Emily Kam Kngawarray Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Emily Kam Kngawarray Art Value Price Guide

Oct. 27, 2024
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1909-1996), My Country 1995
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1909-1996) My Country 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed verso: #5496 / A.G.O.D. 91.5 x 122cm PROVENANCE Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne (certificate of authenticity accompanies this lot) © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2024
Gibson's
Aug. 25, 2024
KNGWARREYE Emily Kame (Aboriginal c1910-1996), 'My Mothers Country', Acrylic on Canvas, 123x104cm
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
KNGWARREYE, Emily Kame (Aboriginal c1910-1996) 'My Mothers Country' Acrylic on Canvas 123x104cm PROVENANCE: The Original Aboriginal Art Co, stamp verso, and inscribed with cat #TOAAC4101... (last digits concealed by canvas fold); Pam Perry collection; Art Mob Pty Ltd, Hobart cat #AM1940/04; private collection, Adelaide.
Davidson Auctions
Apr. 21, 2024
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1909-1996), Wild Flower 1994
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
acrylic on linen inscribed with cat no. verso: Emily Kngwarreye / 'Wild Flowers' / 1994 / DG02079 61 x 59.5cm PROVENANCE Dacou, Adelaide (a certificate of authenticity accompanies this lot) Private Collection, Melbourne © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2024
Gibson's
Apr. 21, 2024
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1909-1996), Body Paint 1995
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed verso: DACOU EK467 FW419 121 x 90cm PROVENANCE DACOU Gallery, Adelaide Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane Private Collection, London The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection, London Private Collection, Adelaide © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2024
Gibson's
Apr. 16, 2024
Rosebud Kngwarreye
Est: -
Rosebud Kngwarreye, a representative of Australian Aboriginal art in the second half of the 20th century". Uto 97K042", dot composition, acrylic on canvas, aluminium frame, signed/inscribed "Rosebud Kngwarreye" on the reverse, 75 x 51 cm
Historia Auctionata
Mar. 26, 2024
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, ALAGURA LANDSCAPE I, 1994
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE (c.1910 - 1996) ALAGURA LANDSCAPE I, 1994 synthetic polymer paint on linen 90.0 x 150.0cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name and Delmore Gallery cat. 94A042 PROVENANCE Commissioned by Delmore Gallery, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory The Holt Collection, Alice Springs, Northern Territory Private collection, Sydney acquired from the above LITERATURE Isaacs, J., Smith, T., Ryan, J., Holt, D., and Holt, J., Emily Kngwarreye Paintings, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998, pl. 43, pp. 112 - 113 (illus.), 197 © Emily K Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, UNTITLED, 1994
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE (c.1910 - 1996) UNTITLED, 1994 synthetic polymer paint on linen 150.0 x 90.0 cm signed verso: Emily bears inscription verso: artist’s name and Delmore Gallery cat. 94C038A PROVENANCE Commissioned by Delmore Gallery, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory in March 1994 Private collection, Victoria © Emily K Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 05, 2024
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Untitled, 1994
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
Beginning late in 1991 and throughout the following years, Emily explored a range of techniques after largely abandoning the fine dotting and submerged linear tracking which had characterised her earlier works. She used larger brushes to create broader circular dabs of paint, which often involved 'double dipping' the brush in various colours, before attacking the canvas. In this work, she shows tremendous confidence and great subtlety of colour in rendering the floral profusion throughout her desert homeland after summer rains. The linear application of broad dotting creates swathing rhythm across the canvas. Despite the sweeping gestural flourishes, the resultant image contains considerable nuances, which evoke the physical and spiritual fertility of the land, and radiance of being, that is sought during ceremony.
Cooee Art
Mar. 05, 2024
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Yam Dreaming, ed. 3/50, 1995
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Emily Kngwarreye began painting at 79 years of age and by the time she passed away seven years later (in 1996) she had completed no less than 5000 works of art. She is recognised as the most successful and loved of all Indigenous artists. Though she always painted aspects of the Yam creation story, its artistic expression moved along a creative trajectory unparalleled in the history of world art. Her creative dynamism resulted in retrospective exhibitions at a number of the shrines of contemporary art in Australia and overseas. This linocut marked an important turning point in the artistâs imagery. Almost immediately after creating it she began large-scale line paintings eschewing the dotted landscapes that she had created up to that moment in time. These paintings culminated in her masterpiece, Big Yam Dreaming in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. Emily's earliest 'straight line paintings' stemmed from a workshop in January 1994, during which she worked with master printmaker Theo Tremblay at Studio One in Canberra. The image was painted onto the linolium. Later the printmakers faithfully cut around the lines and published the print.
Cooee Art
Jun. 15, 2023
EMILY KNGWARREYE (1916 - 1996) My Country acrylic on canvas 144 x 205 cm (ready to hang) signed verso 'Emily'; certificate of authen.
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
EMILY KNGWARREYE (1916 - 1996) My Country acrylic on canvas 144 x 205 cm (ready to hang) signed verso 'Emily'; certificate of authenticity from Barbara Weir (as witnessed by Christopher Simon, Yanda Aboriginal Art.
Lawsons
May. 18, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910 - 1996) - Untitled acrylic on canvas 130 x 210 cm (frame: 133 x 213 x 5 cm)
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910 - 1996) Untitled acrylic on canvas 130 x 210 cm (frame: 133 x 213 x 5 cm) signed verso 'Emily'; certificate of authenticity from Barbara Weir (as witnessed by Christopher Simon, Yanda Aboriginal Art
Lawsons
May. 08, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996), My Country 1994
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996) My Country 1994 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 120 x 90cm PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist in 1994 by Paul Walsh, a former field officer at Papaya Tula Artists (accompanied by a provenance statement). Tony Kelly, Melbourne © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2023
Gibson's
May. 08, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996), Awelye Paint - Women’s Corroboree - Body Paint Design
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996) Awelye Paint - Women's Corroboree - Body Paint Design synthetic polymer paint on canvas signed verso: EmIly inscribed verso: Utopia Art / cat. no. EKK367 / EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE / 'AWELYE PAINT' / (Women's corroboree - body paint design) / A.G.O.D. # 3610 130 x 80.5cm PROVENANCE Utopia Art, NT Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2023
Gibson's
Apr. 16, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996), Body Paint 1995
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996) Body Paint 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed verso: DACOU EK469 FW147 121 x 90cm PROVENANCE DACOU Gallery, Adelaide Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane Private Collection, London The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection, London © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2023
Gibson's
Apr. 16, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996), Body Paint 1995
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996) Body Paint 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed verso: DACOU EK464 FW145 121 x 90cm PROVENANCE DACOU Gallery, Adelaide Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane Private collection, London The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection, London © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2023
Gibson's
Apr. 16, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996), My Country circa 1994
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1909-1996) My Country circa 1994 synthetic polymer paint on canvas signed verso: Emily inscribed and cat no. verso: Emily Kngwarreye 94E022 152.5 x 91cm PROVENANCE Delmore Gallery, NT Art Galleries Schubert, Gold Coast (label verso) © Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2023
Gibson's
Nov. 23, 2022
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Anmatyerre language group, Desert Wildness II 1996
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group Desert Wildness II 1996 synthetic polymer paint on linen 152.5 x 92.0 cm signed verso: Emily bears inscription verso: 96A31/ Emily Kngwarreye/ Commissioned by/ Delmore
Menzies
Apr. 26, 2022
Emily Kame Kngwarreye, 1910-1996, Yam Dreaming 1993, Acrylic on linen
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye 1910-1996 Yam Dreaming 1993 Acrylic on linen Emily's later works used layer upon layer of coloured dots, dabs and lines of minutely varying hues. Originally her paintings started with specific subjects that depicted designs from body paintings, images or Dreaming maps showing important sites. Due to the secret and sacred nature of the subject matter she found herself falling foul of other elders in the group. Now her paintings have a different vision. Emily was asked to explain what she paints and she said, "whole lot, that's the whole lot. Awelye (my Dreamings), Alatyeye (pencil yam), Arkerrthe (mountain devil lizard), Ntange (grass seeds), Tingu (a Dreamtime pup), Ankerre (emu), Intekwe (a favourite food of emus, a small plant), Atnwerle (green bean), and Kame (yam seed). That's what I paint; the whole lot big mob story."
