PROFILE
Angelina George
1937 - 2014
A detailed artist profile will arrive shortly
Born: 1937
Birthplace: Nutwood Downs Station, NT
Language Group: Yungul Mangi (Mara and warndarang)
Angelina was born about 5 miles from Nut wood Downs Station on 25 November 1937. Angelina's mother worked at the Roper River Mission, sewing clothes for the children, including her own five daughters, the Joshua Sisters (all since married); Dinah Garadji, Gertrude Huddleston, Eva Rogers, Betty Roberts and the youngest Angelina George.
Angelina and her sisters attended mission school (Mr. Palmer and Mr. Lesky - from the Anglican Church) and worked in the Mission gardens, although Angelina tried to avoid it as much as possible. Eva Rogers was a schoolteacher too and Dinah Garadji helped in school and the gardens.
"I was the naughtiest girl! I used to run down to the river when I should be at school, and go fishing with the old people. One time they saw me and started paddling away in a canoe. I sung out to them to "stop!" but they kept going, so I jumped in and swam after them. Not many crocodiles then like now."
Angelina is the youngest of the Joshua sisters. Her work often features moody, undulating landscapes of rivers and hills, or bright bold bush flowers and birds. Angelina enjoys painting and spending time with her grandchildren.
Angelina's people are called Ngyameratjara, fresh water people, and one of her favorite things is to go fishing in the rivers and billabongs, especially Yellow Waters Billabong, or Boomerang Lagoon - both featured in many of her paintings.
"In the mission days we planted short beans, green beans, pawpaw, bananas, cabbage, rock melon, carrot and beetroot...big bean garden down the riverside...irrigation was put in with a pump water ran through the trench... peanuts had another farm.
After gardening helped little bit in the school kitchen work in the kitchen real early set yeast every night for making bread: Miss Rendall was the cook. (She died now in Sydney or Melbourne)"
Angelina is a contemporary artist whose paintings are explorations of the landscape: reflecting and imagining the space and structure of the country. The distinctive feature of her work is her attention to detail in capturing moody, undulating aerial perspectives of place. Dry creek beds, burnt trees, sandy river systems, swollen billabongs, sweeping birds, veins of fresh flora on the rocks, walking tracks and camp sites give evidence to the intimate relationship Angelina enjoys with her past and her land. These journeys are magnified in bright bold paintings of layered bush flowers and birds.
Angelina enjoys painting and is producing works that are the result of patience, a serious interest in her own profile and increasing confidence in her own unique style.
Selected Collections:
Karen Brown Collection
McAlpine Collection
Laverty Collection
National Gallery of Victoria
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Kerry Stokes Collection
Lisa Paulsen Collection
Awards:
2011 Finalist, WA Indigenous Art Award, AGWA Perth
2009 TOGA Art Award, Darwin
2008 Highly Commended, Telstra NATSIAA, MAGNT Darwin
2007 Winner, General Painting Prize, Telstraa NATSIAA, MAGNT Darwin
Publications:
2009 The Australian, Nicholas Rothwell, Renaissance on the Roper
2009 Colour Country, Art From Roper River, Cath Bowdler
2008 The Australian, Nicolas Rothwell, Call of the Wider Sunshine
2007 Australian Gourmet Traveller, March Edition
2006 Art and Australia Magazine, Anita Angel
2006 The Weekend Australian, My Imagined Country, Nicolas Rothwell,
February 17th
1991 Ngukurr, Anthony Knight
Solo Exhibitions:
2010 Karen Brown Gallery, Dawin NT
Hiding Places
2009 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Burrunji Country
2008 Randall Lane Fine Art, Perth WA
Dry Season Long Time
2008 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Far Away Places - August
2007 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Near Ruined City
2006 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
My Imagined Country, February
2000 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Solo Exhibition Angelina George
1999 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Recent Works - Angelina George
1996 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Angelina George
1996 Shades of Ochre, Darwin NT
Solo Exhibition Angelina George
Group Exhibitions:
2010 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Retrospective - December 2010
2010 Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne VIC
Hiding Places
Melbourne Art Fair - August 2010
2010 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2009 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Rising Stars Modern Classics - August
2008 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Joshua Sisters
2008 Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne Vic
2008 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2008 Noosa Long Weekend, Noosa QLD
My Country Two - June
2007 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
Winner Open Painting Prize
2007 Viviene Anderson Gallery, Melbourne Vic
Women's Show
2007 Art Sydney, Sydney NSW
2006 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
2006 Noosa Long Weekend, Noosa QLD
My Country - June
2004 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Angelina George and Betty Roberts
2001 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Group Show - Joshua Sisters
2000 Melbourne Art Fair 2000
Karen Brown Gallery
2000 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
17th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
1999 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
16th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
1998 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Recent works - Joshua Sister's
Dinah Garadji, Gertie Huddleston, Betty Roberts, Eva Rogers and
Angelina George
1997 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin NT
Recent works - Joshua Sister's
Dinah Garadji, Gertie Huddleston, Betty Roberts, Eva Rogers and
Angelina George
1995 Chapman Gallery, Canberra
Group Exhibition
1995 Shades of Ochre, Darwin NT
Joshua Sister's Exhibition
1994 Shades of Ochre, Darwin NT
Workshops - Joshua Sister's
Dinah Garadji, Gertie Huddleston, Betty Roberts, Eva Rogers and
Angelina George
ARTIST CV
MARKET ANALYSIS
Angelina George is yet to record the 20 auction records that will prevent her AIAM100 rating being discounted by a factor (access About AIAM100 from home page).In fact, prior to 2012, her works had only appeared 9 times at auction and only 5 of these had sold. In fact her highest price was just $2,160.
In 2012 Mossgreen held the sale of the Ross and Rona Clarke collection which included 6 works by this artist. The Clarke's were devotees of Karen Brown Gallery in Darwin which represented Angelina as well as Regina Wilson (who had 4 works enter her top ten results in 2012 as a consiquence). Only one of Angelina's paintings failed to sell in this sale amongst the six on offer. In fact, the five works that did sell became her 5 highest results to date at public sale. Her new record was set by two works, Limmen Gorge, 2006, and My Imagined Country, 2005, which both achieved $17,080 against presale estimates of $12,000 - $15,000. Furher sales were recorded at $11,590, $9,760 and $9,150 giving her an average price for the year of $12,932 and an 83% success rate. In spite of the fact that Angelina George is yet to be listed in the top 200 artists she was the 27th best performing artist during 2012.
Her works have performed well in the primary market. Angelina creates strong and highly desirable works of art. She has had no less than 10 solo exhibitions,and bee included in dozens of group shows through her primary agent. In 2007 she won the General Painting Prize, at the Telstra NATSIAA art awards. She won the highly prestigious TOGA Art Award in 2009 and was a finalist, in the WA Indigenous Art Award, in 2011.
With a cultural cache of this standing, once Angelina's auction records exceed the 20 work threashold, she is set have a far stronger presence in the list of the most important artists of the movement.