Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 28, 2024
SALLY GABORI
Est: CHF12,000 - CHF18,000
SALLY GABORI (Bentinck Island 1924–2015 Mornington Island) Dibirdibi Country. Acrylic on canvas. Signed, titled, numbered and with material details: Artist: Sally Gabori Title: Dibirdibi Country Cat No. 3176-L-SG-0508 Medium: synthetic polymer paint on linen. 122 × 136.5 cm. Provenance: Swiss collection. ------------------------------------------------- SALLY GABORI (Bentinck Island 1924–2015 Mornington Island) Dibirdibi Country. Acryl auf Leinwand. Verso signiert, betitelt, nummeriert und mit Technikangaben: Artist: Sally Gabori Title: Dibirdibi Country Cat No. 3176-L-SG-0508 Medium: synthetic polymer paint on linen. 122 × 136,5 cm. Provenienz: Schweizer Sammlung.
Koller Auctions
Nov. 20, 2024
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), My Father's Country 2007
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BRAZIL SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) My Father's Country 2007 synthetic polymer paint on linen 195.5 x 100.0 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: My Father's Country/ Cat No. 2231-L-SG-0507/ Medium: synthetic polymer paint/ on linen accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Queensland
Menzies
Nov. 12, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, MULLETT AND BLUEFISH, 2006
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI 1924-2015 MULLETT AND BLUEFISH, 2006 acrylic on canvas 121.5 x 61.5 cm artwork cataloguing details verso PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts, Qld Cat. No 905-C-SG-0206 Art Mob, Tas Cat No. AM 3763/06 Private Collection, Vic Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Art Mob ©Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori / Copyright Agency, 2024 Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori was a leading figure among painters of Mornington Island Arts & Craft. Born around 1924 on Bentinck Island, south-west of Mornington Island, Gabori moved to Mornington in the 1940s. Remarkably, she only began painting professionally in 2005, in her early 80s. Within seven months, her debut exhibition at Brisbane's Woolloongabba Art Gallery sold out, enabling her to charter a plane to revisit her birthplace with her husband, Pat Gabori. This reunion with family on Bentinck Island sparked a creative surge, as her painting inspired six of her elderly sisters to start painting, igniting a renewed artistic movement in the 21st century, deeply rooted in cultural reconnection. Her paintings are essentially concerned with meaningful sites, known through the artist's intimate association during a lifetime spent on Bentinck Island. These sites are associated with tidal movement, seasonal change, major climatic events such as drought, and flood, and the presence of plants, sea birds, animals, and aquatic life.Gabori was mindful of the ebb and flow of life over all the seasons that made up her long life. This piece is a fine example of an Australian Aboriginal artwork.
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Nov. 12, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, MIRDIDINGKI (MY COUNTRY), 2009
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI 1924-2015 MIRDIDINGKI (MY COUNTRY), 2009 acrylic on canvas 152 x 101 cm artwork cataloguing details verso PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts, Qld Cat No. 4529-L-SG-0709 Raft Artspace, NT Sotheby's Australia, Aboriginal Employment Services, October 2010, organised by Anne Lewis AO and Wally Caruana Richard Martin Art, NSW Private Collection, Vic Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts ©Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori / Copyright Agency, 2024 "This is a freshwater swamp on my country on Bentick Island.' - Sally Gabori Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori first picked up a paintbrush in 2005 at 81 years of age. The Lardil people in the Kaiadilt community had little exposure to fine art, or any comparable form of mark-making, prior to that time. Traditional tools, objects, or bodies were scarcely painted, and the only recorded art that relates these stories was a group of drawings made at the request of ethnologist Norman B Tindale during his expedition to Bentinck Island in 1960, now housed in the South Australian Museum. Her paintings are essentially concerned with meaningful sites, known through the artist's intimate association during a lifetime spent on Bentinck Island. These sites are associated with tidal movement, seasonal change, major climatic events such as drought, and flood, and the presence of plants, sea birds, animals, and aquatic life. Gabori was mindful of the ebb and flow of life over all the seasons that made up her long life. As Djon Mundine eloquently put it. 'Her works can be thought of as a memory walk, and a mapping of her physical and social memory of Bentinck Island'.* *Djon Mundine, The Road to Bentinck Island: Sally Gabori, in The Corrigan Collection of Paintings by Sally Gabori, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2015 This piece is a fine example of an Australian Aboriginal artwork.
