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Munggarawuy Yunupingu (c1905-79) Sacred Fire Story. Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark. Approx L115 x 45.5cm. PROVENANCE Code No. E34. Ex Coote Collection, Sydney. PROVENANCE John Magers Collection, Sydney.
Vickers & HoadMunggarawuy Yunupingu (c1905-79) Yirritja Designs Associated with BARU ( The Crocodile) C. 1960. Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark. Approx L95 x 57cm. PROVENANCE Code No. E28 Aboriginal and Tribal Art, Sotheby’s, Sydney, 9/11/1997. Lot No. 312. John Magers Collection, Sydney.
Vickers & HoadMunggarawuy Yunupingu was the leader of the Gumatj clan of the Yolgnu people in north-east Arnhem Land. He was one of the leaders in the Yolgnu fight for land rights when tenure of their land was threatened by mining interests in the 1960s and 1970s, and was a contributor to the Yirrkala bark petition. Munggarawuy was one of the first artists to produce bark paintings for sale to the missionary Wilbur Chaseling in 1935, and later contributed to Dr. Stuart Scougall's collection at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He helped to develop the episodic narrative paintings characteristic of Yolgnu art from the 1960s to the 1980s and was one of the Yirritja moiety leaders who contributed to the Yirrkala Church Panels*. For centuries before the white man came to Australia, the Macassans used to trade with Aboriginals and collect and smoke trepang on the beaches of North East Arnhem Land. Munggarawuy spoke of the Macassans with respect and affection. Before they visited the far north only stone axes and knives were known to Aboriginals. Dugout canoes carved out of a single tree trunk were also unknown. The usual method of sea travel was a canoe made of stringybark. * S. Kleinert and M. Neal (eds.), The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000, p.744
Cooee ArtMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU (c.1907-1979) Circumcision Ceremony natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark story description attached verso 137.5 x 43.5cm
Leonard JoelMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU (c.1907-1979) Circumcision Ceremony natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark story description attached verso 137.5 x 43.5cm
Leonard JoelMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU (CIRCA 1907-1979) Marndiella (Sacred Dances) 1959 natural earth pigments on bark 142 x 47.5cm PROVENANCE: Yirrkala, NT Dorothy Bennett, NT Church Missionary Society of Australia, Sydney, 1960 Byron Edgar Farwell, USA Thence by descent Private Collection, USA This painting is sold with copies of the original Church Missionary Society invoices dated 27 September 1960 and bears documentation verso
Leonard JoelMunggurrawuy Yunupingu circa 1907-1979 MARNDIELLA (SACRED DANCES) (1959) natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 142 X 47.5CM PROVENANCE Painted at Yirrkala, Northern Territory Dorothy Bennett, Northern Territory Church Missionary Society of Australia, Sydney Byron Edgar Farwell, United States of America By descent Private Collection, United States of America This painting is sold with copies of the original CMS invoices dated 27 September 1960 and bears documention verso PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF BYRON EDGAR FARWELL, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Smith & SingerMunggurrawuy Yunupingu, circa 1907-1979, MADAYIN SACRED STORY natural ochres on eucalyptus bark bears artist's name, tribe, date and interpretation of the story depicted on the reverse 124 BY 40CM Provenance: Painted at Yirrkala in March, 1964 Gabrielle Pizzi CollectionCf. For a related painting of a burial cere
Smith & Singernatural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby'sYUNUPING M MUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU Yirrkala NT (c. 1907 - 1979) Untitled - Two Figures natural earth pigments on bark 'Munggarrawuy No. 71' inscribed verso 94 x 35 cm Provenance: Private collection.
Leonard JoelBears artist's name and descriptive notes on original label on the reverse Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby'sNatural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby'sNatural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Sotheby'sMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU (1907-1979) - The Macassans FireWarriors coming to shore c1972 56 x 25cm
LawsonsMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU 1907-1989 AND ARTIST UNKNOWN (NORTH EAST ARNHEM LAND) UNTITLED - MELVILLE BAY STORY 1969 AND UNTITLED - TURTLES FISH AND SNAKES 1969 MEASUREMENTS STORY 36 by 63 cm TURTLES 24 by 53 cm Naturay earth pigments on eucalyptus bark (2)
Sotheby'sTHE COMING OF FIRE C.1973 MEASUREMENTS 135 by 50.5 cm Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark PROVENANCE Painted in the Yirrkala region, North East Arnhem Land Private collection, Canada This painting is sold with the original label with artist's name, language group, location and a description of the story depicted.
Sotheby'sMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU 1907-1979 THE COMING OF FIRE C.1970 156 by 49cm Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark Provenance: Painted in the Yirrkala area, North East Arnhem Land Private collection, Canberra Cf. Groger-Wurm, H., Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings and their Mythological Interpretations, Vol. I: Eastern Arnhem Land, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, 1973, pp.84, 85 for an illustration, annotated diagram and an expansive description of the subject matter of a related painting depicting the Gumaidj Nara ground in Biranybirany. O'Ferrall, M., Keepers of the Secrets, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1990, pp.106, 107 for another depiction of the story, entitled The Great Bush Fire, formerly in the collection of Louis Allen.
