Kam Kngwarreye, Alice Springs Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs (stock 96A12), commissioned from the above Private Collection, Sydney Private Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above
Emily Kame Kngwarreye Untitled oil on linen 30.25 h x 22 w in (77 x 56 cm) Inscribed to verso 'Dacou EK493 FT-EK493'. Provenance: Fred Torres, Dreaming Art Centre of Utopia (DACOU), Adelaide | Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers, Brompton, 18 November 2013, Lot 88 | Private Collection This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.
KNGWARREYE, Emily Kame (Aboriginal c.1910-1996) 'Awelye,' 1991. Signed and inscribed verso. The work relates to tracks of the yam roots and the final stages before maturity during an abundant and wet summer. Acrylic on Canvas 193x118cm PROVENANCE: Utopia Art, NT, cat #EKK535 (literature and image of artist with work included); private collection, Victoria.
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (B.c 1910-1996) MY MOTHER'S COUNTRY Indigenart, catalogue number DSC 00002 and certificate of authenticity accompanies this artwork Synthetic polymer on canvas 124 x 176cm Estimate $60,000/80,000 AUD
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910-1996) Alalgura Profusion inscribed and dated '93 K041 Emily Kngwarreye commissioned by Delmore TVU27' (on the reverse); inscribed and dated '93 K041 Emily Kngwarreye' (on the overlap) synthetic polymer paint on canvas 59 x 38 1/8 in (150 x 91.8 cm) Painted in 1993
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910-1996) Anooralya II inscribed and dated 'Emily Kngwarreye Commissioned by Delmore Gallery 92 G016 Emily Kngwarreye' (on the reverse); inscribed and dated '92 G016' (on the overlap) synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen 47 1/4 x 118 1/8 in (120 x 300 cm) Painted in 1992 For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE 1908-1996 Mourning (1991) synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed ‘COMMISSIONED by /DELMORE' verso 226 x 128.5 cm PROVENANCE Emily Kam Kngwarreye, Alice Springs Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs (stock 1Y30), commissioned from the above Private Collection, Queensland, acquired from the above
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910 - 1996) "My Country" Acrylic on canvas. Painted in 1995. Provanence; commissioned for Desert Art Gallery, Alice Springs. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity. Artwork is framed and ready to hang. 68cm x 119cm
Terrain Dreaming Provenance:Galerie Boomerang, Amsterdam, synthetic polymer on canvas, 110x92 cm (116x97 cm incl. frame), signed 'Emily', stamped and with inscriptions (on the reverse), Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996)
Untitled Provenance:-Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne.-Galerie Boomerang, Amsterdam, synthetic polymer paint, 84x54 cm (89x63, 5 cm incl. frame), inscribed with the Australian Gallery of Dreams' inventory number 'A.G.O.D. # 4338' (on the reverse), Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996)
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996) My Country , inscribed with the Aboriginal Gallery Of Dreamings' inv. no. 'AGOD #5744' (on the reverse), synthetic polymer on canvas, unframed, 91x120 cm Painted in 1996 Provenance:-Acquired in 1997 from Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne.-Private Belgium collection, The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued in 1997 by Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996) Yam Dreaming, inscribed with the Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings' inv. no. 'A.G.O.D. #5568' (on the reverse), synthetic polymer on canvas 182, 5x91, 5 cm (188, 5x97, 5 cm incl. frame) Painted in 1996 Provenance: Acquired in 1999 from Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne, by the present owner.Exhibited: Utrecht, Aboriginal Art Museum, ‘Het oog van Simon Levie’, March - Oct. 2003, The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued in 1999 by Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne.