MaymuruNarri Narritjin Maymuru Narritjin Maymuru 1916 - 1981 Narritjin 1, Maymura, Maymurru, Maymaru, Naradin, Maymary, Naridjin, Ngaradjin, Naritjun, Narrachin, Narratchin, Naritzin At the time of his death in 1981, Narritjin Maymuru, along with his brother Nanyin and a classificatory brother Bokarra, were the leaders of the Manggalili clan, a small nomadic group of about fifty people, who lived at Djarrakpi (Cape Shield), in North East Arnhem Land. As with every clan, the Manggalili are associated with country, totems and design that places them on their rightful place within the North East Arnhem Land social structure. Each has a specific design, which they employ in body painting and artifact decoration for ceremony, as well as in their bark painting. It is as if all of the clan designs together were a tartan map that covers the entire landscape. Narritjin’s clan design consisted of diamonds, rows of dashes, anvil shapes and an X pattern that is derived from the breast girdle worn by ancestral women during mourning ceremonies. Narritjin used a brush of human hair, ‘a marwat’, to intricately cover the entire surface of his barks in geometric designs. The figurative elements of his compositions remained subservient to a seemingly abstracted grid. Human, animal and spirit figures usually appeared in a silhouette black or with limited patterning. The contrast between the stark figurative elements and their intricate background created an optical clarity, but more importantly it highlighted the dominant purpose of Narritjin’s compositions, to relay narratives of great significance. While the nomadic lifestyle of Narritjin’s people may seem at odds with the central importance in Manggalili culture of the clan and its associated country, art serves to reconcile the two by providing a medium by which one’s clan’s connection to country can be transported across the vast distances necessary to maintain a hunter and gatherer existence. Narritjin’s work tells of the movements of the ancestral beings, most notably the Guwak (koel cuckoo), who, whilst traveling with the Marrngu (possum), created the lagoon and sand dunes of Narritjin’s homelands. In order to portray these lengthy narratives he segmented his barks into schematic panels. Though a particular ‘feature of Manggalili painting is that subdivisions are fluid; they meander in harmony with clan designs rather than introducing harsh vertical and horizontal accents‘ (Ryan 1990: 24). In relating these narratives Narritjin maintained his connection to his Djarrakpi homeland despite long intervals of separation from it. However, story telling also served as a useful medium for passing on knowledge. Just as Narritjin had learnt clan mythology from his mother’s maternal grandfather Birrikitji at Yirrkala, in turn he taught his children and his brother’s children to paint. They included his sons Manydjilnga and Banapana and his brother’s son Baluka who all gained notoriety as painters and they were followed, in the 1960s, by two of his daughters Bumiti and Galuma. Narritjin’s willingness to pass on his wealth of knowledge explains his daring steps towards closer contact with European Australians. A relatively harmonious relationship developed between the Yolngu people of Northeast Arhem Land and the mission established at Yirrkala in 1935. Narritjin and Nanyin worked for the missionary Wilbur Chaseling at Yirrkala and the sale of their art had the double benefit of securing funds for the church and for the Yolngu themselves. This mutually beneficial arrangement held out until the establishment of the mining town at the nearby Nhulunbuy. With the town came alcohol, which ravaged the community, prompting many elders to establish permanent outstations outside of Yirrkala. In 1974 Narritjin's two eldest sons died, and with his own sudden death in 1981, his dream of an outstation at Djarrakpi lay unfulfilled. Though another five of his children died over the following decade, his remaining clan descendants finally established a homeland centre on Cape Shield in 1995. Painting became the means by which this small settlement could remain viable, a testament to Narritjin’s powerful instruction and commitment to Mangalili culture. In no small part due to the role played by missionaries, Narritijin, Mawalan Marika and Munggerawuy, amongst others, produced grand episodic narrative bark paintings from the 1950's onwards. Narritjin’s paintings in particular are both historical recordings and artistic masterpieces. It is not surprising therefore, that the most finely crafted barks relating the stories surrounding the Guwak ancestor and his Marnggu (Possum) companion have fetched Narritjin’s highest prices on the secondary market. The beautiful red ochre hues and visual