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Nov. 12, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, HUNTING GROUND, DIBIRDIBI, 2005
Est: $16,000 - $18,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI 1924-2015 HUNTING GROUND, DIBIRDIBI, 2005 acrylic on linen 91 x 121.5 cm artwork cataloguing details verso PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts, Qld Cat. No 530-0-SG-1005 The Jacquie McPhee Collection, WA Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts EXHIBITED First exhibition of Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori:Woolloongabba Art Gallery, 'Sally's Story', 2005 ©Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori / Copyright Agency, 2024 "This painting is about hunting ground on my husband's country." Sally Gabori "Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori was introduced as a weaver during artists’ workshops in April of 2005. Living at the Aged Persons Hostel on Mornington Island with Dibidibi - Pat, her beloved husband, Sally spent time making bark string, a traditional art she has practised throughout life. This morning Sally was asked whether she would like to try painting, by late afternoon a small primary coloured painting hung on the art centre wall, when artist Melville Escott shuffled in: “Is that Sally’s painting?” he inquired in a dignified tone. “That’s pretty good”, he continued, “you can see the river, sand bar and the ripples the fish leave on the water and this side is her brothers King Alfred’s Country and these”, he said pointing to thick oval areas of acrylic paint, “these are the fish traps she used to look after, that was her job”. Sally’s story is the beginning of a language and the start of a dialogue. It’s a story of a senior Kaiadilt woman who picked up a paintbrush and created a vehicle, a medium to return home, on canvas and by plane. Sally’s relationship with acrylic paint has developed into a daily ritual; her attendance at the art centre limited only by its closure on the weekend. Sally’s story was not written Sally painted it. Jagged edges of oyster bed rock walls, sweeping curves of the Bentinck coastline and ripples across the water are observations in life that is the language of Sally’s painting. The object becomes subject through a process of retracing the old ground of memory. Spaces are created within spaces; story places under the sea and on the land are recalled like a song from her memories. What is sacred as a site, a story place akin to her spirit, is described with vigor and gesture. Painting has become both a meaningful experience and an added responsibility for Sally. Her role as a “living repository” of Kialdialt knowledge and beliefs seems to compliment her new position as a custodian of contemporary aesthetics. Sally’s geometry is not a system of mathematics nor a theory of applied science, it’s poignancy stems from an accurate sense of representation that holds true to the nature of the figure rather than symmetry of geometry. From the outset of her process, Sally dissolves the hard edge of her canvas. By rounding out the perpendicular, Sally defines the composition of the landscape through a readjustment of the square, allowing the boundaries of country to define the frame. Within lies a place where history and knowledge are used as tools of construction. Significance of place is paramount to this painter. Sally’s work captures the spatial relationships of her country through the visibility of mark, the intent of line, bony or broad and a palette of contrast. The relationships between objects in Sally’s compositions are derived from notions of inclusion, a formation of a set or a grouping of related objects. The geometry of landscape with diminishing horizons is selective, exclusionary of subject matter, a need to remove objects being created by the tyranny of distance in the picture plain. Someplace lost in the distance of a landscapes perspective, can be located nestled in a corner of Sally’s canvas, or positioned centrally in a work. Schools of fish huddle together inside a boundary of thickly rippled paint, the sea rendered like a tin of sardines with it’s lid peeled back, revealing the life under the waters surface."* *Simon Turner, Director of Woolloongabba Art Gallery in the catalogue for the first exhibition of Sally Gabori's works. This piece is a fine example of an Australian Aboriginal artwork.
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Jun. 26, 2024
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Dibirdibi Country 2012
Est: $22,000 - $28,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, SYDNEY SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Dibirdibi Country 2012 synthetic polymer paint on linen 151.0 x 90.5 cm inscribed verso: ARTIST: SALLY GABORI/ TITLE: DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY/ CAT NO: 7712-L-SG-0612/ MEDIUM: SYNTHETIC POLYMER/ PAINT ON LINEN accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from The Estate of Sally Gabori, Queensland (stock no.ESG15-498)
Menzies
May. 28, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2011
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2011 synthetic polymer paint on linen 197.0 x 100 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 6611-L-SG-0211 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery at Gipps Street Gallery, Melbourne (cat. AK16814) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in June 2011 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori. Ngumuwa Kinyint - Dark Shapes, Alcaston Gallery at Gipps Street Gallery, Melbourne, 1 – 26 June 2011 This work is accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery and Mornington Island Art which states: 'This is my husband's country on Bentinck Island. This is the big saltpan that covers part of it.' © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 14, 2024
Dibirdibi Country
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori 1924 - 2015 Dibirdibi Country signed and titled (on the reverse) synthetic polymer paint on linen 39 by 77 ½ in. 99 by 196.9 cm. Executed in 2012.
Sotheby's
Mar. 26, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, MY FATHER’S COUNTRY, 2009
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) MY FATHER’S COUNTRY, 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 198.0 x 101.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 4556-L-SG-0709 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK15350 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (stamped verso) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2016 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori: Painted Island Home, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, 5 July - 6 August 2016 This work is accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts which states: 'This is the big river at Thundi, my Father's country on Bentinck island.' © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2006
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2006 synthetic polymer paint on linen 197.0 x 101.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 1246–L–SG–0506 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2007 This painting is accompanied by a certificate from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts which states: 'This is my husband's country on Bentinck Island.' ESSAY In 1948, following a series of natural disasters, Sally Gabori along with the other inhabitants of Bentinck Island were forced to relocate to Gununa on nearby Mornington Island. Gabori had spent the first few decades of her long life on Bentinck Island, the island of her birth, living off the natural resources of the surrounding ocean and estuaries in the traditions of the Kaiadilt. Although Gabori resided on Mornington Island for the remainder of her long life, her connection to Bentinck Island life and culture was innate, and her success as an artist enabled her to return to country through her paintings. Dibirdibi Country, 2006 evokes one of Sally Gabori’s favourite subjects, the country of her husband, Kabarrarjingathi Bulthuku Pat Gabori – a subject and location painted more often by the artist than any other. The country of her husband and the Rock Cod Ancestor, this painting shows a large saltpan that runs across her husband’s country close to the site where the liver of Dibirdibi, the Rock Cod Ancestor, was thrown at the sea’s edge, creating a permanent fresh-water spring. A central ovoid form is repeated and surrounded by blocks varied colours, created by strong gestural mark-making, but for Gabori, Dibirdibi is also personal, her husband Pat Gabori was also called Dibirdibi and was custodian of the story, songs and sites associated with Dibirdibi. Her canvases are an expression of both her love for her husband and the landscape of her country. CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, MY FATHER'S COUNTRY / THUNDI BIG RIVER, 2008
