AHARLPER COUNTRY Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 From 18 March to 09 April 2022 AHARLPER COUNTRY From 18 March to 09 April 2022 AHARLPER COUNTRY From 18 March to 09 April 2022 Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 In Collaboration with Lauraine Diggins Fine Art “This is my country, I paint good colour, little dots. I like my painting.” Angelina Ngal was there from the start, a pillar of the formative years of Utopia women’s painting. Formerly known as Angelina Pwerl, – her husband’s name, Pwerl(e) in Alyawarr language is the equivalent to Ngal in the Anmatyerr language – she is today referred to as as Angelina Ngal. As did her sisters, Kathleen and Poly Ngal, Angelina began producing batiks and wooden sculptures in the mid 1980s. After taking part in the CAAMA ‘summer project’ in 1988-9, Angelina quickly adapted to painting on canvas. She was included in the first exhibition of Utopia women’s paintings, held in Alice Springs in 1990, swiftly gaining international recognition. This appreciation and respect never dipped or wavered in the decades since, though her ascent in the Australian general public’s eye was slow, despite widespread international acclaim among important collectors and museums. Domestically, she may still be less of a household name than some of her contemporaries. Nonetheless, her work was featured at this years Art Basel Miami, as well as being slated to tour internationally as part of the Met’s The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania. According to Dan F Stapleton in the Financial Times (January 28 2022), Ngal remains ‘something of an insider’s secret whose work is tightly held. ‘If [Emily] Kngwarreye is the A-lister and [Daniel] Walbidi is the rising star, then Angelina Pwerle is the cult favourite – one on whom a growing number of institutions and collectors are quietly placing bets.’* Undoubtedly, Angelina Ngal stands as one of the preeminent artists from Utopia. The long, steady growth of the artist’s acclaim befits her art. Ngal draws from a seemingly infinite well of patience and love of country, gradually layering fields of colour upon each other, considering carefully each swath of delicate marks. She paints her grandfather’s country, Aharlper. Originally, most of her paintings depicted the Bush Plum, which she represents through a focus of red dots into which she merges a variety of minute and painstakingly rendered coloured dots, ensuring that the tiny red dot is always central and clear. Angelina later extended her practice, producing a range of exquisitely coloured compositions that maintain a layer of meaning related to the Bush Plum. In these, points of geography, knowledge of sacred landmarks, and memories of hunting or ceremonial business result in a subtle and textured surface that hints to the viewer of an ethereal numinous landscape. To most of us, much of the sacred and ceremonial business is entirely or partly hidden. Still, the knowledge and reverence of country is palpable; it pulses beneath the surface of each delicate rendering of her country and Dreaming. Abstractly, the works conjure galaxies and molecules at once, the gigantic and the minute. Sometimes, standing before a work is like looking up to the skies as sheets of torrential rain bathe and nourish, drown and revive. Other times, we may be looking down at seeds and desert sand, a world of atomically small elements. This exhibition consists of two parts, running simultaneously at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art in Melbourne, and Cooee Art Redfern in Sydney. With a longstanding relationship, the galleries represent two of the foremost and major Australian Indigenous fine art galleries. The cross-state exhibition surveys the last two decades of Angelina Ngal’s practice, highlighting major works in her distinct styles, with a larger focus on the finely detailed later work the artist is most recognised for. According to the artist herself, “This is a constant engagement. This is a spiritual connection to place […] My Bush Plum paintings represent the whole thing: all of Country.” Dan F Stapleton for the Financial Times, January 28 2022 VIEW CATALOGUE EX ?