complexity of Possum Tree 1964 no doubt contributed to its record breaking price of $25,200, when sold by Lawson~Menzies in May 2004 (Lot 28). Its aesthetic differs markedly from early figurative Western Arnhem Land bark paintings, with their origins in rock painting, which are celebrated for their anatomical detail. Neither do they resemble Western Arnhem Land’s recent voyage into abstraction seen in works based on designs from the Mardayin ceremony. For although Narritjin’s designs are descended from ceremonial imagery, it is the art of narrative and its deep spiritual meaning which is their primary concern. The sale of Djert (The Sea Eagle) c.1960 for $12,650 in 1999 set a record for the artist which stood until the 2004 sale and was only transcended again in 2007, with the sale of Djarrakpi Landscape Guwak Birds 1969. It is still the only pre 2000 record in the artist’s top ten results other than his current tenth highest result for Yingapungapa at Djarrakpi, which sold for $4,600 in 1997. Though it is hard to discern a clear market trajectory for this artist, there has been a gradual upward trend with a significant body of sales in excess of $5,000 dollars in 2005. As with most bark paintings, the correlation between size and value is often meaningless and more importance is placed upon the individual quality and condition of each piece. Indeed, his record holding bark measured only 78 by 33.5 cm and his fifth highest result was for a work measuring just 60 x 21.5 cm. In contrast, the large and imposing work Crayfish and Horse shoe Crabat 158.5 x 59 cm failed to sell at Deutscher~Menzies in the same year as the record sale was achieved. Its hefty estimate of $20,000-25,000 indicated the auction house's high esteem for a work that was a very fine example, yet even the excellent catalogue entry written by Howard Morphy failed to help it sell. Despite the ambiguity of Narritjin’s price fluctuations, his work appears regularly at auctions with both affordable and upper range expectations. Only three barks have sold for more than $10,000, while over 30 barks have sold for less than $5,000. His carvings have sold at very reasonable prices, with just two selling for more than $2,500. This is a fraction of the price paid for carvings by several Arnhem Land artists from the period, of whom David Malangi and Mick Kubarkku immediately come to mind. Given the quality of Narritjin’s works, with an average price for barks at just $3,899, they represent wonderful value for those keen to add a work by an important artist from the area to their collection. Investors would need to spend far more lavishly should they want to secure a good work by Mawalan Marika and they may be very pleasantly surprised by looking through the catalogues and comparing the works of these two contemporaries. Narritjin’s sale rate has been reasonably good since 2002 at 79% when compared to just 53% prior to that. It currently sits at a healthy 61%. This is an artist whose works are inexplicably undervalued in the current market. It seems utterly unrealistic that it should remain that way for long. Narritjin was an extremely accomplished painter whose works were amongst the most highly regarded during the 1970’s and early 1980’s when they adorned the walls of the earliest primary market Aboriginal galleries like my own. His works were included in a plethora of important museum and touring exhibitions from the late 1940’s onward and have been collected by museums and institutions around the world. He is as strong in the literature as almost any other artist in the entire history of Aboriginal art. A technical master of the art of making beautiful and stable bark boards on which to paint, and the soft appeal of his early paintings in particular are enhanced by having been created with orchid juice fixative prior to the use of acrylic binders. Most have lasted in excellent condition and are amongst the most historically desirable works by any of the founders and leaders of the artists of North East Arnhem Land. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ANGELINA PWERLE NGAL - UNTITLED ( BUSH RAISIN MAN) Price AU$3,000.00 ALISON (JOJO) PURUNTATAMERI - WINGA (TIDAL MOVEMENT/WAVES) Out of stock LILY YIRDINGALI JURRAH HARGRAVES NUNGARRAYI - KURLURRNGALINYPA JUKURRPA Price From AU$13,500.00 BRONWYN BANCROFT - UNTITLED Out of stock JOSHUA BONSON - SKIN: A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE Price AU$8,500.00 BOOK - KONSTANTINA - GADIGAL NGURA Price From AU$99.00 FREDDIE TIMMS - MOONLIGHT VALLEY Price AU$35,000.00 NEIL ERNEST TOMKINS - BURN THERE, DON'T BURN THERE Price AU$7,000.00 SHOP NOW