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
Apr. 26, 2022
Emily Kame Kngwarreye, 1910-1996, My Country, Acrylic on canvas
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye 1910-1996 My Country Acrylic on canvas
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
Mar. 02, 2022
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910-1996) My Country acrylic on canvas 73 1/4 x 42
Est: £40,000 - £60,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910-1996) My Country acrylic on canvas 73 1/4 x 42 3/8in. (186 x 107.5cm.)
Christie's
Nov. 10, 2021
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, UNTITLED (YAM), 1996
Est: $120,000 - $160,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910 - 1996) UNTITLED (YAM), 1996 synthetic polymer paint on linen 151.0 x 122.5 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name and Delmore Gallery cat. 96F052 PROVENANCE Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED Emily Kame Kngwarreye: My Mother Country, Kunsthaus Zug, Switzerland, October 2019 – February 2020 ESSAY Renowned for her colourful, vibrant paintings based on the ever-changing desert landscape in her father and grandfather’s Country of Alhalker, Emily Kngwarreye was deeply rooted in the Anmatyerr land of her ancestors to whom she paid respect through a lifetime of ceremonial song, dance and painting. Her art chronicled on canvas this triangular shaped country, where Emily was born, the youngest of three children, and where she lived in the ways of the eastern Anmatyerr. In 1926, the traditional life of the Anmatyerr and Alyawarr people was disrupted, when the borders of the Utopia pastoral lease were drawn across their lands and from there, local people including Kngwarreye found work on the emergent pastoral stations. Many years after, in 1977, she was introduced to batik as part of adult education classes on Utopia Station and ten years later, in 1988‒89, painted her first work on canvas, sparking a meteoric rise to fame. In the months before she died, Emily Kame Kngwarreye was living at Delmore Downs Station with Lily Kngwarreye and her family. Although her output had reduced markedly, the final works painted for Delmore Gallery were a small group of powerful and dynamic monochromatic canvases executed on a black ground. Before beginning each new canvas, Emily would survey the various pots of coloured paints that were stored under the wide veranda of the Delmore homestead. Selecting her chosen colour of red, blue or white acrylic paint and carrying the tin to the primed canvas, she would then sit and begin the next work. Untitled (Yam), 1996 is one of those remarkable late paintings – a masterpiece of strength and simplicity. The single colour, in this case a bright white, is applied lightly with a translucent quality in web-like traceries spread energetically across the canvas limited only by the reach of the artist’s arm. The sweeping arcs of white paint intersecting, overlaying and crossing in a series of gestural strokes mirror the subject of her painting – the meandering rhizomatic roots of the Arlatyeye plant (the pencil yam - Vigna lanceolata) and the cracks that form in the ground when the pencil yam ripens – while at the same time highlighting the intimate process between artist and canvas. As Janet Holt states in the accompanying certificate, ‘As a monotonal painting, our engagement with the line is captured well and we find the live energy here intoxicating. We track the path of each stroke as she confidently reaches out across her canvas surface to place her arced lines of ritual body painting practice.’1 More than two decades have passed since Emily Kngwarreye died in September 1996, yet her name remains synonymous with the best of Australian Indigenous art. An original, intuitive and often enigmatic artist, her painting career lasted less than a decade, but the critical acclaim for her prodigious output has not diminished and her reputation has been sustained both in Australia and internationally. 1. From the accompanying Delmore Gallery certificate of authenticity CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Emily K Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 19, 2021
(5) Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Australian, 1910-1996) "Body Stripes (Blue)", set of (5) paintings, acrylic on paper, 30" x 22-1/2" sheet...
