WUMERA NANGAMAY - A SALT LAKE SERIES Konstantina June 13 - July 13 2024 VIEW MAIN EXHIBITION PAGE VIEW MAIN EXHIBITION PAGE

HER MEDITATIONS - BIDDY TIMMS NAPANANGKA Biddy Timms Napanangka 3 - 24 - August 2024 VIEW MAIN EXHIBITION PAGE VIEW MAIN EXHIBITION PAGE

Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) Auctions provide an informed and professional approach to buying and selling art in the secondary market. We are a market leader with specialist knowledge and proven results offering collectible artworks by Australian First Nations artists for sale by auction and private treaty. AUCTIONS AUCTIONS AUCTION 17 JUNE 2025 REGISTER TO BID REGISTER ATTENDEE ONLINE BID TELEPHONE & ABSENTEE BID CONSIGNING NOW CATALOGUES & RESULTS BUYING FROM Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) provides an informed and professional approach to buying and selling art in the secondary market. We are a market leader with specialist knowledge and proven results offering collectible artworks by Australian First Nations artists for sale by auction and private treaty. FIRST NATIONS FINE ART AUCTION Tuesday 17th June 2025 AEST 7:00pm 1 1 ... 1 ... 1 First Nations Fine Art Auctions Art Leven’s (formerly Cooee Art), highly trained professional staff provide buyers and sellers with the highest level of customer service. We provide the most cost-effective, informative, and attractive way to buy and sell art through our two beautiful galleries, our curated auctions, and through private treaty sales. Our auctions and previews for potential buyers and collectors are presented in the Art Leven premium 480sqm hybrid gallery and auction space in Redfern. READ MORE Register to Bid Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) offers several ways to participate in one of our auctions. The forms and instructions for each are listed below. Bidding forms are also available in our showroom in Redfern during the auction preview. Bidding forms can be submitted in person, online or emailed. If you have not previously bid with Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art), upon receiving your bid form we will request photo identification, such as a drivers licence or passport. REGISTER TO BID Sell Your Artworks Whether you are a buyer or a seller, our team of art specialists and client service professionals offer assistance throughout the entire auction procedure. We establish relationships with sellers and provide them with feedback throughout the marketing and viewing process. For sellers, this relationship begins with sound advice on establishing the value of artworks and setting the estimate and reserve strategy that best suits their artworks. SELL ARTWORKS ABOUT ART LEVEN AUCTIONS Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) offers collectible Australian First Nations artworks for sale by auction and private treaty. Art Leven’s dedicated, highly trained professional staff provide buyers and sellers with the highest level of customer service. We provide the most cost-effective, informative, and attractive way to buy and sell art through our gallery, our curated auctions, and through private treaty sales. AUSTRALIAN FIRST NATIONS ART Market Leader, Specialist Knowledge, Proven Results Our secondary market platform features comprehensive artist profiles and market analytics on Australia’s 200 most important Aboriginal artists, including statistics and graphs based on verifiable auction results, and up-to-date coverage of the Australian Indigenous art market. We seek to establish new benchmarks for pricing and documentation for Australian artists. This includes artworks by historically important artists and also, as a point of distinction, artworks by those whose works have been overlooked and are therefore currently under-represented in the secondary art market. OUR GUARANTEE Unparalleled independent expert advice, certified authenticity, clear, safe provenance, and excellent service. AUCTIONS | REGISTER | CONSIGNING NOW | CATALOGUES & RESULTS | BUYING FROM AUCTION