Artist Profile for Richard Birrinbirrin < Back Richard Birrinbirrin Richard Birrinbirrin ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE RICHARD BIRRINBIRRIN - UNTITLED SOLD AU$2,500.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Richard Birrinbirrin ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

TjupurrulaJohnn Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula 1925 - 2001 Jupurrula, Warrankula, Warungula, Warrangula, Warangula, Tjaparula, Jupunalla, Jonny Paruka Born at Mintjilpirri, north west of the Kangaroo Dreaming site of Ilpili soakage Johnny Warangkula recalled his first contact with ‘white fellas’ at just 12 years of age as a frightening experience. Within three years his family moved in to Hermannsburg mission where Johnny went through initiation. After working on roads and airstrips at Hermannsburg and Haasts Bluff, and time spent at Mount Leibig, Yuendumu and Mount Wedge during the 1950s, he moved into Papunya with his first wife, shortly after its establishment. At the time of Geoff Bardon’s arrival in 1971 he was serving on the Papunya Council alongside Mick Namarari. Johnny Warangkula was quick to express interest in painting and rapidly developed a distinctive style characterized by layering and over-dotting, which Geoff Bardon often referred to as ‘tremulous illusion’ (Isaacs 2001: 71). From the outset of his career as a painter he intuitively transformed traditional desert ceremonial ground designs into inventive paintings on board and canvas conveying the myths and journeys associated with the sacred waterhole at Ilpilli, the surrounding limestone soaks, its inhabitants and the metaphysics of this country’s creation. Bardon, described their friendship, at this time, as ‘close’ and Warangkula as a happy, expressive man who was pleased to discuss his work and explain its meanings and symbols. Bardon was just the first of many to note that Tjupurrula expressed a personal visual style that radiated power from the tightly composed and intensely vibrant surfaces of his paintings. While dots were traditionally used as decoration and outline in desert art, by the mid 1970s they were becoming the unmistakable trademark of contemporary desert painting. By 1978 large canvases were being produced by Clifford Possum, Tim Leura, Johnny Warangkula and a number of other Papunya men and Johnny’s Tingari men at Tjikarri was purchased for the Araluen Art Collection after being a finalist in the Alice Art Prize. Warangkula’s success with this, and other works of the period, was in large part due to the energetic effects he achieved in his design motifs while portraying the land as a living force. Dotting was also importantly used to disguise secret images and teachings that were only to be deciphered by the initiated. They became a thin veil, beguiling viewers toward the surface while alluding, even alluring them, to hidden depths. Warangkula was amongst the most inventive of the early Papunya artists. His 'calligraphic line and smearing brushwork' (Bardon in Isaacs 2001: 71), gave a relative solidity to the features of the land, or traced the movements of a journey, picking up on the rhythmic recall of a mythic narrative. Bands of hatching or parallel lines provided visual texture, often interspersed with animal tracks or symbolic figures woven in to tightly synchronized compositions that still resound with freshness and surprising spontaneity. Choosing to keep within the hues of traditional earth based ochres, he achieved in his early paintings a startlingly powerful statement of the earth, his country and the life within it. During his first 15 years as a painter Warangkula had been foremost amongst those who had fundamentally shaped the Papunya art movement. However by the mid 1980s his eyesight began to fail and his painting became infrequent. By the end of the 1990s Warangkula was old and infirm. For a time he produced art-boards for just $50 each, selling them on the streets of Alice Springs or occasionally painting for Warumpi Arts established by the Papunya Community Council in competition with Papunya Tula. Yet, in what may come as a surprise to those who didn’t know him, after the sale of his Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa 1972 at auction for $206,000 in 1997 and its resale for double the world record price for Aboriginal art in 2000, Warangkula was utterly unperturbed by the publicity and inferences in the media that he should recoup at least some of the financial benefit. At the time he lived mostly in Papunya with his second wife Gladys Napanangka with whom he had two sons and four daughters. After this astounding record sale he began the first of hundreds of raw expressionistic paintings for local and overseas dealers keen to have anything at all by ‘name’ artists. All but a handful of these late paintings have been shunned by the secondary market which has considered them crude and unworthy of his earlier works. Apart from the patchy work post 2000, the finest of Johnny Waralgkula’s works continue to inspire. Over his thirty-year career, he was a distinctive figure, always wearing his stockman’s hat and charming his visitors with his enigmatic but sincere personality. He was oblivious to the attractions of life beyond the power and responsibilities of his Dreamings. Yet his best paintings not only reverberate with the power of ancient knowledge and forms, but they continue to captivate Western audiences through their uncanny access to our modern sensibility. Johnny Warangkula was a powerful presence throughout the formative period of the Desert painting movement and created his most emblematic and important works early in his career. All but one of his top 30 results are for works that were painted in the 1970s and of those more than two thirds were painted in the Bardon period of 1971 to 1972. Of the 312 works offered for sale at auction only 58% have sold, evidence that his paintings were uneven in quality, especially as his career advanced. Of those paintings that have achieved between his 20th and 100th highest prices only about a dozen were painted during the 1980s or later. The artist’s poor clearance rate at auction has been largely due to the false impression amongst collectors that works produced during the 1980s and 1990s are worth more than their actual market value. There is no doubt that the large number of late career works he produced did not serve his reputation well. The sole late career work to enter the top fifty, Pangkalangku Men 2001, sold for $75,000 at Lawson~Menzies in March 2009 (Lot 142). During a year in which six works sold of ten offered, this sale was the only real anomaly. Late career works by Warangkula are considered a less sure investment relative to the solid blue-chip early works that carry Papunya or Stuart Art Centre provenance. Warangkula’s brilliant top-selling work Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa 1972, measuring just 75 x 80 cm doubled in value over three years, originally selling for $206,000 and then reselling in Sotheby’s June 2000 auction for $486,500 (Lot 70). Yet only nine of his works have sold for more than $100,000 and all but exceptional examples of his early boards have slightly decreased in value during the past ten years. Amongst these, Wild Tomato Dreaming 1972 sold for $41,400 at Sotheby’s June 2000 auction (Lot 109), showing a drop in $2,300 from its earlier result at Sotheby’s in 1998 (Lot 223) and Water Dreaming 1971 incurred a loss for its owner of $8,050 when re-sold at Sotheby’s in June 2000 for $17,250 (Lot 108) after originally being purchased from Sotheby’s in 1996 (Lot 8). Another slightly larger board measuring 91 x 76 cm titled Water and Tucker 1972 was re-offered by Sotheby’s in July 2005 after having failed to sell in an earlier auction. Sotheby’s halved the estimate and it still failed to sell. This is evident even amongst those works in the lower price range. A late 1970s work Kalipinypa 1978 failed to reach its lower reserve of $6,000 in Lawson~Menzies October 2003 sale after realising $6,325 at Deutscher~Menzies in June 1999 (Lot 161). The majority of Warangkula’s works are heavily weighted in the $10,000 to $25,000 price range. His highest price for a work on canvas was $342,250, which was paid for a 173 x 203 cm work Spearing of Matingpilangu 1974 at Sotheby’s in July 2003 (Lot 184). Warangkula’s works first appeared at auction in 1993 and by 2000, 48 of 60 works had sold for an 80% clearance rate. Between 2000 and 2012 however his success rate dropped to as low as 38% (2008) resulting in his overall career standing at 58%. Though 7 of 9 works on offer in 2015 sold at an average price of $21,320 he was the 18th most successful artist in a year during which one lovely early early board Water Dreaming with Bush Tucker, 1972, entered his top ten results in 10th place. 2016 told a slightly better story. In that year 9 of 11 works sold for a clearance rate of 82%. With prices averaging $16,820 he was the 13th most successful artist that year. Indicative of the dichotomoy of his career, of the 4 works on offer in 2017, the two that sold (for an average price of $48,630) were from 1971 and 1973, while the works that failed were dated in 1990 and 1998. Warangkula’s best years occur when one or two major works are on offer. In 2019, though only 8 works sold of 14 on offer (57% clearance) he finished 6th most successful artist for the year, on the back of a very good1973 work which appeared in Sotheby's first New York Aboriginal art sale. Estimated at USD100,000-150,000, Camp at Walungurru - Dingo Camp At Tinki, measuring 122 x 91 cm sold for US$162,500 ($AUD235,446) , the