Sotheby'sMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU 1907-1979 CEREMONIAL AND SACRED GROUNDS OF THE GUMATJ 1965 139.5 by 58.5 cm Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark Provenance: Acquired by the original owner on a field trip to Yirrkala with Dr. George Chaloupka, curator of rock art at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Fine Aboriginal and Contemporary Art, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 17 June 1996, lot No 19 Hogarth Galleries, Sydney Private collection, Sydney Cf. Groger -Warm H., Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings and their Mythological Interpretation, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra 1973, pp.84-86: Allen, L., Time Before Morning: Art and Myth of the Australian Aborigines, Thomas Y. Cromwell Co., New York, 1975, pp.84- 86: O'Farrell, M., Keepers of the Secrets, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 1990, pp.104-106 The painting describes the ceremonial and sacred grounds of the hilly country behind the Eldo Complex (mining buildings on Gove Peninsula) on the track to Giddy River. It is typical of the artist's style that the work is divided into several panels. The different localities of the country, ceremonial places, burial grounds, etc are indicated by each section.
Sotheby'sMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU 1907-1979 THE FLOOD C.1963 130 by 55 cm Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark Bears artist's name 'Monggarwoi' (sic) and a description of the story depicted on original mission label on reverse Provenance: Executed at Yirrkala Jim Davidson, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne Exhibited: The Melbourne Moomba Festival, Exhibition of Aboriginal Artists, Presented by The Aborigines Advancement League, Myers Melbourne, March 1964 The label on the reverse reads: 'This is sacred to the Gomaid (sic) tribe and is at Arnhem Bay. There has been a flood and the central panel shows the camp dogs which have been swept away by the water. The black, brown and yellow objects are sacred stones from which the natives get their ochres. The water flows on until it reaches a rock bar (black line) over which it flows. Left of this is a panel showing all the people in their bark huts when the rain comes The next panel shows them swimming as they are swept away by the flood waters. Among the figures are two painted bone poles (hollow poles in which the bones of a dead person are placed) and three dilly bags. The bottom section shows the people having reached higher ground wail for their camp. Then they turn into stones (yellow and black rectangles). The bird "Gormolu" is sitting on one of the stones watching for fish. The top right hand panel shows three men in a canoe chasing a dugong. The hatching is the sea water and the vertical lines the sea going out'.
Sotheby'sMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU 1907-1979 THE GREAT FIRE 1964 137 by 53.5 cm Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark Provenance: Painted in North East Arnhem Land Private collection, Victoria Cf. The Bandicoot Spirits [The Great Bush Fire Story], c.1958, illus. in O'Ferrall, M.A , Keepers of the Secrets: from Arnhem Land, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, p.125, pl.12 Accompaning notes read: 'Fire was created by ancestral Crocodile Man, Baru, during a ceremony in Madarrpa clan lands in eastern Arnhem Land. The fire spread to the lands of other clans thereby establishing the ritual links between them. Other anestral bengs are represented: Wild Honey, Water, the Spider, and the Bandicoot who escaped the fire by hiding in a hollow log
Sotheby'sMUNGGURRAWUY YUNUPINGU 1907-1979 LAINTJUNG 1962 height: 74 cm Natural earth pigments on carved wood, human hair, resin, feathers, plant fibre string Provenance: Executed in the Yirrkla region, North East Arnhem Land Private collection, Melbounre Cf. O'Ferrall M., Keepers Of The Secrets; From Arnhem Land, Art Gallery of Western Australia, 1990, p.107, pls. 124 and 125 for two related examples by the artist 'This sculpture represents Laintjung, the Yirritja creator ancestor who was speared by his enemies and leaped into a pool. He passed through fire, and was transformed into the form of Banaitja, who taught the people how to live. The black head symbolizes smothered fire' (ibid. p.107).
Sotheby's[ Aboriginal Art ] Munggurrawuy Yunupingu Circa 1907-1979 Djulpan, The Constellation Of Orion And The Pleiades c.1958 Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark Bears the original Yirrkala Methodist Mission label, partially obscured, depicting details of the story. 157 by 61cm Provenance Collected in Yirrkala c. 1960 Rev. Rankine, Western Australia Cf. The upper register of the painting is comparable to Untitled (Old Mangrove Stingray at Cape Arnhem, Dalangura), c. 1947, by Bunungu Yunupingu, Munggurruwuy's brother, in the collection of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney (P2058 and illustrated in Davies, S.M., Collected: 150 Years of Aboriginal Art and Artifacts, Sydney, The University of Sydney, 2002, p.44 See also Mountford, C.P, Records of the American -Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Vol. 1: Art, Myth and Symbolism, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1956, pp.498-500, pl. 157D
Sotheby's[ Aboriginal Art ] Mawalan Marika 1908-1967, Wandjuk Marika 1927- 1987, Larrtjanga Ganambarr Born 1932, Nurryurrngu Marika Circa 1950 - 1979, Mowarra Ganambarr Born 1917, Mithinarri Gurruwiwi 1929 -1976, Gungguyama Dhamarrandji Circa 1916-1970 And Munggurrawuy Yunupingu Circa 1907-1978 Yalangbara c.1960 Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark Bears the original Yirrkala Methodist Mission label, partially obscured, depicting details of the story, on the reverse 185 by 63.5cm Cf. Wells, A.E., This Their Dreaming, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1971; Saltwater.. Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country,. Recognising Indigenous Sea Rights, Buku Larrnggay Mulka Centre in association with Jennifer Isaacs Publishing, 1999; Mawalan, Mathaman and Wandjuk Marika, Djang'kawu Myth No. 1, 1959, in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, reproduced in Neale, M, Yiribana, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2000, pl. 14
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