Alec Mingelmanganu Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Alec Mingelmanganu Art Value Price Guide

Mar. 26, 2025
ALEC MINGELMANGANU, DOUBLE WANJINA, C.1978
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
ALEC MINGELMANGANU (1905 - 1981) DOUBLE WANJINA, c.1978 natural earth pigments on carved and engraved wood 47.5 x 10.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name ‘Alec’ PROVENANCE The collection of Ray Saunders, Vancouver, Canada Rest Easy Auctions, Richmond, Canada, 2 January 2025, lot 60 Private collection, Canada © Alec Mingelmanganu/Copyright Agency 2025
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 22, 2023
Alec Mingelmanganu, 1905-1981, Wandjina Figure
Est: $10,000 - $20,000
Alec Mingelmanganu 1905-1981 Wandjina Figure Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark c. 1975, Sotheby's, Fine Australian, Aboriginal and International Paintings, Melbourne, November 1999, Lot No. 496, acquired from the above, The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica. Please contact the auction house for additional research on this bark by Dr. Kim Akerman.
Abell Auction
Mar. 22, 2023
ALEC MINGELMANGANU, WANJINA, C.1978
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
ALEC MINGELMANGANU (1905 - 1981) WANJINA, c.1978 natural earth pigments on carved and engraved wood 28.5 x 9.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name ‘Alec’ and cat. A111 PROVENANCE Executed c.1978 Private collection, Washington, USA Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 29 July 2003, lot 465 Private collection, Sydney © Alec Mingelmanganu / Copyright Agency, 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 22, 2020
Alec Mingelmanganu (circa 1905-1981) Wanjinas, c.1980
Est: $9,000 - $12,000
Alec Mingelmanganu (circa 1905-1981) Wanjinas, c.1980 inscribed verso: 'ALEC' natural earth pigments on engraved wood 12.5 x 42.0cm (4 15/16 x 16 9/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jun. 23, 2020
Alec Mingelmanganu - Wandjina
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Alec Mingelmanganuâs Wandjina paintings were first recognised by the public in mid-1975, when an ochre on bark painting under the title âAustral Gothicâ was entered into the Boab Festival Art Competition, Derby, WA by Kim Akerman. Unfortunately, the judge considered that the work, while a brilliant example of Kimberley Aboriginal art, was undoubtedly an early ethnographic piece that consequently did not meet the conditions of the competition â i.e. a work executed within the last 12 months. On being informed, however, that the work was in fact an original and contemporary piece, the judge persuaded the West Kimberley Shire Council to make a payment equivalent to the value of first prize to the artist. Alec Mingelmanganu was first formally exhibited in the First Wandjina Artist exhibition at Aboriginal Traditional Arts Perth in 1976. Art dealer Mary Macha introduced him to painting on canvas in 1979 and, in 1980, she organised Alecâs first solo exhibition in Perth. It was while in Perth that Alec had the opportunity to view works by other artists that had been painted on monumental canvases. As a result of this experience, Mingelmanganu was to paint four exceptionally large works of his own prior to his death. This particular painting was produced in 1975, before stable fixatives in the form of commercial wood glues had been introduced to Kimberley artists. This painting was gifted to Akerman's brother Piers and sister-in-law Suzanne in the late 1970s.