BEAUTIFUL ART MADE PROPER WAY Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 From 15 January to 19 February 2022 Viewing Room BEAUTIFUL ART MADE PROPER WAY Artists from Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists Studio From 15 January to 19 February 2022 Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 Established in 2000, the Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists studio is the first in Australia to occupy the intersection between supported studios and Aboriginal Art Centres. The studio provides a means for Aboriginal artists living with a disability to develop and receive recognition for their artistic practices by providing supported studio spaces, a national exhibition schedule, design contracts, multimedia collaborations, art fairs and art award opportunities. “Mwerre Anthurre Art - “Beautiful Art Made Proper Way” - Billy Benn Perrurle VIEW CATALOGUE VIEW VIDEO EX 227

Artist Profile for Liddy Napanangka Walker < Back Liddy Napanangka Walker Liddy Napanangka Walker ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE LIDDY NAPANANGKA WALKER - WAKIRLPIRRI JUKURRPA (DOGWOOD TREE DREAMING) SOLD AU$4,800.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Liddy Napanangka Walker 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 .

Artist Profile for James Lyuna < Back James Lyuna James Lyuna ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE JAMES LYUNA - SACRED DILLY BAG SOLD AU$1,500.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE James Lyuna 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 .

Artist Profile for Rammey Ramsey < Back Rammey Ramsey Rammey Ramsey 1935 ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE RAMMEY RAMSEY - MY COUNTRY - WARLAWOON Sold AU$0.00 RAMMEY RAMSEY - WARLAWOON COUNTRY (DIPTYCH) Sold AU$0.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Rammey Ramsey 1935 Though the trailblazers of the modern Aboriginal art movement have often been senior in years, their early life steeped in tradition, this has never hampered their capacity for innovation. The divergent approaches to art in the Kimberley area stems from the complex network of Dreamtime narratives that thread through its vast tracts of once shared land. The ceremonial exchanges that occurred seasonally, between specific tribal and language groups, fostered culturally commensurate perspectives rather than exclusivity and conflict. To this day, a malleable framework of cultural affiliations and historical readings means that new interpretations are always possible. This has played out creatively in the career of Rammey Ramsey. Rammey Ramsey started painting for Jirrawun Arts in the central Kimberley in 2000. He was in his mid sixties by then but his involvement in traditional ceremony had already made art-making a central part of his life. He is a senior Gija man, of Jungurra skin and his country is Warwaloon, west of Bedford Downs. This country provides the subject matter of most of his works. Like many of his people, he began working on pastoral stations during his youth. These stations were adjacent to ancestral lands where traditional ceremonial activities could still be maintained. When equal pay legislation prompted pastoralists to send Aboriginal people off the land, they settled in small communities throughout the Kimberley and slowly the art movement began to take shape. Art became an essential way to stay connected with their ancient cultural heritage. Almost immediately after he began painting, Ramsey’s work was being shown alongside his renowned fellow artists at Jirrawun Paddy Bedford, Freddie Timms and Hector Jandalay, at the William Mora Galleries in Melbourne. This exhibition was called Gaagembi, meaning 'poor things' - a term of sympathy, sorrow and endearment. It refers to the feeling of the Gija people for their country and the traditional way of life now lost to them. Alongside ancestral topographies, historical themes and events are often touched upon in Ramsey’s work. The Gija people suffered cruelly at the hands of the early white settlers. Enslavement and massacre were part of that sorry tale. Ramsey trained young dancers, created body painting and dance poles and danced himself for the Joonba performances that commemorate these events Jirrawun Arts was a model art centre, owned and run by the artists under the guidance of Tony Oliver. Oliver’s large collection of modern art books exposed Ramsey to influences such as Paul Klee and Sonia Delaunay. The group also regularly discussed their own work, exchanging ideas and memories and techniques. Ramsey was influenced by Rover Thomas’s majestic ochres in his early work but went on to explore a more gestural style, inspired in part by his close friend Paddy Bedford. Building a wet on wet field of colour gradations, Ramsey embeds simple jewel-like shapes of vivid gouache colour. These are the distilled features of his country such as hills, meeting places, water holes, or may refer to an event, plant or animal home. Sharp contrasting or dotted lines often weave around and between, representing rivers, roads or other connecting landmarks. This is Warwaloon, an area that makes up part of Gija country and the place where Ramsey was born. It is also his traditional name. The artists of Jirrawun would visit the city in distinctive looking suits and dark glasses. They were photographed with politicians and dignitaries as they gained the art world’s approval and financial independence. A new purpose-built art centre was built at Wyndham, near the coast. Over time however, as the older artists died, Jirrawun Arts folded, and in 2010, Ramsey moved to the Warmun Art Centre. Besides being a painter, he is a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, with many other community members who also appreciate his unassuming humanity that has seen both the best and worst of life. Above all he seeks to convey knowledge and compassion in his work. Recently he has explored printmaking at the Charles Darwin University Studio. His work is held in major collections throughout Australia including Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and the Ian Potter Gallery, Melbourne. Profile author: Sophie Pierce ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Rammey Ramsey's paintings first appeared at public auction in 2007. By then his work had been included in six group exhbitions and 3 solo exhibitions. Given he only began painting at 65 years of age in 2000 this was quite an achievement. It was not until 2011 that more than 20 works had been offered for sale and at that time his success rate was poor with only 50% of works finding new homes. His record price however stood at $19,200, a record set in 2009 by a work entitled Doowoon Country - Tranie Gorge, 2004 at Deutscher & Hackett, and equalled by another work at the same auction house in 2010. Thougn many arguably finer works have been offered for sale since that time, these two records still stand today as they highest prices ever paid for a work by Ramsay. Two other works hold his 3rd highest price of $18,600. Warlawoon Country 2008 sold at Deutscher & Hackett's sale of the Laverty Collection in 2015 and this equalled the price acheived at Bonham's two eyars earlier for a work of the same name created in 2007. Shortly after the begining of 2016, the number of works by this artist that had been offered for sale on the secondary market had risen to 51 of which 61 percent have sold. it has been enough to see Ramsay finally break into the top 100 artists of the movement in 96th position. Rammey Ramsey is an artist who typifies the move in appreciation of Aboriginal art from those with an interest in its origins and culture, to those looking for works that resonate with contemporary abstraction. It is hard to look at his work and not compare it with that of designers under the influence of Sonia Delaunay. They are, regardless of that fact, highly accpomplished and attractive paintings. Ramsay was not a particularly productive artist and as a result his ouvre is relatively small. The best of his paintings will without doubt continue to find willing buyers whenever they appear at auction. 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 .