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
(5) Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Australian, 1910-1996) "Body Stripes (Blue)", set of (5) paintings, acrylic on paper, 30" x 22-1/2" sheet each 36-1/2" x 28-1/2" framed, very good condition. Emily Kame Kngwarreye was one of Australia's most prominent Aboriginal artists. Her first foray into art was with the Women's Batik Group of the Utopia Region around 1977. About 10 years later, in her late 70's, she decided to create her own personal paintings in acrylic on canvas. Emily's work was immediately popular and highly sought after by collectors and dealers all over the world. A prolific painter, she created a large body of work in her short careerRobert Steele Gallery NY; Robert Steele operated Anima Gallery in Adelaide, Australia as well as his gallery in New York. He represented and exhibited many contemporary American and international artists and was one of the most prominent dealers in Aboriginal art..
William Bunch Auctions & Appraisals
Aug. 25, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c. 1909-1996)
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Wild Flower, 1996 acrylic on linen, inscribed verso 'Emily, Cat. No. SS1197103'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 25, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c. 1909-1996)
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
Untitled ochres on Belgian linen, inscribed verso '5FT-EK54a-e' (5)
Shapiro Auctioneers
Aug. 24, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (circa 1910-1996) Untitled, 1992
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (circa 1910-1996) Untitled, 1992 inscribed verso: 'Emily Kngwarreye / 92C163 / CSCA / 88' synthetic polymer paint on canvas 75.0 x 55.0cm (29 1/2 x 21 5/8in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jun. 08, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - My Country, 1995
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "By 1992, Emily's fine dotting and symbolic underpainting gave way to works in which symbols and tracks were increasingly concealed beneath a sea of dots until eventually they were no longer evident at all. She began using larger brushes to create lines of dots that ran across vibrantly coloured, haptic surfaces. These works became progressively visually abstracted and ethereal. By the time this painting was created in 1995, Emily had developed a style employing larger brushes which she double dipped into pots of layered paint thereby creating floral impressions with alternately coloured variegated outlines. Despite her age (85 at this time), Emily+IBk-s physicality was evident as she painted. Often with a brush in each hand as she simultaneously pounded them down onto the canvas spreading the bristles and leaving the coagulating paint around the neck of the brush to create depth and form." Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.
Cooee Art
Jun. 08, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - untitled, 1994
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "Reflected in this work is the Anooralya Yam, the most important plant in Emily+IBk-s custodianship. This hardy and fertile plant provides both a tuber vegetable and a seed bearing flower called Kame (Emily+IBk-s tribal name). The application of red, yellow and green colours highlights the varied and changing hues in the life cycle of the Anooralya Yam and other food plants found near Alalgura on Utopia Station, west of Delmore Downs. From an aerial perspective we see sporadic clustered growth after summer rain. We also look on this exciting work as a water catchment area. The rain falls and water slowly flows along the broad shallow watercourse and replenishes the soakage at Alalgura. The flourish of growth that follows is exceptional and rapid. Ceremony reinforces through the verses of the song cycle, the significance of this knowledge. In particular, it teaches survival, basic social codes, and obligations." Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.
Cooee Art
Jun. 08, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - My Country, 1995
Est: $90,000 - $120,000
Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "Emily Kame Kngwarreye was born at Anilitye (Boundary Bore) and began paintings on canvas in 1989 at he age of 79. This most unusual, atypical painting was created during a short period that began in late 1994, in which she began to experiment with more gestural line work. Beginning with a small number of paintings covered in arc shapes such as this, she went on to develop elegant, fluid lines and brush marks evoking Awelye - body designs derived from women's ceremonies. By mid 1995, she had gone on to produce Yam Dreaming paintings composed entirely of black or white intertwining lines of which the most important is Big Yam Dreaming, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. The subject of this work is Arlatyeye, the Pencil Yam or Bush Potato. This is a valuable food source and the subject of important songs, dances, and ceremonies amongst Eastern Anmatjerre people. It was the subject of a great number of Emily Kngwarreye's paintings, which were created, most familiarly, in a vast array of vibrant colours. In this painting however, Emily has characterised the roots of the yam as it is dying off. Soon, cracks will appear in the ground, tracing the root system, and indicating that the engorged tubers are ready to be dug up and eaten. Emily had been awarded the Australian Creative Fellowship in 1992, three years before she created this work. She continued to paint prolifically until her death in 1996.+IB0 Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.