FIRST NATIONS FINE ART AUCTION | 17 JUNE 2025 @Greg Weight EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910 - 1996) Also known as: Kngarreye, Ngwaria, Emily Kam Kngwarray Community: Utopia, Soakage Bore Outstation: Alhalkere Language: Anmatyerre Art Centre: Utopia Arts and Batik Anmatyerr woman Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Emily Kam Kngwarray) was born in Alhalker on the edge of Utopia cattle station. Preceding her professional artistic career in the late 1980’s, she worked as a batik artist for 10 years. Her career as a painter was as prolific as it was passionate; after only a few short years she had established herself internationally. She died in September 1996 leaving behind a profound and invaluable legacy which continues to grow. Over the course of her brief but prolific eight-year painting career, Kngwarreye moved through a series of distinct artistic periods. From 1989 until 1991 she painted intimate compositions, tracing plant roots interspersed with animal tracks under fine, sharp-dotted colour fields. Lot 17, Ankara Merne-Intekwe was painted in March of 1990 for her first solo exhibition and is one of the finest examples from this period. The subject, Intekwe, is considered among the most significant and distinct subjects in Kngwarreye’s oeuvre. Only a few works have been given the title of the small native bush plum that sustains the emu. The Intekwe plant (Scaevola parvifolia), is so inextricably interwoven with Kngwarreye’s identity that upon her death, Interkwe was never painted by any other artist. As her niece Violet Petyarre explained: My Auntie used to paint the fan-flower, and now we all leave that one alone. Auntie used to paint it, that one belonging to the emu. That was her own thing. Even though we all belong to the one Country, we paint separate things. These highly prized early works gave way to running dotted lines over ethereal landscapes consisting of parallel horizontal and vertical stripes representing ceremonial body painting. By 1993, Kngwarreye was painting floral imagery in a profusion of colour, often achieved by double dipping her brushes into different layers of paint. In 1995 and 1996, her painting series Anooralya (Yam) and Sacred Grasses showcase a transition from her linear body paint imagery to the expressive depiction of rambling yam roots. Kngwarreye’s Final Series consists of 24 revelatory canvases painted with large flat brushes just two weeks before her passing in 1996, mark a powerful culmination of her artistic journey. In Summer Abundance V , painted in December of 1993 (Lot 18), the application of yellow and green colours highlights the varied and changing hues in the life cycle of the Anooralya Yam and other food plants found near Alalgura on Utopia Station, west of Delmore Downs. From an aerial perspective, we see the sporadic clustered growth after a summer rain. The flourish of growth that follows is exceptional and rapid. While her preoccupation was with both the life cycle of the yam and the women’s ceremonies that celebrate its importance, Kngwarreye painted many interrelated themes, using these subjects to illustrate her Country as a whole. In an interview with Rodney Gooch, translated by Kathleen Petyarre, Kngwarreye described her subject as: Whole lot, that’s all, whole lot, awelye, arlatyeye, ankerrthe, ntange, dingo, ankerre, intekwe, anthwerle and kame. That’s what I paint: whole lot. My Dreaming, pencil yam, mountain devil lizard, grass seed, dingo, emu, small plant emu food, green bean and yam seed. Posthumously, Kngwarreye’s phenomenal body of work was chronologically curated in Margo Neale’s groundbreaking exhibition Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kngwarreye at the National Museum of Australia in 2007 and The National Gallery of Tokyo in 2008. Kngwarreye’s iconic work, Earth’s Creation I , was selected by Okwui Enwezor to be exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2015. In recent years, Kngwarreye’s work has experienced a renewed acclaim, due in part to several significant commercial and institutional exhibitions, including Emily Kam Kngwarray  curated by Hettie Perkins and Kelli Cole for the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) and Emily: Desert Painter  held at the influential Gagosian Gallery Paris in 2023. In July of this year, the Tate Modern in London will hold a major solo retrospective, marking the most significant international exhibition dedicated to an ‘Australian’ artist. LOT 17 Ankara Merne - Intekwe, 1990 122 x 92 cm; 126 x 96 cm (framed) acrylic on linen Estimate: $450,000 - $550,000 PROVENANCE Painted in Utopia, March 1990 CAAMA Shop (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association), Alice Springs, NT Cat No. 21-390 Utopia Art, Sydney NSW Private collection, Vic Essay by Christopher Hodges Emily Kngwarreye’s First Solo Show was held at Utopia Art Sydney in April 1990. Not surprisingly it attracted attention from contemporary collectors from across the country, a few curators and a lot of artists, many of whom still express their deep regret at an opportunity missed! Utopia Art Sydney in those days was at Stanmore at the top of two flights of stairs, and this painting was the first to come into view as you entered the gallery. Ankara Merne - Intekwe was catalogue number 6 in an exhibition of 19 paintings. It was snapped up on the opening day and its been in the same hands ever since. Rodney Gooch, Emily Kngwarreye and I had discussed the concept of a solo exhibition the previous year, and Kngwarreye began work on the show soon after but this was one of the last works to be finished for the show, painted in March 1990. It is an outstanding example from this period. Layer upon layer of fine dotting subtly reveals the underlying structure below. Earthy pinks and ochres form undulating, shifting fields. Touches of red and yellow ochre, and highlights of black and white, meld together to form a rich deep space that draws you in. You can see the very Kngwarreye touch of a few extra dots here and there that add spark and mystery to the composition. You can feel the artist working through the layers, energising the field with every mark. The sides of the canvas are painted too, with the stripes which we know represent body paint or ‘awelye’. They border the composition and though not visible when looking head on, they nevertheless add to the real presence this painting exudes. These borders were a special element that was soon to disappear, until the major breakthrough paintings of 1994 when the ‘awelye’ took centre stage. Today this painting is an absolute classic of its era, fine dotting with endless variation. Offered for the first time since it was collected 35 years ago, perfect provenance, from her First Solo Show. It’s a joy to see it again. Don’t miss the opportunity this time! Christopher Hodges April, 2025 LOT 18 SUMMER ABUNDANCE V, 1993 90 x 120 cm; 92 x 122 cm (framed) acrylic on linen $150,000 - $200,000 PROVENANCE Delmore Gallery, NT Cat No. 93L050 The Thomas Vroom Collection, The Netherlands Bonhams, Aboriginal Art: The Thomas Vroom Collection, Sydney, NSW, September 2015, Lot No. 207 Private collection, Vic Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery Bears inscription verso: commissioned by Delmore Gallery via Alice Springs NT, 93L050, Emily Kngwarreye

FIRST NATIONS FINE ART AUCTION II JUNE 2025 This curated selection of exemplary boards from the seminal stages of the Papunya movement. They are a fine representation what is widely considered to be the birthplace of the modern First Nations art movement as we know it. The magic of these first paintings is in their direct link to their sacred, functional, and ceremonial origins. The paintings are direct translations of drawings in the sand onto canvas or board. In many cases, they represent some of the first archival recordings of an over 65,000-year-old culture. Much has been written about the genesis of the painting movement in Papunya during the early 1970s. It may in fact be the most documented and studied area of ‘Australian’ First Nations fine art, thanks in part to the expansive documentation and first-hand accounts of Geoffrey Bardon, the school teacher who helped create Papunya Tula Artists with the original group of approximately 20 ‘painting men.’ The group included John Kipara Tjakamarra (Lot 11), Old Walter Tjampitjinpa (Lots 12, 13, 15), Anatjari No. III Tjakamarra (Lot 14), and Long Jack Philippus Tjakamarra (Lot 16). LOT 11 | JOHN KIPARA TJAKAMARRA (c.1932 - 2002) WALINNGI (WOMEN CATCHING A SNAKE) , 1973 57 x 34 cm; 73 x 60 cm (framed) synthetic polymer powder paint on composition board $30,000 - $40,000 PROVENANCE Painted at Papunya, NT in 1973 Papunya Tula Artists, NT Cat No. JJ731226 Aboriginal Arts and Crafts, ACT Anvil Gallery, Albury, NSW Private collection, NSW Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne, Vic, April 1991, Lot No. 60 Private collection, NSW Adhered verso: the Aboriginal Arts and Crafts Pty. Ltd. certificate and accompanied by the original Sotheby’s receipt EXHIBITED Aboriginal Art from Papunya, The Anvil Gallery, Albury, NSW, 1974 The influence of those formative years extends well beyond the original Papunya Tula artistic circle. It is visible not only in subsequent generations of Papunya Tula artists — such as Willy Tjungarrayi (Lot 26), Ronnie Tjampitjinpa (Lots 9, 53, 76) and Willie Tjapanangka (Lot 27) but also in the majority of paintings presented in this auction. This legacy reveals itself through shared stylistic elements, the continued use of traditional materials and techniques, and, finally, in the frameworks through which these paintings are now understood and appreciated. LOT 26 | WILLY TJUNGURRAYI (c.1936 - 2018) KIRITJINYA, TINGARI YOUNG MEN STORY , 1976 60.5 x 45.5 cm; 70 x 55 cm (framed) acrylic on canvas board $9,000 - $11,000 PROVENANCE Papunya Tula Artists, NT Cat No. WJ761071 Private Collection, Vic Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists Bears inscription verso: Willy Tjungurrayi, KirKirity Kurudji, Tingari (young man) story, WJ761071, 15/14/ONII/5 When reflecting on this period, it is important to recognise that many of the artists had once lived traditional, nomadic lives—disrupted by the brutal assimilation policies imposed by the coloniser. The Papunya settlement, established in 1959, was a direct outcome of this policy. People from diverse language groups, including Luritja, Pintupi, Anmatyerr, Warlpiri, and Western Aranda, were forcibly removed from their sacred lands and gathered into the settlement. By many accounts, Papunya was marked by a collective feeling of deep loss and depression, its inhabitants severed from the cultural and spiritual landscapes that had sustained them for generations. By 1970, a vast generational divide grew between the elders, whose lives were shaped by a reality that no longer existed, and a younger generation that had lived the majority of their life in the Papunya settlement without having experienced the traditional nomadic way of life. In response to this cultural rupture, a number of senior men (soon to become the painting group) painted a series of murals on the Papunya school walls. These aimed to transmit cultural knowledge and reconnect younger generations with their heritage. The most significant of these was the Honey Ant Dreaming mural, a story shared by the various language groups residing in the settlement. From this moment, the artists transitioned from wall paintings to boards, developing a visual language through which ancestral stories could be preserved and passed on. LOT 27 | WILLIE TJAPANANGKA (1938 - 1979) EMU DREAMING STORY , 1977 40.5 x 30.5 cm; 46 x 36 cm (framed) acrylic on canvas board $6,000 - $8,000 PROVENANCE Papunya Tula Artists, NT Cat No. WB77804 Private collection, Vic Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists Bears inscription verso: Willie Jabanunka, 15/25/WOII/5, 77804 Geoffrey Bardon quickly developed close relationships with the ‘painting men’. Through an open and respectful exchange, over time, he came to learn many elements of the stories they painted and the symbolic structures that underpinned them. This knowledge contributed to the creation of a foundational visual lexicon that remains profoundly relevant today. Many of the early paintings were accompanied by handwritten notes and diagrams, sometimes attached to the reverse of the artworks, providing insight into the complex meanings embedded within the imagery. By the 1980s, with Andrew Crocker taking the helm of the company in 1979, the highly annotated and didactic methods of description used by Papunya Tula Artists up to that point gave way to the more abstracted language of the wider fine art world. This new approach often cast a vague mystical sheen over the art form rather than disseminating its individual symbolic elements. Vivienne Johnson described the move as a “revolutionary shift away from the […]previous emphasis on the cultural significance of the paintings […] Crocker’s flamboyant style and this promotional strategy were effective in attracting the art world’s attention to works that had previously been thought of only in the context of ethnographic museums.”   ¹ LOT 13 | OLD WALTER TJAMPITJINPA (c.1910 - 1981) WOMEN AND SNAKES , 1973 43.5 x 23cm; 52 x 30.5 cm (framed) synthetic polymer paint on composition board $20,000 - $30,000 PROVENANCE Painted at Papunya, NT in 1973 Papunya Tula Artists, NT Cat No. 735705 Private collection, NSW Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, Vic, June 1999, Lot No. 311 Private collection, WA Thence by descent The Jory Family Collection, Qld Bears annotated diagram verso (right) In a statement prepared for display at Papunya Tula exhibitions, Crocker wrote: “Much could be said about the genesis of the Western Desert School and also of its role in the artists’ society. I think that for the purposes of this exhibition the paintings should be allowed to exercise their own aesthetic appeal and that explanations of content and symbolism be best kept to a minimum.” This auction presents an outstanding selection of early boards, all created by founding artists of Papunya’s art movement. Included are three exceptional early boards by Old Walter Tjampitjinpa, who was one of Geoffrey Bardon’s closest friends and confidants among the painting men. Tjampitjinpa played a pivotal role in shaping Bardon’s understanding of the emerging visual language, and his paintings remain central to the history of the movement. LOT 12 | OLD WALTER TJAMPITJINPA (c.1910 - 1981) WATER STORY , 1972 46 x 31 cm (irregular); 68 x 53 cm (framed) synthetic polymer powder paint on composition board $50,000 - $70,000 PROVENANCE Painted at Papunya, NT in 1972 Stuart Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT Cat No. 12001 Private collection, New York, USA Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, Vic, July 2004, Lot No. 409 Private collection, WA Thence by descent The Jory Family Collection, Qld Adhered verso: a certificate of authenticity from Stuart Art Centre with an annotated diagram ILLUSTRATED Geoffrey Bardon and James Bardon, Papunya: A Place Made after the Story (Miegunyah Press, 2004), p.187 (right) Old Walter was something of a gentle and kind patron in my gradually improving understanding of the Aboriginal way of life. Later he told me that he was the custodian of the Water Dreaming and his many variations on this theme afforded me knowledge of ceremonial sites and special places […] 2 Both Lot 12 (Water Story, 1972) and Lot 15 (Water Story, 1972) are stunning examples of the classic Water Dreaming. Stylistically, the key distinction between these two works lies in their approach to colour and composition. While Lot 12 is rich with dense, high-contrast dot work in vivid colours, Lot 15 adopts a more restrained palette, with finely dotted elements throughout, resulting in a minimal and more subtle composition. […] it was for Old Walter, because of his kindliness, that I felt a strong affection. He spoke in a garbled and very brief and humble manner, repeating in his paintings the simple, classic Water Man and running water images, quietly, yet with a marvellous concentration. His painting was an expression of his eternal and universal response to phenomena such as the desert storms at Kalipimpinpa. 3 LOT 15 | OLD WALTER TJAMPITJINPA (c.1910 - 1981) UNTITLED (WATER DREAMING) , 1972 61 x 40.5 cm (irregular); 72 x 51 cm (framed) synthetic polymer powder paint on composition board $50,000 - $70,000 PROVENANCE Painted at Papunya, NT in 1972 Stuart Art Centre, NT Cat No. 19218 Private collection, SA Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, Vic, June 1999, Lot No. 192 Private collection, WA Thence by descent The Jory Family Collection, Qld Bears inscription verso: ‘19218’ Also featured is a remarkable 1973 board by Anatjari No. III Tjakamarra (Lot 14), who was a foundational figure in the movement’s emergence, renowned for his meticulous technique and refined aesthetic. As Bardon observed, Anatjari worked with great care, employing fine sable brushes to achieve a crystalline precision in his paintings. His compositions were, rich in decorative cross hatching and dotting, intricate ceremonial designs transposed onto canvas and board, all the while drawing from the traditions of sand painting and body decoration. LOT 14 | ANATJARI No. III TJAKAMARRA (c.1938 - 1992) ORIGINS OF SOAKAGES , 1973 92 x 22.5 cm; 