Joanne Currie Nalingu | It Flows Joshua Bonson | Ancestor's Footsteps Joanne Currie Nalingu | It Flows Joshua Bonson | Ancestor's Footsteps LAST DAY - Saturday 13 January 2024 Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 Joanne Currie Nalingu | It Flows Joshua Bonson | Ancestor's Footsteps

HuddlestonGerti Gertie Huddleston Gertie Huddleston 1933 Born c.1933, Gertie Huddleston lived and worked in Southern Arnhem Land. She painted a wide array of subjects in her highly individual and contemporary style, including bush berries, seeds, her traditional site of Ngukurr and Roper River. Collections: Artbank. The Gantner Myer Collection of Aboriginal Art, San Francisco. Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin. Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth. Flinders Art Museum, Adelaide. Solo Exhibitions: 1997 - Gertie Huddleston Solo Show, Shades of Ochre Gallery, Darwin. 1996 - Gertie Huddleston, Shades of Ochre Gallery, Darwin. Group Exhibitions: 2011 - Ngukurr - The Place of Stones, featuring the artists Gertie Huddleston, Angelina George and Barney Ellaga at Muk Muk Fine Art, Alice Springs, NT. 2011 - Retrospective featuring Jean Birrel, Joshua Bonson, Lorna Fencer, Dinah Garadji, Angelina George, Billy Hogan, Gertie Huddleston, Mabel Jimarin, Norman Kinsley, Margaret Kundu, Theresa Lemon, Biddy Long, Dinny McDinny, Kieren McTaggart, Mona Rockman, Peggy Rockman, Eva Rogers, Joan Stokes, Pincher Talunga, Rosie Tasman, Prince of Wales, Sheena Wilfred, Rex Wilfred, Moima Willie, Regina Wilson at the Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin, NT. 2003 - 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 2002 Art Mob, Hobart. 2001 - Telstra 18th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin. 1999 - 16th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. 1996 - Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London. 1995 - Hogarth Galleries, Sydney; Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK; Shades of Ochre Gallery, Darwin. Awards: 1999 - Winner Open Painting Award, 16th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. See market performance. 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