Cooee Art
Jun. 08, 2021
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Summer Abundance V, 1994
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "Reflected in this work is the Anooralya Yam, the most important plant in Emily+IBk-s custodianship. This hardy and fertile plant provides both a tuber vegetable and a seed bearing flower called Kame (Emily+IBk-s tribal name). Emily's use of yellow dramatically indicates a strong presence of the Kame's daisy-like flowers, with her rapid double-dipping brushwork celebrating the presence of food underground. Ceremony has ensured that good seasons have returned due to the role Emily and her clanswomen have played in 'growing up' the food and human sources through their ceremonial activities. We also look on this exciting work as a water catchment area. The rain falls and water slowly flows along the broad shallow watercourse and replenishes the soakage at Alalgura. The flourish of growth that follows is exceptional and rapid. Ceremony reinforces through the verses of the song cycle, the significance of this knowledge. In particular, it teaches survival, basic social codes and obligations.+IB0 Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.
Cooee Art
Feb. 24, 2021
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910-1996, Anmatyerre Language Group) Yam Dreaming, My Country 1994 synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910-1996, Anmatyerre Language Group) Yam Dreaming, My Country 1994 synthetic polymer paint on canvas inscribed verso with Jinta Desert Art cat. no. EKK-11245 and stamp 133.5 x 93.5cm PROVENANCE: Aboriginal Desert Art, Alice Springs, Northern Territory Jinta Desert Art, Sydney, acquired from the above 1994 (accompanied by a certificate of authenticity) Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: "Emily's later works used layer upon layer of coloured dots, dabs and lines of minutely varying hues. Originally her paintings started with specific subjects that depicted designs from body paintings, images or Dreaming maps showing important sites. Due to the secret and sacred nature of the subject matter she found herself falling foul of other elders in the group. Now her paintings have a different version. Emily was asked to explain what she paints and she said 'whole lot, that's the whole lot. Awelye (my Dreamings), Alatyeye (pencil yam), Arkerrthe (mountain devil lizard), Ntange (grass seed), Tingu (a Dreamtime pup), Ankerre (emu), Intekwe (a favourite food of emus, a small plant), Atnwerle (green bean), and Kam (yam seed). That's what I paint, the whole lot big mob story"- Jinta Deser Art
Leonard Joel
Nov. 29, 2020
BOOK, 'Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye,' edited by Margo Neale.
Est: $40 - $80
BOOK, 'Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye,' edited by Margo Neale.
Davidson Auctions
Oct. 18, 2020
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c. 1909-1996)
Est: $30,000 - $60,000
Yam Dreaming acrylic on canvas, inscribed verso 'Emily'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 25, 2020
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE , 'ROSEBUD', 20TH CENTURY
Est: €18,000 - €24,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye , 'Rosebud', 20th century, Synthetic polymer paint on rough canvas. 76.0 x 51.0 cm. Signed on the reverse: Kngwarreye and titled twice: Rosebud and inscribed: YTO 97K042 and 97K042. Verso on the stretcher: adhesive label from Walonia Aboriginal Art Imports, Utrecht.,
Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH
Jun. 25, 2020
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c1910 - 1996) - Untitled 135 x 80 cm
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c1910 - 1996) Untitled acrylic on canvas (painted to edge of canvas, no margin) 135 x 80 cm signed verso ''Emily.'' Certificate of authenticity from Barbara Weir (as witnessed by Christopher Simon, Yanda Aboriginal Art)
Lawsons
Jun. 23, 2020
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Arlatyite (Wild Yam) Dreaming
Est: $18,000 - $24,000
During 1996, the last year of Emily's life, Allan Glaetzer ran a nascent art centre in the Utopia community. Men and women, including Emily Kame and Mick Namarari, created works there. For many of them, the first experience of serious painting had been the making of boldly fluid marks on the greased-black skin of their extended family for ceremony. As a direct result of Glaetzer's efforts to influence Central and Eastern Desert painters back to using ochre as a medium, Emily produced a body of work in ochres depicting Pencil Yams (Arlatyte) and their flowers. An exhibition of these was held at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art in Melbourne the same year. This painting was among Emily's first attempts at using natural ochres to depict her Arlatye Dreaming. Emily painted this work from an aerial perspective, as if tracing the tracks of the women, covered in ochre and representing their totem, dancing through the dust and sand across a ceremonial ground in a line illuminated by firelight.