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) MY FATHER'S COUNTRY / THUNDI BIG RIVER, 2008 synthetic polymer paint on linen 196.5 x 100.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 3072-L-SG-0308 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK19836 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (stamped on stretcher bar verso) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2018 EXHIBITED Kaiadilt Eyes – The Art of Seeing, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, 23 May – 16 June 2018, cat. 15 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery. ESSAY Born by a creek in one of Australia’s most isolated areas, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori grew up on Bentinck Island in Northern Queensland, part of the Kaiadilt people who used marine resources to fulfil all their needs and had very little outside contact. An intense drought followed by a tidal surge made the island uninhabitable, and at the age of 24 Mirdidingkingathi (meaning born at Mirdidingki River) Juwarnda (her totem, the dolphin) Sally Gabori and her family were persuaded to move to Mornington Island – a move that prompted feelings of huge loss for the Kaiadilt people. Gabori began her art career late in life, at the age of 85, however unlike many other Aboriginal language groups, the Kaiadilt did not have a tradition of mark making, whether on tools, objects or bark. Taking this cultural background into consideration, Gabori’s style is completely self-made, conjured from maps in her mind of Bentick Island and the country she loved. My Father's Country, 2008 is a colourful, gestural and expressive tribute to the landscape and history of this country to the northern tip of Bentinck Island, her father’s country or Thundi. As with much of the Island, this area is characterised by a low-lying landscape with a river that runs into a large salt pan that fills in the wet season and is flanked my mangroves. Adjacent is a ridge of tall sandhills which line the north-eastern tip of the Island.1 1. McLean, B., ‘Dulka Warngiid; The Whole World’ in Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Dulka Warngiid; Land of All, Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2016, p. 22 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2010
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2010 synthetic polymer paint on linen 151.0 x 101.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 5986-L-SG-0610 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK18615 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (stamped verso) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2014 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, 18 March - 16 April 2014 This work is accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts which states: 'This is the big saltpan on my husband's country on Bentinck Island.' © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 137.0 x 122.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 4305-L-SG-0509 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Woolloongaba Art Gallery, Brisbane Private collection, Melbourne This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts which states: 'This is a big mangrove swamp on my husband's country on Bentinck Island. It is on the edge of a big saltpan.' ESSAY Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori’s paintings are a tribute to the country on Bentinck Island, a small sparsely vegetated rise of land in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria where she grew up living off the natural abundance of the surrounding ocean and estuaries in the traditions of the Kaiadilt. In 1948, following a series of natural disasters, Gabori along with the other inhabitants of Bentinck Island, were forced to relocate to Gununa on nearby Mornington Island. Gabori began her art career late in life, aged 85, however, unlike many other Aboriginal language groups, the Kaiadilt did not have a tradition of mark making, whether on tools, objects or bark. Taking this cultural background into consideration, Gabori’s style is completely self-made, conjured from maps in her mind of Bentick Island and the country she loved. From her very earliest works, she has depicted aspects of her own beloved country as well as that of her brother, father and husband – including both geographical aspects of the landscape as well as the wildlife, specifically sea-life which is central to the landscape.’1 Dibirdibi Country, 2009 depicts a subject painted more often by the artist than any other and is a powerful recollection of the country of her husband, Kabarrarjingathi Bulthuku Pat Gabori, a rival of her brother King Alfred, and whose relationship with Gabori created intense friction within Kaiadilt society eventually resulting in the death of her brother.2 As Gabori suggests on the certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts which accompanies the work, the painting recalls the country of her husband and the Rock Cod Ancestor, depicting the big mangrove swamp on the edge of a large saltpan that covers part of her husband’s country close to the site where the liver of Dibirdibi, the Rock Cod Ancestor, was thrown into the sea, creating a permanent fresh water well. Known primarily for her brightly coloured canvases, with vital, intuitive and boldly executed brushstrokes, when Gabori paints Dibirdibi, the meanings layer in multitudes; she is at once painting the saltpans of the land, the Rock Cod Ancestor Dreaming of Dibirdibi Country, a portrait of her late husband in connection to his country, and finally, her own longing, loss and memory. 1. Pinchbeck, C., ‘Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori’ in unDisclosed, 2nd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2012, p. 64 2. McLean, B., ‘Dulka Warngiid; The Whole World’ in Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Dulka Warngiid; Land of All, Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2016 p. 16 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Feb. 13, 2024
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, MAKARRKI, 2005
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) MAKARRKI, 2005 synthetic polymer paint on linen 134.5 x 123.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat no. 326-C-SG-0605 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Queensland Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2005 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts. © Estate of Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2024 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 29, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, Dibirdibi Country 2009
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group Dibirdibi Country 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 152.0 x 101.5 cm; 154.0 x 104.0 cm (framed) bears inscription verso: ARTIST: SALLY GABORI./ TITLE: DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY./ CAT NO. 4445-L-SG-0709./ MEDIUM: SYNTHETIC POLYMER/ PAINT ON LINEN. bears inscription verso: AK15406 accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Menzies
Nov. 29, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, Dibirdibi Country 2006
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group Dibirdibi Country 2006 synthetic polymer paint on linen 121.0 x 137.0 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: Dibirdibi Country/ Cat No: 1650-L-SG-1006/ Medium acrylic on linen bears inscription verso: AK13146 accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Queensland and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
Menzies
Nov. 21, 2023
SALLY GABORI & DAWN NARANATJIL (1924-2015, 1935-2009) (Language group: Kayardild) Makarrki 2007 synthetic polymer paint on linen 120...