artists 3rd highest price ever. In fact, Sotheby’s have been the powerhouse and champions of Warangkula’s sales, having offered 123 paintings of the 312 that have appeared for sale. Lawson~Menzies is a distant second with 31 works. Overall, collectors should be aware that Johnny Warangkula’s early works painted during the period that Bardon was in Papunya between 1971 and 1972 are far and away the most highly sought after and splendid examples of his work. While he continued to produce intensely detailed, finely wrought paintings for a few more years, over time they became less intricate, more gestural and finally more and more messy and muddy in colour as his sight and dexterity became impaired. Because of the high prices his early work fetched on the secondary market during the mid to late 1990s many independent traders supplied him with rolls of canvas, only to end up with unsaleable works in all but a few exceptional cases. That Warangkula earned far more from these than he ever did from his finest works, is the ultimate irony in a career that has left a lasting legacy on both counts. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ANGELINA PWERLE NGAL - UNTITLED ( BUSH RAISIN MAN) Price AU$3,000.00 ALISON (JOJO) PURUNTATAMERI - WINGA (TIDAL MOVEMENT/WAVES) Out of stock LILY YIRDINGALI JURRAH HARGRAVES NUNGARRAYI - KURLURRNGALINYPA JUKURRPA Price From AU$13,500.00 BRONWYN BANCROFT - UNTITLED Out of stock JOSHUA BONSON - SKIN: A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE Price AU$8,500.00 BOOK - KONSTANTINA - GADIGAL NGURA Price From AU$99.00 FREDDIE TIMMS - MOONLIGHT VALLEY Price AU$35,000.00 NEIL ERNEST TOMKINS - BURN THERE, DON'T BURN THERE Price AU$7,000.00 SHOP NOW

YirawalaDavid David Yirawala David Yirawala 1903 - 1976 Born c1894 in his home country of Marugulidban in Western Arnhem Land, Yirawala’s boyhood was spent traveling over the land and learning his father’s sacred designs, songs and stories. His initiation was a long journey, culminating only when, at 45 years of age, he was endowed with the final secrets. He became a great ritual leader, with knowledge over all the secular and sacred ceremonial content of Kunwinjku iconography. He lived with his first wife at Oenpelli where he fathered two children. After her death he had three sons and a daughter by his two promised wives. In the late 1950's the family moved to Croker Island (Minjilang), where a number of artists had collected due to the artistic freedom of the Methodist mission in comparison to the one operating at Oenpelli. However the extent of this freedom is arguable, as Yirawala was apparently unaware that the paintings he created over a nine-year period had been sold through the mission until an encounter with collector Sandra Le Brun Holmes in 1964. On telling him the truth, Yirawala apparently confided, 'all my law. Dreaming story big mob I make, nine year. I bin lose him whole lot, Marain business, Lorrgon, Ubar, magic, all finish. My eye little bit no good now' (cited in Holmes 1992: 15). Though devastated by the news, a partnership began between Holmes and Yirawala that marked a turning point in his career as an artist. While organising the filming of Return to the Dreaming in 1971, she arranged for an exhibition of his work to tour southern cities to which Yirawala later traveled and spoke. Artistically, the partnership also marked a new beginning. His early work had been preoccupied with Mimih and sorcery stories depicted characteristically in white outlines, similar to the rock art of the region. By contrast, the works that date from the show that was staged in 1970 and onward feature important aspects of the Ngalod, Mardayin, Lorrkkon, and Ubar ceremonies. The surfaces of his barks became elaborate and in-filled with intricate cross-hatching within x-ray style figurative forms. Many of the cross-hatched designs (rarrk) were derived from the clan markings formerly restricted to painted bodies during ceremony. Yirawala pioneered these new developments in Western Arnhem Land art, thereby shaping the direction Kunwinjku bark painting would follow stylistically thereafter. He did so, not only through his introduction of rarrk designs, but also in his experimentation in varying the monochrome base colour of the bark. The delek (white) underlay of Luma Luma and Wind Mimi 1971 serves to heighten the elegance of the rarrk designs on the figures. The effect was to highlight the physicality of the figure as an anatomical vision, while imbuing the subject with spirituality. In this way the 'conjunction of the metaphysical and physical elements, the revelation of the cosmic within the concrete, gave Kunwinjku art its transformational edge' (Ryan 1990: 77). This is the power to which Picasso referred when he claimed 