Cooee Art
Dec. 03, 2019
Alec Mingelmanganu (c. 1905-1981) Wandijina
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
Alec Mingelmanganu lived at the former Benedictine Mission at Kalumbaru and became one of a select group that began painting there around 1975. His images of Wandjina with pointed shoulders mimicked the depictions of Wandjina that he saw on a trip to Lawley River with anthropologist Ian Crawford in the late 1970s. His motivation to perpetuate the power of the Wandjina through his art was not dissimilar to the way in which regular restorations of rock paintings were an integral responsibility for many Kimberley tribes, including the Woonambal to whom Alec Mingelmanganu belonged. The Wandjina, spirits who preside over the rains and the unborn spirits of children, are found on the walls of caves, where they are said to have transformed into paintings upon their death. Thus the Aboriginal custodians believed that they did not create the Wandjina paintings, but inherited them from the spirits who first made them. Not all Wandjina look alike. Each clan is thought to be responsible for only a single Wandjina and it is said that there were so many of them that almost the whole Kimberley is criss-crossed by their paths. Mingelmanganu is considered to be the master of this art form. His Wandjina are highly distinctive and unique in proportion, composition and tonal quality. In a number of his largest works the full-length figure of a Wandjina is decorated in lines of dots similar to body painting designs, intended to give a visual brightness which express the spiritual essence of the ancestral beings. This painting, thought to be one of the artist's earliest works, was created on a sheet of stringy bark. The arched reinforcement, unique to paintings from Kalumburu, is achieved by tying and sewing a length of the cane-like supplejack vine to the perimeter with lengths of bush-string that has been spun from the inner bark of the red-flowered Kurrajong. The peaked shoulders and halo that surrounds the head are characteristic of Mingelmanganu’s work. The finely dashed, red in-filling seen on the body represents falling rain.
Cooee Art
Jul. 31, 2018
Alec Mingelmanganu (Australian, 1905-1981)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Wanjina, c. 1980, engraved slate, signed verso 'Alec', framed
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 14, 2018
ALEC MINGELMANGANU 1905-1981 | Wanjina
Est: £50,000 - £80,000
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark, bent Supplejack vine and bush string
Sotheby's
Jun. 16, 2015
Alec Mingelmanganu (c. 1905-1981
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Wanjina, c. 1980 engraved slate, signed verso 'Alec'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 10, 2015
ALEC MINGELMANGANU CIRCA 1905-1981 | Jilinya
Est: £7,000 - £10,000
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark, bent Supplejack vine and bush string
Sotheby's
Jun. 10, 2015
ALEC MINGELMANGANU CIRCA 1905-1981 | Wanjina (Austral Gothic)
Est: £20,000 - £30,000
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark (Eucalyptus tetradonta), bent Supplejack vine and bush string
Sotheby's
Apr. 10, 2013
Alec Mingelmanganu (c. 1905-1981 Wanjina, c. 1980
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
Alec Mingelmanganu (c. 1905-1981 Wanjina, c. 1980 engraved slate, signed verso 'Alec' 13 x 11cm Provenance: Shapiro Auctioneers, Aboriginal Art Tuesday 7 to Saturday 25 August 2007, Private Collection, London, 2007
Shapiro Auctioneers
Nov. 19, 2012
Alec Mingelmanganu (circa 1905-1981)
Est: -
Wanjina inscribed 'Stone engraving by Alec Mingelmarnganu [sic]' on the reverse engraved slate and natural earth pigments 13 x 21cm
Bonhams
Oct. 15, 2012
Alec Mingelmanganu circa 1905-1981 UNTITLED (WOOMERA) (CIRCA 1974) carved wood, resin, bush string and natural earth pigments
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Alec Mingelmanganu circa 1905-1981 UNTITLED (WOOMERA) (CIRCA 1974) carved wood, resin, bush string and natural earth pigments 164CM HIGH PROVENANCE Executed at Kalumburu, Western Australia The Jan Bernard Wojciechowski (John Benny) Collection, Canberra Australian Opal and Gem Museum, Canberra Private Collection, Queensland OTHER NOTES PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE JAN BERNARD WOJCIECHOWSKI COLLECTION, QUEENSLAND PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, QUEENSLAND
Smith & Singer
May. 18, 2011
Attributed to ALEC MINGELMANGANU WANJINA, c1979
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