Cooee Art
Jun. 23, 2020
Emily Kame Kngwarreye - Yam Dreaming
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
The root system of the yam plant is a complex mass that stretches a long way underground and spreads up to 12 metres from the centre point. At ground level, the yam exhibits bright green leaves with yellow flowers and its branches cover a great deal of surface area. It is found in woodlands, close to water sources. The yam is most abundant after rainfall, when the root system develops rapidly. Several months later, the plant dies off and Aboriginal women look for cracks in the earth indicating where the roots and tubers are located. Often, large areas are excavated in their search to find the edible tubers of the plant. Once found, the yams are taken back to the community, where they are eaten raw or cooked. They have a rather bland taste but make a filling meal. In the Yam Dreaming, the Emily is paying homage to the spirit of the yam plant, so that it regenerates year after year to feed people.
Cooee Art
Jun. 15, 2020
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1910-1996) Alatyite Altyerre (Spinifex Dreaming) 1994
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1910-1996) Alatyite Altyerre (Spinifex Dreaming) 1994 sythetic polymer paint on canvas signed, dated, and titled verso: EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE / 'ALATYITE ALTYERRE' 94 / (SPINIFEX DREAMING) 74 x 59.5cm PROVENANCE Utopia Art Cat No EKK620 (B) CONDITION No obvious significant paint loss or paint expansion to the image. Light stretcher indentations to the canvas with light sporadic scuffing to the image and edges. This work is in very good, orignal, sound condtion.
Gibson's
Mar. 18, 2020
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c.1910 – 1996), ALALGURA COUNTRY, 1993, synthetic polymer painting on linen
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910 – 1996) ALALGURA COUNTRY, 1993 synthetic polymer painting on linen SIGNED: bears inscription verso: Delmore Gallery cat. 93I060 DIMENSIONS: 121.0 x 90.0 cm PROVENANCE: Delmore Gallery, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 1996
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 18, 2020
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c.1910 – 1996), UNTITLED, 1992, synthetic polymer painting on linen
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910 – 1996) UNTITLED, 1992 synthetic polymer painting on linen SIGNED: bears inscription verso: artist’s name and Delmore Gallery cat. 92H028 DIMENSIONS: 149.0 x 121.0 cm PROVENANCE: Commissioned by Delmore Gallery, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory Chapman Gallery, Canberra (inscribed verso) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 1995 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery, via Alice Springs which states in part: ‘Emily’s country, Alalgura, has many varieties of bush tucker and animals associated with it. Often she will select a tree, vine or fruit bearing plant, whose seed, fruit, leaves and flowers will lie on, above or below the earth and intermingle with the other forms of life in the preferred area. Each work brings an enthusiastic verbal patter about her country.’