101 x 31.5 cm (framed) synthetic polymer paint on composition board $30,000 - $40,000 PROVENANCE Painted at Papunya, NT in 1973 Papunya Tula Artists, NT Cat No. A730808 Private collection, Vic Sotheby’s, Fine Australian, Aboriginal and International Paintings, Melbourne, Vic, November 1999, Lot No. 478 Private collection, Vic Sotheby’s, Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, Vic, July 2004, Lot No. 410 Private collection, WA Thence by descent The Jory Family Collection, Qld Adhered verso: a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists with annotated diagram Finally, Long Jack Philippus Tjakamarra’s Water Dreaming (Lot 16), painted in 1971, the very first year of the Papunya painting movement and part of the fourth consignment of paintings is perhaps the highlight of the collection. This highly significant and beautiful board is illustrated in Geoffrey Bardon’s seminal book, Papunya - A Place Made after the Story (p.171) and is explicitly referred to in Bardon’s profile of the artist in the beginning of the book. Tjakamarra was an essential member of the original painting group, advising and assisting with the creation of the murals that ignited the movement, he painted on the walls of the school where Geoffrey Bardon taught. “He [Tjakamarra] represented the goodness and givingness always within the Aboriginal people.” 4 Samuel Sterneborg, 2025 LOT 16 | LONG JACK PHILIPPUS TJAKAMARRA (1932 - 2020) WATER DREAMING , 1971 44.5 x 22.5 cm; 67.5x 44.5 cm (framed) synthetic polymer powder paint on composition board $50,000 - $70,000 PROVENANCE Painted at Papunya, NT in November/December 1971 Stuart Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT Cat No. SAC 4 1 (Consignment 4, painting 1) Private collection, NSW Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, Vic, June 2002, Lot No. 166 Private collection, WA Thence by descent The Jory Family Collection, Qld Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity with annotated diagram and two letters from Geoffrey Bardon Bears inscription verso: Cat No. SAC 4 1; 3” T+S; 3 1/2 B: NAT ILLUSTRATED Geoffrey Bardon and James Bardon, Papunya: A Place Made after the Story (Miegunyah Press, 2004), p.171 (left) The elemental forms of line, dot and circle show the Water Dreaming: the line represents running water, the dotting the rain and the circles waterholes in the landscape. The traditional ‘U’ form is the Ceremonial Water Man invoking the rain. The simplicity of the design is of the earliest style used at Papunya during my time and is not unlike its sand mosaic and body paint origins. - Geoffrey Bardon ¹ Vivienne Johnson’s essay in Genesis and Genius, p.192 ² Geoffrey Bardon, Papunya Tula - Art of the Western Desert, 1991, p.28-29 ³ Geoffrey Bardon, Papunya - A Place Made after a Story, 2004, p.74 4 Geoffrey Bardon, Papunya - A Place Made after a Story, 2004, p.84

Important Works by First Nations Artists Welcome to our June 17 First Nations Fine Art Auction, featuring a thoughtfully curated selection of 82 notable works by artists of exceptional cultural and artistic influence. This auction takes place at a time of heightened global interest in First Nations art, spurred in part by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.’s announcement of their forthcoming landmark Indigenous exhibition, The Stars We Do Not See, opening this October. Featuring over 200 artworks on loan from the National Gallery of Victoria, this will be the largest international exhibition of Indigenous Art in the USA. The exhibition is set to tour from Washington, D.C. to Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts and Ontario, Canada. In response to this momentum, we have assembled a collection grounded in rigorous research and supported by documented provenance, in accordance with current Australian institutional acquisition standards. While there is an ongoing and important conversation about revisiting provenance policies and recognising artists as individual agents, this auction has been curated within the existing institutional framework, ensuring all works are eligible for acquisition under current guidelines. The highlight of this sale is Lot 17: Ankara Merne - Intekwe (1990), a remarkable painting by Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Emily Kam