Attributed to ALEC MINGELMANGANU WANJINA, c1979 51.5 x 26.5 cm natural earth pigments on engraved and pecked slate roof tile
Deutscher and Hackett
Feb. 21, 2011
Alec Mingelmanganu Wandjina Natural earth pigments
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Alec Mingelmanganu Wandjina Natural earth pigments on wood 37 x 22 cm
Mossgreen Auctions
Jul. 26, 2010
Alec Mingelmanganu, circa 1905-1981, WANDJINA,
Est: $200,000 - $300,000
Alec Mingelmanganu, circa 1905-1981, WANDJINA, natural earth pigments and natural binder on canvas 118 BY 90CM Provenance: Painted at Kalumburu, Western Australia circa 1980 Aboriginal and Traditional Arts, Perth, catalogue number KA/21/01111 Private collection, Sydney Sotheby's, Aboriginal Art
Smith & Singer
Jul. 26, 2010
Alec Mingelmanganu, circa 1905-1981, WANDJINA
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
Alec Mingelmanganu, circa 1905-1981, WANDJINA natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark cane frame bound with bush string 91 BY 50CM Provenance: Acquired by the vendor in 1975 at Kalumburu, North Western AustraliaThe Wandjina paintings created by Wunambal artist Alec Mingelmanganu are acknowled
Smith & Singer
Oct. 20, 2008
ALEC MINGELMANGANU , CIRCA 1905-1981 WANJINA Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Est: $90,000 - $120,000
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby's
Jul. 24, 2007
ALEC MINGELMANGANU , WANJINA 1979
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby's
Jul. 24, 2007
MANILA KUTWIT KAREDADA , WANJINA 1978
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby's
Jul. 24, 2007
ALEC MINGELMANGANU , WANJINA c.1980 WANJINA c.1980
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Bears 'Alec' on the reverse Bears artist's name on the reverse Engraved slate Natural earth pigments on slate
Sotheby's
Nov. 22, 2006
ALEC MINGELMANGANU (CIRCA 1905 -1981) - Wandjina, 1979
Est: $40,000 - $50,000
ALEC MINGELMANGANU (CIRCA 1905 -1981) Wandjina, 1979 natural earth pigments on bark 114 x 74 cm Provenance: Collected by a doctor working on Aboriginal communities in the Kimberleys for the last 35 years Private Collection, WA The Wandjina are amongst the oldest primary creator spirits in Australian Aboriginal mythology. They are depicted on rock art sites throughout the Kimberley region of North West Australia and are associated with the monsoon rains, with renewal, fertility and increase. During the last years of his life, Wunambal elder, Alec Mingelmanganu, created a number of Wandjina paintings in statuesque, almost human proportions, much as they appear on the cave walls. The majority of these larger depictions were created on canvas, as Eucalyptus bark in this region is most often limited in size. This rare example of a large bark is an extremely powerful depiction of the Wandjina spirit, exhibiting all the finest aspects of the artists' work. The body and background are splattered in white ochre spat from the mouth, creating a stippled field and mottled texture on the imposing face and mighty shoulders. Red dashes cover the figure creating a glinting alluring surface on a body that is radiant with ancestral power. The bark is beautifully conceived and constructed, and finished in the traditional method of a cane frame tied with hand made bush string.
Lawsons
Jul. 25, 2005
ALEC MINGELMANGANU CIRCA 1905-1981 WANJINA 1979
Est: $250,000 - $350,000
Natural earth pigments on canvas Provenance
Sotheby's
Jul. 26, 2004
ALEC MINGELMANGANU CIRCA 1905-1981, A SPEARTHROWER C.1980 138 by 8 cm Natural earth pigments, natural binders, bush string, kangaroo sinew on carved and incised softwood Provenance: Executed at Kalumburu, North West Kimberley, Western Australia
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
ALEC MINGELMANGANU CIRCA 1905-1981, A SPEARTHROWER C.1980 138 by 8 cm Natural earth pigments, natural binders, bush string, kangaroo sinew on carved and incised softwood Provenance: Executed at Kalumburu, North West Kimberley, Western Australia Private collection New South Wales
Sotheby's
Jul. 29, 2003
Alec Mingelmanganu Died 1981 Wanjina c.1978 Natural earth pigments on carved and engraved wood Bears artist's name 'Alec' and inscription Alll-' 28.5 by 9cm Provenance Private collection, Washington, Usa
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Alec Mingelmanganu Died 1981 Wanjina c.1978 Natural earth pigments on carved and engraved wood Bears artist's name 'Alec' and inscription Alll-' 28.5 by 9cm Provenance Private collection, Washington, Usa
Sotheby's