Est: $12,000 - $20,000
SALLY GABORI & DAWN NARANATJIL (1924-2015, 1935-2009) (Language group: Kayardild) Makarrki 2007 synthetic polymer paint on linen 120 x 90cm PROVENANCE: The Artists Mornington Island Arts & Craft, Queensland, cat. no. 2692-L-SG&DN-1007 (accompanied by a copy of the certificate of authenticity) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne The Le Pley Collection, Western Australia, acquired from the above in 2008 OTHER NOTES: "Dawn and I like to paint our big brother King Alfred's country on Bentinck Island. It is called Makarrki. This is the big river there." Sally Gabori As stated on the Mornington Island certificate of authenticity © Sally Gabori & Dawn Naranatjil 1/Copyright Agency, 2023
Leonard Joel
Sep. 18, 2023
Ecole XXe s attribué au dos à Sally Gabori (c.1924-2015) Abstraction, huile
Est: CHF300 - CHF500
Ecole XXe s attribué au dos à Sally Gabori (c.1924-2015) Abstraction, huile sur toile, 73X60 cm
Geneve Encheres
Sep. 18, 2023
Ecole XXe s attribué au dos à Sally Gabori (c.1924-2015) Abstraction, huile
Est: CHF150 - CHF200
Ecole XXe s attribué au dos à Sally Gabori (c.1924-2015) Abstraction, huile sur toile, 50x41 cm
Geneve Encheres
Sep. 05, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, BIG SANDFISH, 2005
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) BIG SANDFISH, 2005 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 121.0 x 90.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts & Crafts cat. 520/C/SG/1005 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts & Crafts, Queensland (stamped verso) Grantpirrie Gallery, Sydney Estate of the late Annie McFarling, Melbourne, acquired from the above in November 2005 RELATED WORK Golden Trevally, 2005, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 92.0 x 137.0 cm, in the collection of The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts & Crafts which states: "This painting is about big sandfish which there are plenty of at my country." Sally Gabori. © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 28, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c.1924-2015) (Language group: Kaiadilt) My Father's Country 2006 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 182 x 123cm
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
SALLY GABORI (c.1924-2015) (Language group: Kaiadilt) My Father's Country 2006 synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed verso with artist's name, title and Mornington Island Art cat. no. 1308/C/SG/0506 and stamp verso inscribed verso with Alcaston Gallery cat. no. AK12808 and stamp on stretcher bar verso 182 x 123cm PROVENANCE: Mornington Island Art, Queensland (accompanied by a certificate of authenticity) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: Born in Mirdidingki, on the South side of Bentinck Island, Sally Gabori lived a traditional lifestyle deeply connected to her Indigenous roots. In the early 1940s, the Kaiadilt people were relocated to Mornington Island by Presbyterian missionaries due to severe drought and a cyclone. Despite this displacement, Gabori maintained a strong attachment to her birthplace, cherishing childhood memories and the stories connected to her ancestral homeland. Located near the northern tip of Bentinck Island, Thundi is Gabori's fathers Country, an area sitting over a river running parallel to a ridge of tall sandhills along its northeastern coast. During the wet season a large salt pan would mark the river's boundary, while in the dry season, mangroves trace its outline in green. To the north, the river opens out onto a vast mud flat, revealing sandbars during low tide. Many of Gabori's early paintings of her father's Country were centred on this river area. Gabori applies her brushstrokes in circular motions emphasising the importance of this crucial fishing area at the river's mouth. In My Father's Country 2006, Gabori uses vivid colours to represent various fish species, her favourite fish the snapper is represented in yellow, while the blue suggests the Ngarrawurda (bluefish). Applied with varying movement, Gabori's brushstrokes indicate the abundance of the fish at Thundi and the area's significance as a vital fishing ground for the Kaiadilt people. Layering a vibrant palette of blues, reds, yellow and black, Gabori's works are renowned for their boldness in colour and design. Perhaps a result of cultural isolation from Island life, Gabori's visual interpretations of her land have been completely uninfluenced, allowing her to express her story in an entirely unique way. Her thick abstract-like paint strokes and elaborate use of colour quickly became the powerful force within her oeuvre and likely one of the reasons her works have become so recognisable within the Indigenous art market and contemporary art globally. Gabori began painting in her eighties, with her artworks becoming an important medium for expressing the intimate connection she had with the meaningful sites of Bentinck Island throughout her lifetime. Her unique approach to the canvas creates a visual memory and map of Bentinck Island from her childhood, preserving the cultural heritage and natural richness of her ancestral land. Capturing the attention of the international art world, she represented Australia in the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. Today her works are held in permanent collections such as the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris, the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and in various state galleries across the country. Lucy Foster Senior Specialist, Fine Art "My painting shows a waterhole on my Father's Country on Bentinck Island", The Artist As stated on the Mornington Island Art certificate of authenticity © Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency, 2023
Leonard Joel
Aug. 16, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, AMANDA GABORI AND ELSIE GABORI, PAT AND SALLY’S COUNTRY, 2011
Est: $100,000 - $150,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, AMANDA GABORI AND ELSIE GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) born 1966 born 1947 PAT AND SALLY’S COUNTRY, 2011 synthetic polymer paint on linen 197.0 x 303.0 cm bears inscription verso: artists' names, title, date, medium and Mornington Island Art cat no. 7099-L-SG, EG, AG - 0611 PROVENANCE MIArt - Mornington Island Art - Mirndiyarn Gununa Aboriginal Corporation, Queensland Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private Collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 2011, Cruise Line Terminal, Cairns, 19 – 21 August 2011 Artists from Mornington Island, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, 13 – 30 September 2011 Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 3 July 3 - 6 November 2022 Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Triennale Milano and Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Milan, 16 February - 14 May 2023 LITERATURE Ryan, J., & Evans, N., Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 2022, pp. 228 - 229 (illus.) This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Art which states: ‘This is my country and my husband’s country on Bentinck Island.’ Sally Gabori ‘Amanda and I have really enjoyed painting our parent’s country on Bentinck Island and to do this with our mum has made it even more special.’ Elsie Gabori ‘It feels good to paint with the three of us. A lot different feeling to painting on my own. A special feeling that we share through this painting.’ Amanda Jane Gabori ESSAY This collaborative painting by Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori and two of her daughters Elsie Gabori and Amanda Jane Gabori is a celebration of the country on Bentinck Island where Sally and her husband, Kabarrarjingathi Bulthuku Pat Gabori spent their early life. In the traditions of the Kaiadilt, they lived off the natural abundance of the surrounding ocean and estuaries on Bentinck Island. A small sparsely vegetated landmass in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, the island was abandoned by the local people in 1948 following a series of natural disasters. Sally and Pat Gabori, along with the other inhabitants of Bentinck Island, were forced to re-establish their lives at Gununa, on nearby Mornington Island. Almost sixty years later, in 2005, Sally Gabori, then in her early eighties, was invited to participate with other Kaiadilt in an art workshop at the Mornington Island Art Centre. After a few visits, it became clear that her early paintings – often crude abstract depictions of the myriad of fish found in the surrounding estuaries and sea – offered a unique and colourful expression of her personal and family stories, spawned from the memories of her earlier life. Gabori’s artistic repertory consisted of six main subjects, all of them places on Bentinck Island included Mirdidingki (the place of her birth); Makarrki (her brother King Alfred’s country); Thundi (her father’s country); and Dibirdibi (her husband’s country). By painting each place over and over, she relived memories of the people and places she loved. As Cara Pinchbeck states, ‘Gabori’s works are a celebration of her homeland and illustrate a deep connection to country that has not diminished through separation. From her very earliest works, she has depicted aspects of her own beloved country as well as that of her brother, father and husband – including both geographical aspects of the landscape as well as the wildlife, specifically sea-life which is central to the landscape.’1 Toward the end of her career, Sally Gabori embarked on a series of major collaborative works with her daughters Amanda and Elsie, including this painting. She also encouraged her other daughters into the art centre, creating a space for a new generation of Kaiadilt artists and ensuring a renewal and generational shift for Kaiadilt visual culture.2 Pat and Sally’s Country, 2011 is a monumental example of this shift, a recollection by mother and daughters of both Sally’s homeland Mirdidingki, on the southern edge of Bentinck Island, Pat’s country at Kabararrji which sits next to Sally’s and Dibirdibi, the land of the Rock Cod ancestor. In mythological times, the Rock Cod thrashed about cutting out channels with its ventral fins and carving the South Wellesley Islands from one another.3 Known also as Dibirdibi, this was Pat Gabori’s totemic country with inherited responsibility for the stories and associated places. For Sally and her daughters, these ancestor stories and personal history overlap. Paintings of Dibirdibi depict inland estuarine saltpans, mangrove swamps, rivers, reefs, rock-walled fish traps and hunting grounds that provided an extraordinarily rich set of places with personal and cultural association, providing Sally and her daughters with a wealth of creative inspiration. Whilst much of this major painting contains the varied colours and strong gestural mark-making of Sally Gabori, both Amanda and Elsie, who also had inherited the Dibirdibi totem after Pat’s death, have depicted their personal interpretation of their father’s country. Bands of white, red, purple black and grey colours, painted by Elsie Gabori, sweep down from the central top edge and mimic the variations of the land. Amanda, meanwhile, in the top right hand corner of the canvas, records the delicate scales of the ancient Rock Cod. For both mother and daughters, this canvas is an expression of the love and memory for a husband, father and the landscape of their country, sung in unison. 1. Pinchbeck, C., ‘Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori’ in unDisclosed, 2nd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2012, p. 64 2. McLean, B., ‘Dulka Warngiid; The Whole World’ in Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Fondation Cartier pour L’art contemporain, Paris, 2022, p. 183 3. McLean, B., ibid., p. 185 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori / Copyright Agency 2023 © Amanda Gabori / Copyright Agency 2023 © Elsie Gabori / Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 07, 2023
Sally Gabori (c1924-2015) Australia - Dingkarri
Est: $18,000 - $20,000
Sally Gabori (c1924-2015) Australia Dingkarri Acrylic on linen
Colville Auctions
Jun. 28, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, My Country 2006
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group My Country 2006 synthetic polymer paint on linen 151.0 x 137.0 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: My Country/ Cat No: 1463-L-SG-0806/ Medium: acrylic on linen accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from The Estate of Sally Gabori
Menzies
Jun. 28, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, My Country 2007
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group My Country 2007 synthetic polymer paint on linen 151.0 x 135.0 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: My Country/ Cat No: 2013-L-SG-0207/ Medium: synthetic polymer paint on linen accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Queensland
Menzies
Jun. 20, 2023
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori - Dibirdibi Country, 2009
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
Sally Gabori first picked up a paintbrush in 2005 at the age of 81. The Lardil people in the Kaiadilt community had little exposure to fine art, or any comparable form of mark-making prior to that time. Traditional tools, objects, or bodies were scarcely painted, and the only recorded art that relates these stories was a group of drawings, made at the request of ethnologist Norman B. Tindale during his expedition to Bentinck Island in 1960, now housed in the South Australian Museum. Her paintings are essentially concerned with meaningful sites, known through the artist's intimate association during a lifetime spent on Bentinck Island. These sites are associated with tidal movement, seasonal change, major climatic events such as drought, and flood, and the presence of plants, sea birds, animals, and aquatic life. Gabori was mindful of the ebb and flow of life over all the seasons that made up her long life. As Djon Mundine eloquently put it, 'Her works can be thought of as a memory walk, and a mapping of her physical and social memory of Bentinck Island'.* * Djon Mundine, The Road to Bentinck Island: Sally Gabori, in The Corrigan Collection of Paintings by Sally Gabori, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2015
Cooee Art
Jun. 20, 2023
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori - Hunting Ground at King Alfreds' Country, 2006
Est: $15,000 - $17,000
This early work by Sally Gabori was painted 18 months after she first picked up a paintbrush in 2005 at 81 years of age. That artists statement provided in relation to this work states: "This painting is about a hunting ground on my brother's country, King Alfred, on Bentinck Island". Her paintings are essentially concerned with meaningful sites, known through the artist's intimate association during a lifetime spent on Bentinck Island. These sites are associated with tidal movement, seasonal change, major climatic events such as drought, and flood, and the presence of plants, sea birds, animals, and aquatic life. Gabori was mindful of the ebb and flow of life over all the seasons that made up her long life.