Kngwarray) from her first solo exhibition held in 1990 at Utopia Art Sydney. This archetypal work, commissioned by Rodney Gooch for the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), is accompanied by an essay from Christopher Hodges outlining the importance of this work and its historical significance. The plant depicted, Intekwe, was considered so innately linked to Emily’s being that no other Anmatyerre artist has been permitted to paint it since her passing. This rare and exceptional work carries an estimate of $450,000 – $550,000. Another outstanding painting by Kngwarreye is  Summer Abundance V (Lot 18), from the prestigious Thomas Vroom Collection—an identifiable piece reflecting a pinnacle time in her career that carries a more modest estimate of $150,000 – $200,000. The representation of artists from Utopia is expanded through significant early career works by Minnie Pwerle (Lot 20), Gloria Petyarre (Lot 79), Kathleen Petyarre (Lot 52), and Kathleen Ngal (Lot 21). This lineage is followed to a more contemporary work by Angelina Ngal, whose luminous celestial diptych Wild Plum is offered as Lot 19, with an estimate of $40,000–$60,000. A particularly exciting feature of this auction is the early 1970s Papunya collection assembled by the former Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Professor John Jory. Focused on the foundational years of the Western Desert painting movement, this collection offers rare insights into a pivotal moment in ‘Australian’ art history. Works from this formative period are becoming increasingly scarce on the secondary market as they are acquired by institutions, making future opportunities to purchase them exceedingly rare. Among the highlights from Jory’s collection is Water Dreaming, 1971 (Lot 16) by Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra, an important early work from the fourth commercial consignment of Papunya paintings sent to the Stuart Art Centre under Pat Hogan’s pioneering initiative. Other exceptional pieces include two 1972 Old Walter Tjampitjinpa boards also from the Water Story series Lot 12 and Lot 15, both estimated at $50,000–$70,000, alongside rarely seen early paintings by John Kipara Tjakamarra, titledWalinngi, 1973 (Lot 11) and Anatjari No.III Tjakamarra, Origins of Soakages, 1973 (Lot 14). The auction also includes two significant works by Rover Joolama Thomas. Small Creek Near Turkey Creek, 1990 (Lot 25), was painted during his collaboration with Perth-based dealer Mary Macha, a key supporter of the East Kimberley school and is estimated at $90,000–$100,000. Lot 10, created two years later for Waringarri Arts—the Miriwoong community’s art centre—is guided by the same deep connection to Country and is estimated at $30,000–$40,000. Joolama’s close friend and fellow artist Queenie McKenzie is represented by Lot 36, Limestone Hills, Texas (1995), while his mentor, Jack Britten, is featured with a striking suite of works collectively titled the Country Series, offered as Lot 54. Beyond these major works, several pieces stand out for their unique artistic perspectives. Among them is Lot 24, Motionless Fish by Yorta Yorta artist Lin Onus—a subtle and evocative gouache that captures a meditative stillness and quiet complexity from his iconic water series. Lot 7 features Living Water at Pikarong by Lydia Balbal, reigning winner of the Telstra NATSIAA Painting Award, whose minimal aesthetic powerfully evokes Country. Also of note is Lot 22, an exquisitely beautiful work by contemporary Balgo Hills artist Patsy Mudgedell, offered with an estimate of $16,000–$22,000. Concluding the highlights are works by various artists that stand out for their superior execution, including Betty Kuntiwa Pumani (Lot 51), Boxer Milner (Lot 6), Kunmanara (Ray) Ken (Lot 48), Eubena Nampitjin (Lot 47) and Dorothy Napangardi (Lot 28) to name just a few. With an estimated total value of between $1.42 and $1.85 million, this collection represents works that are both historically important and institutionally relevant. We are honoured to present this outstanding selection and invite you to explore the depth and cultural significance of the works on offer. We look forward to welcoming you to the viewing at Art Leven housed on Gadigal Country. Emma Lenyszyn First Nations Fine Art Specialist May, 2025