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 03, 2019
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Arlatyte Dreaming (Pencil Yam)
Est: $10,000 - $12,000
Emily’s first experience of serious painting was the making of boldly fluid marks on the greased black skin of her countrywomen in white, brown, and yellow ochre. During 1996, the last year of her life, Allan Glaester ran a nascent art centre in the Utopia community. As as a result of his ideologically motivated efforts to influence Central and Eastern Desert painters back to using natural earth pigments as a medium, Emily produced a body of work in ochres in which she depicted Pencil Yams (Arlatyte) and their flowers. An exhibition of these was held at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art in Melbourne in the same year. This painting was among Emily's first attempts at using natural ochres to depict her Arlatyey Dreaming. Usually, Emily painted her works from an aerial perspective, whereas this view of the bush yam appears to have been conceived from ground level; as if the women, covered in ochre and representing their totem, are dancing across a ceremonial ground in a line. Rf. for other examples of Emily's ochre paintings executed at the same time, see 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye: The First Ochres', Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, March 1996
Cooee Art
Dec. 03, 2019
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Yam Dreaming (red dots) edition 28/50
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Emily Kngwarreye began painting at 79 years of age and by the time she passed away seven years later (in 1996) she had completed no less than 5000 works of art. She is recognised as the most successful and loved of all Aboriginal artists. Though she always painted aspects of the Yam creation story, its artistic expression moved along a creative trajectory unparalleled in the history of world art. Her creative dynamism resulted in retrospective exhibitions at a number of the shrines of contemporary art in Australia and overseas. This Linocut marked an important turning point in the artist's imagery. Almost immediately after creating it she began large-scale line paintings eschewing the dotted landscapes that she had created up to that moment in time. These paintings culminated in her masterpiece, Big Yam Dreaming in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. Emily's earliest 'straight line paintings' stemmed from a workshop in January 1994, during which she worked with master printmaker Theo Tremblay at Studio One in Canberra. The image was painted onto the linolium. Later the printmakers faithfully cut around the lines and published the print. Emily participated with her clanswomen each year in the Yam Dreaming ceremonies that pay homage to the spirit of the yam plant. Only by doing so will they ensure that it regenerates year after year to feed their people. The Yam is one of the most important Bush foods to be found. The root system of this plant is a complex mass that stretches a long way underground. Ceremony reinforces, through narrative, the significance of this knowledge. It also teaches basic social codes and obligations. Through her paintings, Emily passes this knowledge on to those who will carry on after her passing.
Cooee Art
Jul. 22, 2019
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c1910-96) Australia (Blue / Black/ White Stripes)
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c1910-96) Australia - (Blue / Black/ White Stripes)
Colville Auctions
Jun. 04, 2019
Â Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Merne Alagura 1993
Est: $40,000 - $50,000
Emily Kame Kngwarreye is widely regarded as Australia's most important and successful Aboriginal artist. Her remarkable career lasted just seven years prior to her death at 86 years of age in 1996. The painterly quality and originality of her works extended her influence beyond the reach of Aboriginal art and attracted an international audience ready to acclaim her new and innovative contemporary style. The use of colour in this painting, Merne Alalgura, reflects the hot outback summers, where little rain has fallen. The lines indicate the growth pattern of the Anooralya finger yam at its peak, ready to fall into decline and brought to maturity by the intense and unforgiving summer sun. In her layered approach we also see the sporadic clustering of plants in later stages of maturity. Understanding the life cycle of these plants is vital to survival in the bush. This is affirmed within the narrative of the song cycle sung during the ceremony, which reinforces the significance of this knowledge and teaches social codes and obligations to the next generation.
Cooee Art
Jun. 04, 2019
Â Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Yam Seed Dreaming 1992
Est: $14,000 - $18,000
In this work Emily strikes out with linear tracings that demonstrate the various colours she associates with the mature phase of the Yamâs life cycle - when the ripe fruit and seeds start the process of drying. Intermingling with the fruit and seeds are the falling leaves and flowers of summer that draw the emus to feed on her country and to raise their young. Here Emily is at one with her world. She moves with full confidence and resolve after the excitement and satisfaction of an abundant season. We witness the transformation of the desert after an abundant season as the country dries out. The grass seeds fall and scatter, settling into thickly carpeted sweeping swathes on the desert floor.