Cooee Art
Jun. 20, 2023
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori - Dibirdibi Country, 2007
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
This work conveys the story places of Dibirdibi, the Rock Cod ancestor, and charts his creative journey along the Bentinck Island coastline. These stories belonged to her late husband, Pat, whose traditional name was also Dibirdibi. This and other late-career paintings by Gabori are increasingly abstract in nature but retain certain representational elements crucial to mapping her country, including the prominent Kaiadilt rock-walled fish traps.
Cooee Art
Jun. 20, 2023
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori - Dibirdibi Country, 2011
Est: $16,000 - $22,000
Sally Gabori first picked up a paintbrush in 2005 at 81 years of age. The Lardil people in the Kaiadilt community had little exposure to fine art, or any comparable form of mark-making prior to that time. Traditional tools, objects, or bodies were scarcely painted, and the only recorded art that relates these stories was a group of drawings made at the request of ethnologist Norman B. Tindale during his expedition to Bentinck Island in 1960, now housed in the South Australian Museum. Her paintings are essentially concerned with meaningful sites, known through the artist's intimate association during a lifetime spent on Bentinck Island. These sites are associated with tidal movement, seasonal change, major climatic events such as drought, and flood, and the presence of plants, sea birds, animals, and aquatic life. Gabori was mindful of the ebb and flow of life over all the seasons that made up her long life. As Djon Mundine eloquently put it. 'Her works can be thought of as a memory walk, and a mapping of her physical and social memory of Bentinck Island'.* * Djon Mundine, The Road to Bentinck Island: Sally Gabori, in The Corrigan Collection of Paintings by Sally Gabori, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2015
Cooee Art
May. 23, 2023
Big River at Thundi
Est: $150,000 - $200,000
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori circa 1924-2015 Big River at Thundi, 2008 Bears the Alcaston Gallery catalogue number AK14656 on the reverse Synthetic polymer paint on linen 77 ¼ in x 119 ¾ in (197 cm x 304 cm)
Sotheby's
May. 01, 2023
Ecole XXe s attribué au dos à Sally Gabori (c.1924-2015)
Est: CHF200 - CHF300
Ecole XXe s attribué au dos à Sally Gabori (c.1924-2015) Abstraction, huile sur toile, 50x41 cm
Geneve Encheres
Apr. 04, 2023
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (circa 1924-2015) Golden Trevally, Mangrove Jack, Mullett, Bluefish and Groper
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (circa 1924-2015) Golden Trevally, Mangrove Jack, Mullett, Bluefish and Groper inscribed verso: 'Sally Gabori / Golden Trevally, Mangrove Jack, Mullett / Bluefish and Groper' / Cat. No. 689 / L / SG / 1205 / medium: acrylic on linen / AM4083/06' synthetic polymer paint on linen 121.5 x 183.5cm (47 13/16 x 72 1/4in).
Bonhams
Mar. 29, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, My Father's Country 2008
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group My Father's Country 2008 synthetic polymer paint on linen 118.5 x 90.0 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: My Father's Country/ Cat No: 3164-L-SG-0508/ Medium: synthetic polymer paint/ on linen
Menzies
Mar. 29, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, My Country 2009
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group My Country 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 196.5 x 100.5 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: My Country/ Cat No: 4991-L-SG-1109/ Medium: Synthetic polymer/ Paint on Linen
Menzies
Mar. 29, 2023
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, Dibirdibi Country 2006
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group Dibirdibi Country 2006 synthetic polymer paint on linen 121.0 x 91.5 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: Dibirdibi/ Country/ Cat No: 1489-L-SG-0806/ Medium: acrylic on/ linen bears inscription verso: AK13141
Menzies
Mar. 22, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2008
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2008 synthetic polymer paint on linen 121.0 x 91.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 3364-L-SG-0708 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK14651 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Canberra, acquired from the above in 2008 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery which states: "This is a hunting ground on my husband's country on Bentinck Island. At the edge of the big saltpan is a mangrove swamp where we get crab and mudshell." © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2007
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2007 synthetic polymer paint on linen 198.0 x 101.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 2104-L-SG-0307 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Canberra, acquired from the above in 2008 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts which states: "My painting shows my husband Pat's country on Bentinck lsland." ESSAY Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori grew up on Bentinck Island in Northern Queensland, in the traditions of the Kaiadilt people who used the local marine resources to fulfill all their needs and had very little outside contact. After an intense drought followed by a tidal surge made the island uninhabitable, at the age of 24, Mirdidingkingathi (meaning born at Mirdidingki River) Juwarnda (her totem, the dolphin) Sally Gabori and her family were persuaded to move to the adjacent Mornington Island – a move that prompted feelings of huge loss for the Kaiadilt people. Gabori began her art career late in life, at the age of 85, and Judith Ryan of the National Gallery of Victoria compares her immense innovation and star power to that of similar late-starters, Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Lorna Fencer Napurrula.1 Unlike many other Aboriginal language groups, the Kaiadilt did not have a tradition of mark making, whether on tools, objects or bark. Taking this cultural background into consideration, Gabori’s style is completely self-made, conjured from maps in her mind of Bentick Island and the country she loved. Dibirdibi Country, 2007 evokes a subject painted more often by the artist than any other – the land and the story inherited from her husband. Known primarily for her brightly coloured canvases, with vital, intuitive and boldly executed brushstrokes, when Gabori paints Dibirdibi, the meanings layer in multitudes; she is at once painting the saltpans of the land, the Rock Cod Ancestor Dreaming of Dibirdibi Country, a portrait of her late husband in connection to his country, and finally, her own longing, loss and memory. 1. Ryan, J., ‘Broken Colour and Unbounded Space’, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori: dulka warngiid: Land of All, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2016, pp. 33 – 34 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 198.0 x 102.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 4302–L–SG–0509 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland Raft Artspace, Darwin The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in September 2009 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori, Raft Artspace, Darwin, in partnership with Bentick Arts, 13 August - 5 September 2009 LITERATURE Beyond Sacred: Australian Aboriginal Art: The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, edition II, Kleimeyer Industries Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2011, pp. 383 (illus.), 395 © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, THUNDI, 2010