'this what I have been trying to achieve all my life' (cited in Holmes 1992: 1). However, in Yirawala’s world, it was only natural that art and life, the physical and metaphysical, were inextricably entwined. The deed Yirawala drew up with Sandra Le Brun Holmes gave her first option on his work, the majority of which she managed to keep as an intact collection. In 1989 the National Gallery of Australia acquired the Holmes’ collection of 139 bark paintings, marking the first time in the history of the Aboriginal art movement when a ceremonial cycle could be seen visually in its entirety. In this regard she had kept her bargain with the artist and assisted in leaving us with his most lasting and unique legacy. Yirawala was vitally concerned that Balanda (outsiders) should understand the cultural significance of his work and, in doing so, build respect for not only his art but also the culture to which it was intimately connected. Unfortunately his efforts and wishes in this regard largely failed to have the desired effect in his own lifetime. While he became a rising star and was made a member of the British Empire for his services to Aboriginal Art in 1971, as well as receiving the International Art Cooperation Award in the same year, his efforts to prevent mining in the Western Arhnem Land region of his birth lay unfulfilled upon his death in 1976. While Sandra Holmes played an important role in supporting Yirawala during the later part of his career as a painter, it is interesting to note that seven of the top eight results for his works have been for paintings created prior to their agreement over the distribution of his works. This may make some sense, given her fastidious accumulation of his paintings into such a large permanent collection which was later sold to the NGA. His ten highest records range from $25,620 to $64,800, of which two were sold in 1997 and one in 1998. It is likely that, other than truly spectacular images, Yirawala’s works are no more valuable now than they were ten years ago. By way of example, a large bark for this artist measuring 128 x 53 cm in size, entitled Sacred Bird c.1965, sold in Sotheby’s June 1998 sale for $26,450 and yet only received $17,250 when offered for sale again two years later. In comparison Yirawala’s second highest priced painting, the quirky 10 Mimih’s c. 1959, is full of movement and joyous expression. This smaller work, 87.5 x 59.5 cm, showed an increase of $22,600 over its 1999 price at Sotheby’s when it achieved $49,850 in their July 2003 sale. The collector, who more than doubled his money in just three years would have been very happy indeed. Attempts to push his prices through unrealistically high estimates have failed in a market that has been quite flat for bark paintings of this period, other than those with the most engaging images and superb provenance. Lumah Lumah’s Daughters c.1963, a small bark of 43 x 20 cm, failed to sell in Sotheby’s 1997 auction with hefty estimate of $15,000-$20,000. It failed once more in their 2002 sale despite being more realistically priced at $7,000-10,000. Finally it achieved $8,000 at Sotheby’s in July 2004. This was most dramatically underscored in 2008 when no less than 11 works were offered and only three sold. Remarkably, every single one of the 11 works were offered through Sotheby’s and while the two most successful equaled his 10th, and set his 11th highest records, no less than five works with low estimates in excess of $20,000 failed to find buyers. It was a disastrous year at auction for works by such a great artist and resulted in his career clearance rate dropping from 69% to 65%. During the 2 years when no less than five of his works were sold at auction, the average prices peaked in 1997 at $18,400, and then at $23,908 in 2003. These spikes in prices in 2003 and 1997 were principally due to his two highest results occurring during each of those years. With the effect of these discounted, his prices have remained remarkably stable throughout the period. In general, prices for premium pieces have risen slowly while less interesting and stilted works have fallen in value. Those works painted c.1958-1960 have had more success at auction than later works. However, in all probability, as neither the number of works nor the length of time statistics have been gathered on this artist has really been long enough to judge accurately, it is likely that the image rather than the cultural story, or the period painted, is the important factor in the sale price. 2017 showed us that fantastic works by the artist sometimes become available at criminally low prices. The fantastic Mimi Rain Ceremony, painted in 1968, was let go for an absurd $4,873 against a presale estimate of $12,800 to $18,000. Meanwhile, later in the year, a work of similar quality went for a much more reasonable $23,560, marking the artist's 11th highest sale price. Yirawala was a master technician and the condition of most of his bark paintings is extremely good. Such is the calibre of this artist that jjst about any of his works, when offered at reasonable estimates, are highly desirable purchases. There realy is never a bad time to buy one of Yirawala's better barks. There has been a recent surge in the value of a number of currently practicing bark painters and it is only a matter of time before the work of Yirawala and other great bark painters of the period are reassessed, sparking a hike in the value of their works. They are that undervalued. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ANGELINA PWERLE NGAL - UNTITLED ( BUSH RAISIN MAN) Price AU$3,000.00 ALISON (JOJO) PURUNTATAMERI - WINGA (TIDAL MOVEMENT/WAVES) Out of stock LILY YIRDINGALI JURRAH HARGRAVES NUNGARRAYI - KURLURRNGALINYPA JUKURRPA Price From AU$13,500.00 BRONWYN BANCROFT - UNTITLED Out of stock JOSHUA BONSON - SKIN: A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE Price AU$8,500.00 BOOK - KONSTANTINA - GADIGAL NGURA Price From AU$99.00 FREDDIE TIMMS - MOONLIGHT VALLEY Price AU$35,000.00 NEIL ERNEST TOMKINS - BURN THERE, DON'T BURN THERE Price AU$7,000.00 SHOP NOW

Artist Profile for Benjamin Landara < Back Benjamin Landara Benjamin Landara 1921 - 1985 Region: Central Desert Community: Hermannsburg Language: Arrernte ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS Benjamin Landara is an historic member of the Hermannsburg watercolour school. Famously, it was Albert Namatjira whose representations of the dramatic scenery of the Australian interior west of Alice Springs founded this movement. READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE BENJAMIN LANDARA - MT. SONDER SOLD AU$2,750.00 BENJAMIN LANDARA - UNTITLED SOLD AU$1,500.00 BENJAMIN LANDARA - UNTITLED SOLD AU$1,750.00 BENJAMIN LANDARA - MT. SONDER Sold AU$0.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Benjamin Landara 1921 - 1985 Region: Central Desert Community: Hermannsburg Language: Arrernte Benjamin Landara is an historic member of the Hermannsburg watercolour school. Famously, it was Albert Namatjira whose representations of the dramatic scenery of the Australian interior west of Alice Springs founded this movement. Namatjira gained an unexpected burst of financial success and celebrity status, unheard of for an Aboriginal person at that time. This changed the course of Australian art. He went on to encourage his extended family members to take up the brush and follow in his footsteps. Benjamin Landara was included in that foundational group. He was also related to the Ebataringa family and artists and married Namatjira’s eldest daughter Maisie. By the late 1940s he was painting alongside Albert, his early work revealing the master’s influence. The Australian centre could be considered one of the most challenging living environments in the world. Yet Aboriginal people, over many thousands of years, lived a culturally and spiritually rich life here. In the 1930s Hermannsburg Mission (established by German Lutherans in 1877) became the place where a new Aboriginal art form emerged. The encouragement of painting by the mission enabled its continuance after visiting watercolour artists who had introduced European materials and methods to an Aboriginal audience. Under Rex Battarbee’s mentorship, Namatjira transmuted the intimate relationship that his people have with their Country into a new visual form. It followed the realistic representational method of European tradition but imbued it with a new sensibility, absolutely unique. In a subtle manner, it communicated the rich and ancient indigenous heritage and counteracted to a small degree the widespread destitution caused by European settlement. The Hermannsburg School challenged the European perception of the centre as an unattractive and empty place and drew attention to the plight of Aboriginal people. Landara attended the mission school and learnt English and Christian religious beliefs. Christianity became a strong support to his dispossessed people and seemed able to exist in harmony with their Dreaming beliefs, many looking back fondly on those early days with the German missionaries. The priests were kind and considerate of the Arrente people who were suffering greatly due to the loss of their vital hunting grounds and cultural support systems. Namatjira developed his craft over many long camel back excursions with Battarbee into the lands around Hermannsburg - first as an assistant and later as an artist of equal regard. Some argued that he soon surpassed his mentor. Soon he was taking his own painting groups, including Landara, on painting trips. Exhibitions in the Southern capitals were frequently selling out to an enthusiastic public while angry critics argued over artistic merit and even English royalty paid their respects. It was this hopeful story that was the basis of Landara’s career. He became a stalwart member of the family, accompanying the group out along the Finke River and into the MacDonnell ranges to paint at different times of day and seasons of the year. Battarbee described him as “a kindly person, and an asset to the family group…an excellent colourist with a keen perception of beauty.” He was capable of rendering complex imagery with unfailingly exquisite brushwork. Consequently, his work was sought after by visitors to the Namatjira camp near Alice Springs, hoping for a bargain by avoiding official channels. People admired his pleasing, pastel tones and grasp of light across the land. He was regularly included in exhibitions, eventually having his works bought by State Galleries and included in their permanent collections. But success brought its own particular forms of conflict and sorrow for the Namatjira family, particularly in regard to the contradictory expectations of white and black laws. It was this that led to Albert’s untimely death. Though the mission is long gone and the laws have improved, the children and grandchildren of the early group have continued on and beyond the tradition of the Hermannsburg School. Art historians have reevaluated these landscapes as coded expressions of traditional sites and knowledge, not obvious to the uninitiated eye and somewhat in keeping with the abstract forms that burst onto the art scene thirty years later at Papunya. In consequence, from many points of view (aesthetically, monetarily and historically), the original works by Landara and others have become highly valued artworks. ARTIST CV Group Exhibitions: 2016 - The Hermannsburg Collection , Cooee Art, Sydney. Featured artists include the Pareroultja brothers (Otto, Edwin, and Trevor), cultural custodian Walter Ebatarinja (husband of Albert Namajira’s daughter Maisie), and Albert Namatjira’s sons (Oscar, Keith, Enos, Ewald, Maurice) and grandson Gabriel. Additional artists: Arnulf Ebatarinja, Cordula Ebatarinja, Joshua Ebatarinja, Benjamin Landara, Richard Moketarinja, Basil Rantji, Claude Pannka, Herbert Raberaba, Henoch Raberaba, Kenneth Entata, Athanius Titus Renkaraka, Gabriel Wallace, Wenton Rubuntja, Peter Tjutjatja Taylor, Adolf Inkamala, Clem Abbott. 2014 - The Hills Beyond Hermannsburg , from the Gallery's Indigenous Collection, AGNSW, Sydney. Artists featured: Arnulf Ebatarinja, Conley Ebatarinja, Benjamin Landara, Tristam Malbunka, Albert Namatjira, Keith Namatjira, Lenie Namatjira, Maurice Namatjira, Oscar Namatjira, Claude Pannka, Gloria Pannka, Nelson Pannka, Ivy Pareroultja, Otto Pareroultja, Billy Benn Perrurle, Norman Ratara, Vanessa Splinter, Roland Uburtja, Alison Walbungara, Richard Moketarinja. 1995 - Namatjira Ilakakeye: Kinship, Creativity and the Continuing Traditions of the Hermannsburg Artists , Tandanya, Adelaide. 1994 - Power of the Land: Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art , National Gallery of Victoria, Vic. 1992/93 - The Heritage of Namatjira , a touring exhibition through Flinders University Art Museum. 1991 - The Heritage of Namatjira at Flinders , Flinders University Art Museum, Bedford Park, South Australia. 1989 - Aboriginal Art: The Continuing Tradition , National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 1974 to 1976 - Art of Aboriginal Australia , touring Canada, Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Ltd. 1963 - The Melbourne Moomba Festival: Exhibition of Aboriginal Art , presented by the Aborigines Advancement League, in conjunction with the Myer Emporium, Melbourne, Victoria. Bibliography: Battarbee, R. and Battarbee, B., 1971, Modern Aboriginal Paintings , Rigby, Adelaide. (C) Hardy, J., Megaw, J.V.S. and Megaw, M.R. (eds), 1992, The Heritage of Namatjira - the Watercolourists of Central Australia , William Heinemann, Australia. (C) United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia, Ntaria (Hermannsburg) an Introduction to the Place, Its History and Its People , n.d. 1974, Art of Aboriginal Australia , exhib. cat., Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Limited. (C) Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

Artist Profile for Tommy Carroll < Back Tommy Carroll Tommy Carroll ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE TOMMY CARROLL - UNTITLED (GRANDFATHER'S COUNTRY) Sold AU$0.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Tommy Carroll ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

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