Cooee Art
May. 21, 2019
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, MERNE NDORKWA (WILD PLUM), 1991
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910 – 1996) MERNE NDORKWA (WILD PLUM), 1991 synthetic polymer paint on linen SIGNED: bears inscription verso: artist’s name and Delmore Gallery cat. 1Z06 DIMENSIONS: 210.5 x 122.0 cm PROVENANCE: Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs, Northern Territory Private collection, Northern Territory Shapiro Auctioneers, Sydney, 8 May 2002, lot 293 Private collection, United States of America RELATED WORK: Untitled, 1990, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 211.0 x 121.8 cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Neale, M. (ed.), Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, National Museum of Australia Press, Canberra, 2008, cat. D-15, p. 127 ESSAY: This work represents the country of the mythological emu in the vicinity of the artist’s country called Alalgura. Emily has custodial responsibility for various bush tucker species, all of which are preferred by the emu. The artist’s ceremonial activities, called Awelye, are based on the belief that she is helping to nurture or ‘grow up’ her country’s food sources. A successful summer rain season links to her belief that her ceremonial power secures the continuance of the desert life cycles. Ceremony also teaches young initiates the example of the male emu bird that takes on a large part of caring for its chicks, guiding them on what seeds, flowers and grasses can be eaten, where they can be found, and how far they can wander from the soakage at Alalgura. This work was painted in anticipation of summer rains to the north-east of Alice Springs. The growth to follow was to be incredibly thick and lush, thus making conditions ideal for a full crop of Ndorkwa, a wild plum. The colours in this work depict the various stages of ripeness of this fruit. When it is blue/purple, it is ready to eat, and those of different shades of red, are not. The plum does not fruit annually. Instead, it simply responds to rain, which, in this country, is unreliable.
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 21, 2019
Emily Kngwarreye (c1910 - 1996) - Bush Yam Awelye 59 x 31.5cm
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Emily Kngwarreye (c1910 - 1996) Bush Yam Awelye acrylic on canvas 59 x 31.5cm Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery, cat no. 4198-EKK-979.60.32; M Hollow monogram verso (purchased from Bellas Gallery 1998)
Lawsons
Nov. 27, 2018
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Untitled - Anooralya Yam Dreaming 1994
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Reflected in this work is the Anooralya Yam, the most important plant in Emily’s custodianship. This hardy and fertile plant provides both a tuber vegetable and a seed bearing flower called Kame (Emily’s tribal name). As the plant dies off above the ground, the yam tuber can be found where cracks in the earth’s surface indicates its presence underground. The application of red and yellow colours, highlights the varied and changing hues in the life cycle of the Anooralya Yam and other food plants found near Alalgura on Utopia Station, west of Delmore Downs. From an aerial perspective we see sporadic clustered growth after summer rain. We also look on this exciting work as a water catchment area. The rain falls and water slowly flows along the broad shallow watercourse and replenishes the soakage at Alalgura. The flourish of growth that follows is exceptional and rapid. Ceremony reinforces through the verses of the song cycle, the significance of this knowledge. In particular, it teaches survival, basic social codes and obligations.
Cooee Art
Nov. 27, 2018
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) My Country 1994
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
By 1992 Emily's fine dotting and symbolic underpainting gave way to works in which symbols and tracks were increasingly concealed beneath a sea of dots until eventually they were no longer evident at all. She began using larger brushes to create lines of dots that ran across vibrantly coloured, haptic surfaces. These works became progressively visually abstracted and ethereal. By the time this painting was created in 1994 Emily had developed a style employing larger and larger brushes. With prodigious energy she now created wildly colourful canvases by double dipping brushes into pots of layered paint thereby creating floral impressions with alternately coloured variegated outlines. Despite her age (84 at this time), Emily’s physicality was evident as she painted. Often with a brush in each hand she simultaneously pounded them down on to the canvas spreading the bristles and leaving the coagulating paint around the neck of the brush to create depth and form.
Cooee Art