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) THUNDI, 2010 synthetic polymer paint on linen 197.5 x 100.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 6174-L-SG-1010 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK18693 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2014 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, 18 March - 16 April 2014 This work is accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts and Alcaston Gallery which state: 'This is my father's country on Bentinck Island. This is where he was born next to the big river.' © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, MAKARRKI, 2008
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) MAKARRKI, 2008 synthetic polymer paint on linen 197.5 x 101.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 3154-2-L-SG-0508 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK14494B PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland (stamped verso) Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Canberra, acquired from the above in 2008 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Alcaston Gallery which states: "My painting shows my big brother King Alfred's country. This is where he was born near a big river." ESSAY In 1948, following a series of natural disasters, Sally Gabori along with the other inhabitants of Bentinck Island were forced to relocate to Gununa on nearby Mornington Island. Gabori had spent the first few decades of her long life on Bentinck Island, the island of her birth, living off the natural resources of the surrounding ocean and estuaries in the traditions of the Kaiadilt. Although Gabori resided on Mornington Island for the remainder of her long life, her connection to Bentinck Island life and culture was innate, and her success as an artist enabled her to return to country through her paintings. Makarrki, 2008 is a gestural and expressive tribute to the landscape and history of this country to the north of Bentinck Island. Utilising a limited but bold palette of flat planes and solid colours, Sally Gabori records her memories of Makarrki, country that belonged to her brother King Alfred. A leader and warrior who was a rival of her husband Pat Gabori, and whose relationship with Gabori created intense friction within Kaiadilt society eventually resulting in her brother’s death. Makarrki is characterised by a large river and estuary of the same name that runs through the north of the Island with abundant sea-life including dugongs and turtles.1 1. McLean, B., ‘Dulka Warngiid; The Whole World’ in Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Dulka Warngiid; Land of All, Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2016 p. 24 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, NINJILKI, 2008
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) NINJILKI, 2008 synthetic polymer paint on linen 198.5 x 302.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name, title, medium, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 3359-L-SG-0708 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK14614 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2008 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori: Nyinyilki Country - Nyinyilki is where we catch Barramundi, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, 13 January - 21 February 2009 (illus. on front cover of exhibition invitation) RELATED WORK Ninjilki, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 198.8 × 460.6 cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Ninjilki, 2010, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 200.0 × 470.0 cm, in the collection of HOTA, Home of the Arts, Gold Coast, Queensland This work is accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts and Alcaston Gallery which state: 'My painting shows the dirty water caused by dugongs feeding near Nyinyilki or Main Base on Bentinck Island.' ESSAY Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori’s paintings are a tribute to the country on Bentinck Island, a small sparsely vegetated rise of land in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria where she grew up living off the natural abundance of the surrounding ocean and estuaries in the traditions of the Kaiadilt. In 1948, following a series of natural disasters, Gabori along with the other inhabitants of Bentinck Island, were forced to relocate to Gununa on nearby Mornington Island. Almost sixty years later in 2005, Gabori, then in her early eighties, was invited to participate with other Kaiadilt in an art workshop at the Mornington Island Art Centre. After a few visits, it became clear that her early paintings – often crude abstract depictions of the myriad of fish found in the surrounding estuaries and sea – offered a unique and colourful expression of her personal and family stories spawned from the memories of her early years on Bentinck Island. Her artistic repertory consisted of six main subjects, all of them places on Bentinck Island included Mirdidingki (the place of her birth); Makarrki (her brother King Alfred’s country); Thundi (her father’s country); Dibirdibi (her husband’s country); and as depicted in this painting, Nyinyilki (an important natural site on the south-eastern corner of Bentinck Island). By painting each place over and over, she relived memories of the people and places she loved. As Cara Pinchbeck states, ‘Gabori’s works are a celebration of her homeland and illustrate a deep connection to country that has not diminished through separation. From her very earliest works, she has depicted aspects of her own country as well as that of her brother, father and husband – including both geographical aspects of the landscape as well as the wildlife, specifically sea-life which is central to the landscape.’1 A monumental recollection of her homeland on the south-eastern corner of Bentinck Island, Ninjilki, 2008 records country held dear by Gabori and her family. Distinguished by a permanent freshwater lagoon, it is a place where she remembered catching barramundi, or scooping up fresh water in baler and trumpet shells.2 A large sandy bay joins this stretch of coast to Barthayi, in the south and to the east, a long rocky spit creates safe water where Dugongs proliferate. In 2008, following the Kaiadilt land rights victory, an outstation was established here, often referred to as ‘main base’ where Gabori and her family returned to when possible.3 Here opaque layers of milky white pigment cover a soft yellow base, interspersed with strong vertical crevasses of black and a burst of vivid pink to the upper right. Gabori’s strong gestural mark-making, is an expression of her love for the landscape of her country but also belongs squarely in the realm of contemporary painting. 