MUM SHIRL | BLACK SAINT OF PADDINGTON From 04 July to 27 July 2019 Viewing Room MUM SHIRL | BLACK SAINT OF PADDINGTON From 04 July to 27 July 2019 The exhibition of historic paintings by artist Gordon Syron and limited edition photographs by his wife and partner, Elaine Syron, celebrate the life of Coleen Shirley Perry Smith AM MBE, better known as Mum Shirl – Black Saint of Paddington. "It is now 21 years since Shirley Smith (Mum Shirl) died, and a fitting time to celebrate her extraordinary life. Mum Shirl is remembered as a straight talker with an astute ability to read people and an unwavering sense of justice. To those in need she was a woman of boundless compassion, courage and optimism, who had time for everyone. This exhibition has been curated to celebrate and to remember Mum Shirl's memory and many achievements. She is revered amongst Aboriginal people as the Black Saint of Paddington. Mum Shirl was a towering presence in Paddington. Not only because of her huge and commanding personality, ‘queenly’ confidence and physical presence. It was her energy and urgency of purpose in the service of people in need and the victims of injustice that defined her. She was seemingly intimidated by no-one and demanded the same attention from prison super-intendents, bishops and politicians as she did from the numerous homeless children who lived under her roof. She never gave any indication that she cared about her own needs: she was always moving, always generous, always available to others. Mum Shirl (Coleen Shirley Perry Smith), was born in 1921 at Erambie Mission near Cowra, New South Wales and lived there until her Grandfather was expelled from the mission when she was six. Because of her epilepsy, Shirley had no schooling… [and] could not read or write, but would talk at length about how she was ‘schooled’ in Aboriginal culture, language and precious knowledge, which needed to be passed onto everyone who would listen… She married young and moved to Kempsey to live with her husband’s family when she was pregnant but returned to Sydney as the local hospital was segregated. Though her daughter, Beatrice, and husband later returned to Kempsey, Shirley stayed and spent the remainder of her life in Sydney’s inner west, working mainly in Paddington, the hub of Aboriginal political activism. She settled in Paddington and joined the Catholic church where she met the legendary Father Ted Kennedy. Together they ran the Sunday morning service and often Mum Shirl would stand and tell, in detail, of a family getting evicted or in desperate need of assistance. With the help she enlisted she often assisted all sorts of people and children, never discriminating between black or white… Deeply immersed in the struggle for equal rights for Aboriginal people, Mum Shirl met regularly with young leaders and activists…She assisted the Police to settle disputes among families and groups and to calm down situations which could end in violence. Calls for help often came in the middle of the night and she was in such demand that she was put under great stress. Her work in the jails saw her involved in The Royal Commission into Prisons and later The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Mum Shirl was given a State Funeral at St Mary's Cathedral in 1998. In November 1999, a year after her death and on the 78th anniversary of her birthday, an ordinary seat outside St Vincent’s church in Paddington Street, Paddington, was installed under a plaque on the church façade. The engraved-metal portrait of her has a text that reads: ‘In celebration of the life of Mum Shirl, the black saint of Paddington who gave aid and comfort to all who asked’. Today her spirit lives on in Paddington as brightly as it did during her lifetime and will do so for as long as the Aboriginal struggle for justice prevails. A woman of magisterial presence and influence, Shirley was, in her time, the most famous and well-known Indigenous figure in the inner-city. Her generosity and influence touched people, regardless of race, in Sydney, across New South Wales and throughout Australia."

Artist Profile for Nyakul Dawson < Back Nyakul Dawson Nyakul Dawson ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE NYAKUL DAWSON - WALU SOLD AU$4,500.00 NYAKUL DAWSON - IRRUNYTJU SOLD AU$2,800.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Nyakul Dawson 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 .

Engage in the excitement of online bidding for Art Gallery Auctions at Art Leven. Explore unique Indigenous artworks and bid with confidence. ONLINE BIDDING AUCTIONS AUCTION 18 NOVEMBER 2025 WATCH LIVE AUCTION REGISTER TO BID ONLINE BID TELEPHONE/ABSENTEE/PRIORITY CATALOGUES & RESULTS BUYING FROM CONSIGNING NOW Art Leven [formerly Cooee Art] offers several ways to participate in one of our auctions. 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 us, upon receiving your bid form we will request photo identification, such as a drivers licence or passport. To learn more about the process read Buying From Our Auctions. If you have any questions about the bidding process please contact us . TELEPHONE BID ABSENTEE BID ONLINE BID LAUNCH OUR AUCTION PLATFORM LAUNCH INVALUABLE ONLINE BIDDING There are two ways to bid online with our dedicated and secure online platform or Invaluable Please ensure you register to bid online prior to the auction. Art Leven does not take responsibility for any issues with bidding online and suggest you contact Art Leven prior to the auction to discuss the reliability and alternatives of bidding online. AUCTIONS | REGISTER | CONSIGNING NOW | CATALOGUES & RESULTS | BUYING FROM AUCTION

Artist Profile for Valerie Napanangka Marshall < Back Valerie Napanangka Marshall Valerie Napanangka Marshall ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE top Anchor 1 PROFILE Valerie Napanangka Marshall 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 .

NapaljarriSusie Susie Bootja Bootja Napaljarri Susie Bootja Bootja Napaljarri 1932 - 2003 Suzie, Putja Putja Behind her diminutive frame, Susie Bootja Bootja was a ‘larger than life’ character whose artistic practice epitomized the Balgo women’s panache for experimentation. Her early figurative works predominantly featured waterholes with snake creators spouting ‘living water’ with a dual use of both traditional and western representations of country. At that time she would take the ear of anyone watching her paint and whisper reverently to them 'libbing water, this one…that shin-ake he been making libbing water‘ and then always startlingly, she would emphasise the inherent magic in this by making a gushing whoosh as if the snake was spouting water right there, in front of your eyes. Over time however, these figurative elements gave way to more abstracted forms and late in her career culminated in an innovative style of double-dotted colour fields representing the abundance of bush food. Susie, like all Kukatja people, inherited ownership rights over specific sites and ancestral designs from both her father’s and her mother’s side. Her country lay around White Hills and Helena Springs (Kurtal), and Kangingarra waterhole where she spent her youth. The depiction of water amongst both men and women painters at Balgo is a vital element in passing on knowledge of the location of permanent waterholes (living water) in this often harsh and forbidding landscape. The preciousness of water in the arid desert landscape and its spiritual essence, was a primary theme in the works of both Suzie Bootja Bootja’s and her husband Mick Gill Tjakamarra, an important rainmaker, whose use of acrylic blue to depict water foreshadowed the influence of luminous acrylic colours in the Balgo community. Mick Gill was Susie’s second husband. Her first, whom she met at the old mission at Balgo where she made bread for the dormitory children, was killed on a mustering trip due to inter-tribal conflict. She later eloped with Mick Gill, bearing him six children. A devoted couple, their artistic cross-fertilization was evident from the outset of the painting movement in Balgo, particularly in their avid adoption of blending traditional ochres with new paints available through the adult education centre in the late 1980’s. The women’s desire to employ the full colour spectrum stemmed from their preoccupation with bush food and vegetation in its profusion that accentuates the colours of the desert landscape after rain. While Susie’s concern for her mother and father’s country was paramount in paintings, her depiction of bush food and the emblems of women’s food gathering are speckled throughout her work. The importance of these paintings lie in their culturally regenerative properties, as if the artist were saying, ‘I was born right here, right here,‘ as she did when introducing her works to a crowded gallery in 2002, just six months before her death in January 2003. Of all the female first generation Balgo artists, Suzie Bootja Bootja displayed the freest use of colour and expression in often startlingly beautiful works and could be said, more than any other, to have been a prime mover in the establishment of the art movement in her remote desert community. During her lifetime, Susie Bootja Bootja was one of a handful of women, including Freda Gemma Napanagka and Bridget Mati Mudjidel who were the lifeblood of the art centre at Balgo Hills. All were prolific painters who would not let a day pass without painting and making a daily visit to chat with other artists and pay their respects to the art coordinator of the day. Susie and her husband Mick Gill Tjakamarra had six children, including Mathew Gill, who along with Sister Agnes Dempsey started the art centre in Balgo Hills in 1985. She became one of the first painters at Wirrimanu, creating figurative works in which snakes lay in and emerged from permanent rockholes. While her earliest works were dark in the manner of Kaningarra 1989 which sold at Sotheby’s in July 2004 for $3,600 (Lot 445) she soon became a leader amongst the women that willingly embraced the more highly charged palette provided by art coordinator Michael Rae. By 1991 her paintings were colourful jewel-like renditions of waterholes as in Water Dreaming at Winpa 1991 which first appeared at auction in a Sotheby’s catalogue in 1997. Measuring 100 x 75 cm and estimated at $3,000-4,000 it sold for $4,370 (Lot 261). It was offered again in Phillips July 2001 sale estimated at $4,000-6,000 but would have disappointed the owner when it achieved exactly the same price as had been paid for it four years earlier (Lot 221). Susie’s innovative double-dotted colour field paintings began in 1996 and this style has been responsible for all of her eight highest prices. They reached their zenith creatively toward 2000, the year three of her highest priced works were painted. Her highest price was achieved for a work that is by far the best painting by Suzie Bootja Bootja I have ever seen. The soft delicate palette and brilliance of execution set this painting apart from any other and leaves one wondering how it was possible that just one single work could be so distinctively different from others painted in the same style and manner. Entitled Waterhole, Kurtal Country 2000 it had been originally sold through Gallery Gabreille Pizzi and used to illustrate the cover of the 2002 Jurkupa Diary published by Jukurrpa Books and IAD (Institute of Aboriginal Development) Press. When offered at Lawson~Menzies in May 2004 with an estimate of $8,000-10,000, the 120 x 80 cm work sold for a staggering $43,050. However, five years later the buyer was persuaded by Sotheby’s to reoffer the painting in its July 2009 sale. In what was an a extremely disappointing result it went under the hammer for just $26,400, still the artist’s second highest recorded result. Also painted in 2000, Kaningarra sold in 2010 for $13,200 at Deutscher and Hackett to make a new third place record (Lot 113). A far more vibrant work than the premier record, it heralded a better year for Susie than preceeding ones, with a 2010 AIAM ranking of 101 compared to an overall career rank of 111. Again in 2011 a vibrant Waterhole in Artist's Country 1990 created a new fourth place record, fetching $8,400 at the Sotheby's June Auction. The sale was insufficient, however, to budge her overall ranking form 111th place. From 2012 to 2017, eleven works were offered of which seven sold. Of these seven, only Kaningarra 2000, which sold for only $6,600 in 2014 through Deutscher and Hackett, is noteworthy. The work, which represents the highes result of this 5 year period, had been purchased in 2010 for $13,200 and sold for less than half of that when it was sold off only 4 years later. This would have been a dire dissapointment to the owner. Susie Bootja Bootja painted prolifically for well over a decade and it is likely that her total oeuvre exceeds 400 paintings. Her most dynamic works are those that were painted between 1990 and 1993, which depict Kurtal and other rockholes with permanent water. These ‘living water’ paintings with snakes spouting water are not as numerous as the later works with which most collectors are more familiar, but they are animated dynamic paintings that are sufficiently rare to be worthy of collecting. Her more familiar 1996-2000 paintings are of mixed quality and should be selected with a certain degree of discrimination. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ! SHOP NOW