1. Pinchbeck, C., ‘Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori’ in unDisclosed, 2nd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2012, p. 64 2. Ryan, J., ‘Unprecedented: The Art of Sally Gabori’, in Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Foundation Cartier pour L’art contemporain, Paris, 2022, p. 89 3. McLean, B., ‘Dulka Warngiid; The Whole World’ in Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori Dulka Warngiid; Land of All, Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2016, p. 24 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 13, 2022
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, ROCKCOD STORY PLACE, 2006
Est: $9,000 - $12,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) ROCKCOD STORY PLACE, 2006 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 152.5 x 92.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 1027 / C / SG / 0306 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland Raft Artspace, Darwin, Northern Territory The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2006 EXHIBITED New paintings from Mornington Island Arts & Crafts, Mornington Island Arts & Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland, 26 April - 13 May 2006 © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2021 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 01, 2022
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 198.0 x 102.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 4206–L–SG–0409 PROVENANCE Painted on Mornington Island for Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, 2009 Raft Artspace, Darwin The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in September 2009 EXHIBITED Laverty 2, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, New South Wales, 14 May – 14 August 2011 The Colin and Elizabeth Laverty collection – a selection of Indigenous and non–Indigenous art exhibition, Geelong Gallery, Victoria, 18 February – 15 April 2012 LITERATURE Beyond Sacred: Australian Aboriginal Art: The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, edition II, Kleimeyer Industries Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2011, pp. 382 (illus.), 395
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 01, 2022
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) DIBIRDIBI COUNTRY, 2009 synthetic polymer paint on linen 198.0 x 102.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 4304–L–SG–0509 PROVENANCE Painted in 2009 on Mornington Island for Mornington Island Arts and Crafts Raft Artspace, Darwin The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in September 2009 EXHIBITED Sally Gabori – a new language in paint, Raft Artspace, Darwin, 13 August – 5 September 2009, cat. 3 Laverty 2, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, New South Wales, 14 May – 14 August 2011 LITERATURE Beyond Sacred: Australian Aboriginal Art: The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, edition II, Kleimeyer Industries Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2011, pp. 377 (illus.), 395
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 23, 2022
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015), Kayardild language group, Big River at Thundi 2011
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
SALLY GABORI (c1924-2015) Kayardild language group Big River at Thundi 2011 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 121.5 x 91.5 cm bears inscription verso: Artist: Sally Gabori/ Title: Big River at Thundi/ Cat no: 6830-L-SG-0411
Menzies
Oct. 11, 2022
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori - My Country, 2007
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Dibirdibi Country conveys the story places of Dibirdibi, the Rock Cod ancestor, and charts his creative journey along the Bentinck Island coastline. These stories belonged to her late husband, Pat, whose traditional name was also Dibirdibi. This and other late-career paintings by Gabori are increasingly abstract in nature but retain certain representational elements crucial to mapping her country, including the prominent Kaiadilt rock-walled fish traps.
Cooee Art
Oct. 11, 2022
Sally (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) Gabori - Makarrki-hunting Ground, 2006
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
Sally Gabori first picked up a paintbrush in 2005 at 81 years of age. The Lardil people in the Kaiadilt community had little exposure to fine art, or any comparable form of mark-making prior to that time. Traditional tools, objects, or bodies were scarcely painted, and the only recorded art that relates these stories was a group of drawings made at the request of ethnologist Norman B. Tindale during his expedition to Bentinck Island in 1960, now housed in the South Australian Museum. Her paintings are essentially concerned with meaningful sites, known through the artist's intimate association during a lifetime spent on Bentinck Island. These sites are associated with tidal movement, seasonal change, major climatic events such as drought, and flood, and the presence of plants, sea birds, animals, and aquatic life. Gabori was mindful of the ebb and flow of life over all the seasons that made up her long life. As Djon Mundine eloquently put it. 'Her works can be thought of as a memory walk, and a mapping of her physical and social memory of Bentinck Island'.* * Djon Mundine, The Road to Bentinck Island: Sally Gabori, in The Corrigan Collection of Paintings by Sally Gabori, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2015
Cooee Art
Mar. 30, 2022
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI, KING ALFRED'S COUNTRY, 2007
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI (c.1924 - 2015) KING ALFRED'S COUNTRY, 2007 synthetic polymer paint on linen 122.0 x 92.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, title, medium and Mornington Island Arts and Crafts cat. 2584-L-SG-0907 and Alcaston Gallery cat. AK14002 PROVENANCE Mornington Island Arts and Crafts, Mornington Island, Queensland Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (stamp on stretcher bar verso) Private collection, Melbourne This work is accompanied by a copy of a certificate of authenticity from Mornington Island Arts and Crafts stating: ‘This is my big brother’s country on Bentinck Island. It is called Makakirr and there is a big river running through it.’ © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett