John Mawurndjul Paintings & Artwork for Sale | John Mawurndjul Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 12, 2024
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, GORMDON (FRESHWATER TURTLE), 1988
Est: $10,000 - $12,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL 1951- GORMDON (FRESHWATER TURTLE), 1988 ochre on Eucalyptus bark 62 x 55 cm; 81.5 x 74 cm (framed) artwork cataloguing details verso PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts & Crafts, NT Cat No. MAW 48 Galleries Primitif, NSW Dr Peter Elliot Collection, NSW Mossgreen Auctions, The Peter Elliot Collection, 31 August 2015, Sydney, Lot 323 Private Collection, WA Accompanied by a letter on Mossgreen letterhead attesting to the artworks authenticity as catalogued by Australian Indigenous art specialist D'lan Davidson EXHIBITED Eaux Vivantes, Living Waters, Musée océanographique de Monaco, 23 March - 30 September 2016 ©John Mawurndjul / Copyright Agency, 2024 Throughout the early to mid-1980s, the primary subject matter for Mawurndjul’s work was the mythology of the surrounding environment at Milmilngkan. He painted small barks of Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent), Namarrkon (the Lightning Spirit), and various local natural species, such as fish, bandicoots, and possum. In all these subjects he paid precise attention to anatomical detail. His work at this time, reflected his place as an heir to the long painting tradition of Kuninjku artists, who had created magnificent bark paintings over the previous decade. While artists like Yirawala, Peter Marralwanga, and Mick Kubarkku incorporated cross-hatched (Rarrk) designs into their work, these elements typically remained secondary to the more prominent figurative imagery. This approach became emblematic of the Central and Western Arnhem Land painting style. However, as his practice evolved, Mawurndjul increasingly allowed Rarrk designs to take centeral position, gradually filling both the interior and surrounding spaces of his figures. By the mid-1990s, he had largely abandoned figurative iconography, embracing a more abstract, Rarrk-dominated visual language. This piece is a fine example of an Australian Aboriginal artwork.
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Sep. 10, 2024
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2012
Est: $15,000 - $18,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2012 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 114.0 x 42.0cm (44 7/8 x 16 9/16in).
Bonhams
May. 07, 2024
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2012
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2012 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 114.0 x 42.0cm (44 7/8 x 16 9/16in).
Bonhams
Mar. 26, 2024
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, MARDAYIN AT KAKODBEBULDI, 2002
Est: $14,000 - $18,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 MARDAYIN AT KAKODBEBULDI, 2002 natural earth pigments on stringybark (Eucalyptus tetradonta) 99.0 x 55.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label verso: artist's name, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 6349-02 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Short Street Gallery, Broome Private collection, Melbourne This work is accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Short St Gallery, and Maningrida Arts and Culture which states: 'This work by the artist concerns a major patrimoiety ceremony of a secret and sacred nature called 'Mardayin'. Much of the meaning of the iconography in the painting is not in the domain of public knowledge and so it cannot be explained in detail here. The painting refers to a site, Kakodbebuldi, which is an outstation in Dangkorlo clan estate in the Mann River region. Kakodbebuldi is a Mardayin ceremony performance site and is located on a large billabong covered in waterlilies. This place is about 50km south of Maningrida in Central North Arnhem Land.' © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, UNTITLED (LORRKON), 2005
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 UNTITLED (LORRKON), 2005 natural earth pigments and synthetic binders on hollow log 247.0 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 3037-05) Annandale Galleries, Sydney Private collection, Queensland, acquired from the above Private collection, Melbourne ESSAY ‘I also make make Lorrkon – hollow log – all painted with my rarrk, filled with Mardayin power.’1 Untitled (Lorrkon), 2005 was painted the year before John Mawurndjul undertook his major commission for the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. As one of the eight Australian artists selected by the project architect Jean Nouvel to integrate Australian indigenous art into the structure of the building, Mawurndjul was commissioned to paint a colossal column and another of his works was reproduced on the ceiling of the museum bookshop. Although highly sacred by nature, Mawurndjul chose to depict Mardayin ceremonial themes on the Branly column and indeed our Lorrkon also depicts an abstract representation of this ancient ceremony. The Western Arnhem Land version of the Lorrkon ceremony involves the singing of sacred songs to the accompaniment of the karlikarli, a pair of sacred boomerangs used as rhythm instruments. The complete ceremony may stretch over a period of two weeks, but on the last night the bones of the deceased – which have been kept in a bark container or today wrapped in cloth and kept in a suitcase – are taken out, painted with red ochre and placed inside the hollow log. This ceremony may take place years after the person has died. ‘At the end of the ceremony, early in the morning as the sun moves across the sky, the hollow log is placed upright. It will stand there and decay. At the end of standing-up ritual the women will dance around it. In the camp people chant as they move up. The section with men carrying burning torches represent the fire hawks who carry the burning embers and take them away… Fire Hawks or brown falcons carry the fire in the ceremony representing the hawk lifting up that person and taking them away.’2 1. Kohen, A., ‘Interview with Apolline Kohen and John Mawurndjul’ in Kaufmann, C. and Museum Tinguely, Basel (eds.), rarrk: John Mawurndjul: Journey through Time in Northern Australia, Schwabe Verlag, Basel and Crawford House, Adelaide, 2005, p. 28 2. Mawurndjul, cited in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 283 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 26, 2024
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, BULUWANA AT DILEBANG, 2011
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 BULUWANA AT DILEBANG, 2011 natural earth pigments on stringybark (Eucalyptus tetradonta) 185.0 x 65.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription verso: Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 2169-11 bears inscription on label verso: artist's name, subject, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 2169-11 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Private collection, Sydney This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture. ESSAY One of Australia's most successful and innovative contemporary artists, with an artistic career spanning more than thirty years, John Mawurndjul first achieved recognition in 1981 when he was included in a group exhibition in Paris, Les magicians de la terre at the centre Georges Pompidou. Exhibitions at commercial galleries followed and in 2000, his work was featured in the 12th Biennale of Sydney, followed in 2002 with the bark painting prize at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin, a prize he won again in 2016. Born in the freshwater country of Kubukkan near Marrkolidjban, south of Maningrida, an important site for the Kurulk clan and home to the Kuninjku people. Mawurndjul had a very traditional upbringing, guided by his elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his uncle Peter Marralwanga, whose early painting instruction taught him how to apply paint to bodies for dance and initiation ceremonies, a task for which he showed a natural flair. As he recalls, ‘I saw my father doing the rarrk for the Mardayin ceremony and tried to do it myself with my back all doubled over, I ended up being better than any of them at it. They gave me a job in the Mardayin ceremony to paint some rarrk. When they all saw me doing it they said ‘wow’, he’s got the hang of it. ‘You've left us behind my son’, they said to me.’1 Today Mawurndjul guides and monitors the development of his children and his niece Irenie Ngalinba, the daughter of his late brother Jimmy Njiminjuma. His first paintings on bark were representations of mythological figures, such as Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent, totemic creatures and local natural species. These early paintings invoke ideas of spirituality, mythology and natural life cycles. It wasn’t until after he had developed a more metaphysical representation of specific sites, events and landscape that Mawurndjul’s fame grew. The artist eliminated representational imagery from his painting and instead embarked upon a journey of exploration of rarrk (lineal clan designs), producing intricate paintings that are encoded with secret meaning. In Buluwana at Dilebang, 2011, the complexity and skill of Mawurndjul’s ability as a painter of rarrk is evident. The central arc, infilled with white clay, represents the head of the ancestor woman Buluwana, who lived at Dilebang and Ngandarrayo in mythological times, and who was killed by the Giant Deaf Adder and turned to a standing stone. Expanses of rarrk with multiple grids rendered in fine interlocking lines, constantly and unpredictably shifting in planes across the surface of the bark surround the central form of Buluwana. In elevating the treatment of rarrk and the iconic representation of both Mardayin (Sacred) and natural themes, Mawurndjul is constantly finding new ways to interpret his country. As Hetti Perkins notes ‘His works – lovingly crafted and sculpted depictions of flora and fauna, ancestral events, supernatural beings, significant sites and encrypted ceremonial designs – are at once of country and mnemonic of country’2 and as Mawurnjul maintains his paintings are the ‘same, same but different... I just can’t stop thinking about my paintings... They are very important places for us, they have meanings.’3 1. Mawurndjul, cited in Rarrk: John Mawurndjul, Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2005, p. 43 2. Perkins H., ‘Mardayin Maestro’ in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, op. cit., 2018, p. 26 3. Mawurndjul, cited ibid. CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 05, 2024
John Mawurndjul - Bilmu-Barramundi, 1987
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
Throughout the early to mid 1980s, the primary subject matter for Mawurndjulâs work was the mythology of the surrounding environment at Milmilngkan. He painted small bark paintings of Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent), Namarrkon (the Lightning Spirit), and various local natural species, such as fish, bandicoots, and possum. In all these subjects he paid precise attention to anatomical detail. His work at this time, reflected his place as an heir to the long painting tradition of Kuninjku artists, who had created magnificent bark paintings over the previous decade. Though artists such as Yirawala, Peter Marralwanga, and Mick Kubarkku incorporated cross-hatched (Rarrk) designs into their art, this remained secondary to the figurative elements. In time, this came to be thought of as the quintessential Central and Western Arnhem Land painting style. As time progressed, however, Mawurndjul increasingly allowed the Rarrk designs to dominate, filling both the interior and surrounding space of his figures. By the mid 1990s, he had abandoned figurative iconography all but completely.
Cooee Art
Nov. 13, 2023
John Mawurndjul (1952-) Australia - Untitled
Est: $4,000 - $5,000
John Mawurndjul (1952-) Australia Untitled Earth pigments on stringybark
Colville Auctions
Aug. 29, 2023
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Rainbow Serpent, 1985
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Rainbow Serpent, 1985 titled and dated verso: 'RAINBOW SERPENT / 24/7/85' inscribed verso: 'ARTIST - MAWUNDJAL / GROUP - GUNWINGGU - LOCATION - MOMEGA' natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 136.0 x 32.0cm (53 9/16 x 12 5/8in).
Bonhams
Apr. 27, 2023
John Mawurndjul (born 1952)
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Untitled, ca. 1978 Eucalyptus bark, natural pigments 26 1/2 by 7in (67.3 by 19cm) Provenance American Private Collection
Bonhams
Mar. 22, 2023
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, FROGS, 1994
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 FROGS, 1994 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 190.0 x 67.5 cm (irregular) bears inscription verso: artist's name and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 037/94 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 6 July - 23 September 2018; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 26 October 2018 - 28 January 2019 LITERATURE Altman, J., et al., John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2018, pp. 97 (illus.), 377 RELATED WORK Untitled, 1993, earth pigments on Stringybark, 136.9 x 40.4 cm, private collection, Queensland illus. in Altman, J., et al., John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2018, p. 95 ESSAY ‘The studies of flora and fauna in the paintings of John Mawurndjul are encyclopedic and reflect an intimacy with country and a prowess as hunter and conservationist. His later depictions of animals incorporate an added layer of complexity combining their position in cultural/spiritual and natural worlds. Djaddi (frogs) and yibba (an ornate burrowing frog) are recorded as being pets of the Rainbow Serpent and are associated with stories of a secret nature.’1 ‘Kudjidmi is the main ornate burrowing frog sacred site. It belongs to Gurrgoni language people, who sing bunggurl songs about that frog. The frog speaks Gurrgoni, ‘gah gah’. The ornate burrowing frog is a Gurrgoni speaker. The ornate burrowing frog put that sacred place at that location. Kudjidmi is the main site and the one at Nangak is on the hill, near the Djinkarr Ranger Station. The two sites point at each other. Both sites are yirridjdja moiety. Those sites are for those people from Bulkay on the Tomkinson flood plain – people like Jack Adjdjarral of the Boburerri clan on top and people from the Darnkolo clan below.’2 1. Perkins H., ‘Mardayin Maestro’ in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 24. 2. The artist quoted in John Mawurndjul, ibid., p. 89 (translation by Murray Garde) © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, MARDAYIN AT MANKARRARD, 2004
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 MARDAYIN AT MANKARRARD, 2004 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus tetrodonta bark 206.0 x 74.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label verso: artist's name, subject, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 1982–04 PROVENANCE Commissioned by Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory in 2004 (label attached verso) Annandale Galleries, Sydney The Laverty Collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in October 2004 EXHIBITED John Mawurndjul, New paintings, bark paintings & ceremonial poles from Maningrida, Arnhem Land, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, 27 September – 30 October 2004 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, p. 11 and illus. on front cover of exhibition invitation) John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 6 July – 23 September 2018; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 26 October 2018 – 28 January 2019 LITERATURE Beyond Sacred: Australian Aboriginal Art: The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2008, pp. 277 (illus.), 341 Beyond Sacred: Australian Aboriginal Art: The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, edition II, Kleimeyer Industries Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2011, pp. 318 (illus.), 391 Altman, J., et al., John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2018, pp. 110 (illus.), 378 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity attached verso from Maningrida Arts and Culture which states: This work by the artist concerns a major patrimoiety ceremony of a secret and sacred nature called ‘Mardayin’. Much of the meaning of the iconography in the painting is not in the domain of public knowledge and so it cannot be explained in detail here. The painting refers to a site, Mankarrard, which is a billabong in Dangkorlo clan estate in the Mann River region. Mankarrard is associated with the site of Kakodbebuldi, ‘a yirridjdja moiety place of the Darnkolo clan. There is the billabong at Kakodbebuldi with the dangarrk lights from the Mardayin ceremony and where they gather the Trophis scandens vine for making conical fish traps.’1 1. The artist quoted in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 99 © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 22, 2023
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, NGALYOD, RAINBOW SERPENT, 1999
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 NGALYOD, RAINBOW SERPENT, 1999 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 153.0 x 90.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label verso: artist's name, language, location and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 20321 1999 BP PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (label attached verso) Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne (label attached verso) Private collection, Brisbane, acquired from the above in 2002 EXHIBITED Kabarlekidyo to Milmilngkan: John Mawurndjul's Country, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, 30 October – 23 November 2002 (illus. on front cover of exhibition invitation) rarrk - John Mawurndjul, Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Museum Tinguely, Basel, 21 September 2005 – 29 January 2006; Sprengel Museum, Hanover, 19 February – 5 June 2006 LITERATURE Kaufmann, C., et al., rarrk – John Mawurndjul: Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Crawford House Publishing Australia, Belair, South Australia, 2005, pp. 129 (illus.), 228 ESSAY ‘My head is full up with ideas.’1 Original and uniquely Australian, the art of John Mawurndjul is the culmination of decades of learning and the fine tuning of his craft over time, resulting in a distinct record of country and an individual style of storytelling subtly contained within his intricate and beautiful paintings on bark. Since he first began painting in the late 1970s, Mawurndjul has quietly transformed Kuningku bark painting. His early works of figures and creatures in Kuningku mythology evolved into a more metaphysical representation of specific sites, events and landscape that serve as a link between the spiritual and human worlds. However, it is in his renditions of Ngalyod, The Rainbow Serpent that this evolution is most evident. An omnipotent and significant creature in Kuninjku cosmology, Ngalyod is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. ‘I always thought about Ngalyod and how to paint it… In [early] pictures I use dot infill like the old people, but now I have changed, I have my own style, my own ideas, you don’t see dot infill anymore… I went and painted bigger barks… Ngalyod is very powerful and dangerous... I paint her from my thoughts.’2 Ngalyod appears as a subject in his early paintings but as Mawurndjul’s knowledge grows through the guidance of his late elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his participation in ritual ceremonies, his work reflects the more transformative power of Ngalyod. His paintings become representative of the destructive potential of this being and ‘many of his works, particularly the Ngalyod paintings, act as definitive warnings to family, friends and visitors alike, illustrating the vengeful capacity of beings to punish transgressors or those who do not have ritual authority.’3 ‘Rainbow Serpents are found in many places in both dua and yirridjdja moiety. They live in the earth under the ground or in bodies of water at places such as Dilebang or Benedjangngarlwend. The white clay in the ground at Kudjarnngal is the faeces of the serpent. Waterlilies at certain places tell us that the Rainbow Serpent lives there. When the wet season storms come, we can see her in the sky (as a Rainbow). She makes the rain. When we the floodwaters of the wet season rise, we say the Rainbow Serpent is making the electrical storms of the monsoon wet season. Rainbow Serpents are dangerous, just like crocodiles, they can kill people and other animals.’4 As Mawurndjul relates above, Ngalyod resides in the waterholes and water courses. Waterlilies growing around their edges may indicate the presence of Naglyod and Kuninjku are careful not damage the lilies or disturb the still bodies of water so not to anger the spirit. The Power of Nagalyod is evident in Ngalyod, Rainbow Serpent, 1999, the profile of the serpent’s head is clearly distinguished in vivid white clay to the top left of the bark, its teeth reduced to a series of chevrons, the head bordered by shimmering fields of ochre rarrk that spreads out to the corners. Energy radiates from the painting, indicating the presence and potential power within that is both life giving with the rejuvenating rains of the annual monsoon and at the same time threatening with the destructive power of storms. Mawurndjul’s paintings have pioneered a new interpretation of Kuningku clan sites and djang that inspire the next generation of bark painters. Constantly striving for new ways to interpret his country, Mawurndjul’s innovative use of rarrk to map important locations is evident in the fine lineal clan designs spread across the surface of his paintings, creating shifting patterns of grids that are rendered in fine interlocking lines. As Hetti Perkins writes ‘His works, lovingly crafted and sculpted depictions of flora and fauna, ancestral events, supernatural beings, significant sites and encrypted ceremonial designs are at once country and mnemonic of country.’5 1. The artist quoted in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 336 2. The artist in an interview with Apolline Kohen in Kaufmann, C., et al., rarrk – John Mawurndjul: Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Crawford House Publishing Australia, Belair, South Australia, 2005, pp. 25 – 26 3. Perkins H., ‘Mardayin Maestro’ in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, op. cit., 2018, p. 26 4. The artist quoted in John Mawurndjul, ibid., p. 200 5. Perkins, op. cit., p. 21 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 22, 2022
John Mawurndjul (b. 1952)
Est: $18,000 - $26,000
Milmilngkan Site ochre on bark
Shapiro Auctioneers
Oct. 11, 2022
John Mawurndjul - Stingray, 2008
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Mawurndjul painted collaboratively with his older brother, Jimmy Njiminjuma, until the late 1970s. At this early stage in his painting career, the primary subject matter for his work was the mythology of the surrounding environment at Milmilngkan. Throughout the early to mid 1980s, Mawurndjul painted small barks of Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent), other spirit beings including Namarrkon (the Lightning Spirit), and various depictions of the local natural species, such as fish, bandicoots, and possum. In all these subjects he paid precise attention to anatomical detail. Mawurndjul’s work at this time reflected his place as an heir to the long painting tradition of Kuninjku artists, who had created magnificent bark paintings over the previous decade. Though artists such as Yirawala, Peter Marralwanga, and Mick Kubarkku incorporated rarrk designs into their art, this ‘design element’ remained secondary to the figurative elements, rarely leaving the interior of the figure and instead employing a plain background. This, in time, came to be thought of as the quintessential Central and Western Arnhem Land painting style. As time progressed, however, Mawurndjul increasingly allowed the rarrk designs to dominate, filling both the interior and surrounding space of his figures. By the mid 1990s, he had abandoned figurative iconography all but completely. This work is a very rare exception on paper.
Cooee Art
Aug. 23, 2022
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2009
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2009 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 129.0 x 81.0cm (50 13/16 x 31 7/8in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Aug. 23, 2022
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Njaljod (Rainbow Serpent) at Godanyal, 1988
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Njaljod (Rainbow Serpent) at Godanyal, 1988 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 145.0 x 50.0cm (57 1/16 x 19 11/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jul. 28, 2022
John Mawurndjul (b. 1952)
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
Milmilngkan Site ochre on bark
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 30, 2022
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, LIGHTNING SPIRIT NAMARRKON, C.1980
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 LIGHTNING SPIRIT NAMARRKON, c.1980 natural earth pigments on bark 58.0 x 23.0 cm (irregular) PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, Northern Territory Private collection Thence by descent Private collection, Sydney © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 30, 2022
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, NGALYOD RAINBOW SERPENT, 2004
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 NGALYOD RAINBOW SERPENT, 2004 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 148.0 x 63.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label attached verso: artist’s name, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 757 - 04 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2004 EXHIBITED John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 6 July - 23 September 2018; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 26 October 2018 - 28 January 2019 LITERATURE Altman, J., et al., John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2018, pp. 200 - 201 (illus.), 378. ESSAY ‘The Rainbow Serpent rose up at Ngandarryo and pulled the people down into the earth, killing them all and turning them into bones. Rainbow Serpents are found in many places in both dua and yirridjdja moiety. They live in the earth under the ground or in bodies of water at places such as Dilebang or Benedjangngarlwend. The white clay in the ground at Kudjarnngal is the faeces of the serpent. Waterlilies at certain places tell us that the Rainbow Serpent lives there. When the wet season storms come, we can see her in the sky (as a Rainbow). She makes the rain. When we the floodwaters of the wet season rise, we say the Rainbow Serpent is making the electrical storms of the monsoon wet season. Rainbow Serpents are dangerous, just like crocodiles, they can kill people and other animals.’1 Uniquely Australian, the art of John Mawurndjul is the culmination of decades of learning and the fine-tuning of his craft over time, resulting in an individual style of storytelling and a distinct record of country subtly contained within his intricate and beautiful paintings on bark. Since he first began painting in the late 1970s, Mawurndjul has quietly transformed Western Arnhem Land bark painting. His early renditions of figures and creatures from Kuningku mythology evolved into a more metaphysical representation of specific sites, events and landscape, but it is in his renditions of Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, that this evolution is most evident. An omnipotent and formidable creature in Kuninjku cosmology, Ngalyod is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. Ngalyod appears as a subject in his early paintings, but as Mawurndjul’s knowledge increased through his participation in ritual ceremonies, and with the guidance of his late elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma, his later work reflects the more transformative power of Ngalyod. Paintings become representative of the destructive potential of this being and ‘many of his works, particularly the Ngalyod paintings, act as definitive warnings to family, friends and visitors alike, illustrating the vengeful capacity of beings to punish transgressors or those who do not have ritual authority.’2 As the artist describes in the catalogue entry for this painting above, Ngalyod resides in the waterholes and water courses. Waterlilies growing around their edges may indicate the presence of Naglyod, and Kuninjku are careful not to damage the lilies or disturb the still bodies of water so not to anger the spirit. The Power of Nagalyod is clearly evident in Ngalyod Rainbow Serpent, 2004 – the twisting energy of its body indicates the presence and potential power within that is both life-giving with the rejuvenating rains of the annual monsoon, and at the same time, threatening with the destructive power of storms. Mawurndjul’s paintings have pioneered a new interpretation of Kuningku clan sites and djang that inspire the next generation of bark painters. Constantly striving for new ways to interpret his country, Mawurndjul’s innovative use of rarrk to map important locations is evident in the fine lineal clan designs spread across the surface of his paintings, creating shifting patterns of grids that are rendered in fine interlocking lines. As Hetti Perkins writes ‘His works, lovingly crafted and sculpted depictions of flora and fauna, ancestral events, supernatural beings, significant sites and encrypted ceremonial designs, are at once country and mnemonic of country.’3 1. The artist quoted in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 200 2. Perkins, H., ‘Mardayin Maestro’ in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 26 3. Ibid., p. 21 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 30, 2022
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, MILMILNGKAN SITE, 2008
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 MILMILNGKAN SITE, 2008 natural ochres on eucalyptus tetradonta bark 151.0 x 47.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label attached verso: artist's name, subject, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 1911-08 PROVENANCE Commissioned by Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (label attached verso) Palya Art, Darwin, cat. 2235 Private collection, Victoria This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture which states: 'John Mawurndjul lives at Milmilngkan near a billabong and says that underneath the water lies the power of Ngalyod. In this painting, he depicts the power of the place with rarrk-cross-hatching which contains Mardayin power. John Mawurndjul has depicted Milmilngkan place where Ngalyod - the rainbow serpent - resides under the water. Kuninjku people say there are two Rainbow serpents. One is Yingarna who is said to have been the original creator of all ancestral beings, the 'first mother'. Yingarna's first born is a Rainbow serpent called Ngaloyd. Yingama - the Rainbow serpent - or her son Ngalyod are common subject on contemporary Kuninjku bark paintings. Ngalyod is very important in Kuninjku cosmology and is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. For example, ancestral stories relate how creator or ancestral beings had travelled across the country and had angered Ngalyod who swallowed them and returned to the earth to create the site. Today, Ngalyod protects these sites and its power is present in each one. Ngalyod has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and rainbows which are a manifestation of Ngalyod's power and presence. Ngalyod is associated with the destructive power of the storms and with the plenty of the wet season, being both a destroyer and a giver of life. Ngalyod's power controls the fertility of the country and the seasons.' © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 30, 2022
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, MILMILNGKAN SITE, 2007
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 MILMILNGKAN SITE, 2007 natural ochres on eucalyptus tetradonta bark 126.5 x 50.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label attached verso: artist's name, subject, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 3847-07 PROVENANCE Commissioned by Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (label attached verso) Palya Art, Darwin (label attached verso) Private collection, Victoria This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture which states: 'On this particular bark painting, John Mawurndjul has depicted sacred sites at Milmilngkan. JM: Yoh Milmilngkan maneh yina kunronj manekke mane yi-na. Ka-bo-bebme. Ojai njamed 'spring'. Yes, this is the site at Milmilngkan and these represent water, you can see here. The water comes out [the little round dots are water/springs]. They are springs. Kam-bormlkan Milmilngkan kunred but manekke njamed ka-karrme- man-:-djimdjim· spring kunronj kam-bobebme. Ngalyod might be kanjdji mayh ka-yo ngalyod. Mani rarrk nga-bimbom. Kunred manekke. Kuning ka-yime bonj ka-borrohdolkan nga-nang boyen. The water comes out at Milmilngkan and there are springs there surrounded by water pandanus (Pandanus aquaticus) where the water comes out of the. ground. This might be caused by rainbow serpents which live under the ground there. This is all cross-hatched here. The cross-hatching represents the country there. That's what happens there, I've recently seen the water coming up out of the ground there. © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 08, 2022
John Mawurndjul - Rainbow Serpent of the Dreamtime, 2003
Est: $6,000 - $12,000
Born at Mumeka, located near the Mann River in Central Arnhem Land, an important site for the Kurulk clan, John Mawurndjurl was taught by his elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his uncle Peter Marralwanga. He began his art practice painting mythological figures such as the Ngalyod the Rainbow serpent and totemic creatures and has, over recent years, developed a more abstract style with interlocking gridded rarrk, or crosshatching, over the entire surface In this work we see Ngaljod, or Borlong, the giant rainbow serpent of the Dreamtime, who was the son of Jingana, the mother creator of the earth in Western Arnhem Land. According to legend, Jingana grew two large eggs in her stomach and eventually gave birth to a son, Ngaljod, and a daughter, Ngalgun-Burimaimi. Ngaljod had the body of a snake, like his mother, but it had scales on it similar to a crocodile, and his tail resembled a crocodile's. On his head was a feathered headdress (Djaradjalina) similar to those that Aboriginals wear in ceremonies honouring him. Ngaljod is the creator of storms. He forms clouds by shooting vapour into the air, then pierces them with his forked tongue to bring down torrential rain. His forked tongue flickering across the sky also creates lightning, and his growling is the thunder. Due respect is paid to him in ceremonies, in order to ensure the balance of the wet and dry seasons, so that food will continue to be plentiful.
Cooee Art
Aug. 31, 2021
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, MARDAYIN DESIGNS, 2005
Est: $12,000 - $15,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 MARDAYIN DESIGNS, 2005 natural earth pigments with PVC fixative on eucalyptus bark 100.0 x 43.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label verso: artist's name, medium and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 609-05 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne Sotheby’s Melbourne, 24 November 2009, lot 155 Grant Smith collection, Melbourne This work is located at our Melbourne gallery © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 24, 2021
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Mimih Spirit, c.1997 height: 213.0cm (83 7/8in).
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Mimih Spirit, c.1997 natural earth pigments on wood height: 213.0cm (83 7/8in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Aug. 24, 2021
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Mimih Spirit, c.1995 height: 179.0cm (70 1/2in).
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Mimih Spirit, c.1995 natural earth pigments on wood height: 179.0cm (70 1/2in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Aug. 24, 2021
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Mimih Spirit, c.2007 height: 169.0cm (66 9/16in).
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Mimih Spirit, c.2007 natural earth pigments on wood height: 169.0cm (66 9/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Aug. 24, 2021
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2009
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Milmilngkan, 2009 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 156.5 x 88.0cm (61 5/8 x 34 5/8in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jun. 08, 2021
John Mawurndjul - Mimi Spirits, 2003
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "Born at Mumeka, near the Mann River in Central Arnhem Land, John Mawurndjul was taught to paint by his elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his uncle Peter Marralwanga. Today, he guides the development of his children and his niece Irenie Ngalinba, Jimmy Njiminjuma's daughter. The people of Western Arnhem Land believe that Mimi society existed before the human habitation of the region. Mimi are credited with instructing the first people with knowledge relating to survival in the rocky environment of the Arnhem Land plateau, including how to hunt and butcher game and also how to dance, sing, and paint. Mimi are terribly thin, having necks so slender that a stiff breeze could be fatal. For this reason they emerge only on windless days and nights to hunt.+IB0 Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.
Cooee Art
May. 11, 2021
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, KORMDOW (FRESHWATER TORTOISE), c.1978
Est: $2,800 - $3,500
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 KORMDOW (FRESHWATER TORTOISE), c.1978 natural earth pigments on stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetrodonta) 63.5 x 35.0 cm bears inscription on label attached verso: artist's name, language group, clan, location, a short description of the work and Maningrida Arts and Crafts cat. MAW141 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Northern Territory Hogarth Galleries, Sydney Private collection, Sydney This work is located at our Sydney Gallery © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency, 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Apr. 22, 2021
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Birmlu 'Barramundi in hollow log', 1997
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Birmlu 'Barramundi in hollow log', 1997 Maningrida Arts & Culture catalogue number inscribed verso: '6168' natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 116.0 x 63.0cm (45 11/16 x 24 13/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Mar. 17, 2021
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, NGALYOD RAINBOW SERPENT, 2004
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 NGALYOD RAINBOW SERPENT, 2004 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 148.0 x 63.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription on label attached verso: artist's name, medium, size, language group and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 757 - 04 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 2004 EXHIBITED John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 6 July – 23 September 2018; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 26 October 2018 – 28 January 2019 LITERATURE Altman, J., et al., John Mawurndjul: I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2018, pp. 200 – 201 (illus.), 378 ESSAY ‘The Rainbow Serpent rose up at Ngandarryo and pulled the people down into the earth, killing them all and turning them into bones. Rainbow Serpents are found in many places in both dua and yirridjdja moiety. They live in the earth under the ground or in bodies of water at places such as Dilebang or Benedjangngarlwend. The white clay in the ground at Kudjarnngal is the faeces of the serpent. Waterlilies at certain places tell us that the Rainbow Serpent lives there. When the wet season storms come, we can see her in the sky (as a Rainbow). She makes the rain. When we the floodwaters of the wet season rise, we say the Rainbow Serpent is making the electrical storms of the monsoon wet season. Rainbow Serpents are dangerous, just like crocodiles, they can kill people and other animals.’1 Uniquely Australian, the art of John Mawurndjul is the culmination of decades of learning and the fine tuning of his craft over time, resulting in a distinct record of country and an individual style of storytelling subtly contained within his intricate and beautiful paintings on bark. Since he first began painting in the late 1970s, Mawurndjul has quietly transformed Kuningku bark painting. His early works of figures and creatures in Kuningku mythology evolved into a more metaphysical representation of specific sites, events and landscape and it is perhaps in his renditions of Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, that this evolution is most evident. An omnipotent and significant creature in Kuninjku cosmology, Ngalyod is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. Ngalyod appears as a subject in his early paintings, but as Mawurndjul’s knowledge grew through the guidance of his late elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his participation in ritual ceremonies, his work reflects the more transformative power of Ngalyod. His paintings become representative of the destructive potential of this being and ‘many of his works, particularly the Ngalyod paintings, act as definitive warnings to family, friends and visitors alike, illustrating the vengeful capacity of beings to punish transgressors or those who do not have ritual authority.’2 As the artist describes in the catalogue entry for this painting above, Ngalyod resides in the waterholes and water courses. Waterlilies growing around their edges may indicate the presence of Naglyod, and Kuninjku are careful not to damage the lilies or disturb the still bodies of water so not to anger the spirit. The Power of Nagalyod is clearly evident in Ngalyod Rainbow Serpent, 2004, the twisting energy of its body indicates the presence and potential power within that is both life-giving with the rejuvenating rains of the annual monsoon, and at the same time, threatening with the destructive power of storms. Mawurndjul’s paintings have pioneered a new interpretation of Kuningku clan sites and djang that inspire the next generation of bark painters. Constantly striving for new ways to interpret his country, Mawurndjul’s innovative use of rarrk to map important locations is evident in the fine lineal clan designs spread across the surface of his paintings, creating shifting patterns of grids that are rendered in fine interlocking lines. As Hetti Perkins writes ‘His works, lovingly crafted and sculpted depictions of flora and fauna, ancestral events, supernatural beings, significant sites and encrypted ceremonial designs are at once country and mnemonic of country.’3 1. The artist quoted in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 200 2. Perkins, H., ‘Mardayin Maestro’ in John Mawurndjul, I am the Old and the New, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2018, p. 26 3. ibid., p. 21 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency, 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 17, 2021
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, MILMILNGKAN, 2009
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 MILMILNGKAN, 2009 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 166.0 x 81.0 cm (irregular) bears inscription verso: Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 1630 – 09 PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (label and certificate of authenticity attached verso) Annandale Galleries, Sydney (label attached verso) Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2015 EXHIBITED John Mawurndjul and John Bulunbulun, New Work: bark paintings and ceremonial poles, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, 16 April 2015 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida which states: ‘John Mawurndjul lives at Milmilngkan near a billabong and says that underneath the water lies the power of Ngalyod. In this painting, he depicts the power of the place with rarrk -cross-hatching which contains Mardayin power. John Mawurndjul has depicted Milmilngkan place where Ngalyod -the rainbow serpent- resides under the water. Kuninjku people say there are two Rainbow serpents. One is Yingarna who is said to have been the original creator of all ancestral beings, the ‘first mother’. Yingarna’s first born is a Rainbow serpent call Ngaloyd. Yingarna -the Rainbow serpent – or her son Ngalyod are common subject on contemporary Kuninjku bark paintings. Ngalyod is very important in Kuninjku cosmology and is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. For example, ancestral stories relate how creator or ancestral beings had travelled across the country and had angered Ngalyod who swallowed them and returned to the earth to create the site. Today, Ngalyod protects these sites and its power is present in each one. Ngalyod has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and rainbows which are a manifestation of Ngalyod’s power and presence. Ngalyod is associated with the destructive power of the storms and with the plenty of the wet season, being both a destroyer and a giver of life. Ngalyod’s power controls the fertility of the country and the seasons.’ © John Mawurndjul/Copyright Agency, 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 25, 2020
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Kunmadj (Dillybag), 1996
Est: $35,000 - $45,000
John Mawurndjul (born 1952) Kunmadj (Dillybag), 1996 inscribed verso: 'Mawurndjul / 5625' natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 112.5 x 59.5cm (44 5/16 x 23 7/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jul. 15, 2020
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, DUPAN, c.1980
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
THE PETER AND RENATE NAHUM COLLECTION OF ABORIGINAL ART, LONDON JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 DUPAN, c.1980 natural earth pigments on hollow log 93.5 cm height PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, Northern Territory Dorothy Bennett, Darwin Private collection, South Australia Deutscher~Menzies, Melbourne, 27 June 2000, lot 515 The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection of Aboriginal Art, London EXHIBITED Rarrk – John Mawurndjul: Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland, 21 September 2005 – 29 January 2006; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 19 February – 5 June 2006 LITERATURE Kaufmann, C., et al., rarrk – John Mawurndul: Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Crawford House Publishing Australia, Belair, South Australia, 2005, pp. 88 (illus.), 227
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 15, 2020
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, NGALYOD THE RAINBOW SERPENT IN THE FORM OF YINARNGA (KANGAROO), 1989
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
THE PETER AND RENATE NAHUM COLLECTION OF ABORIGINAL ART, LONDON JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 NGALYOD THE RAINBOW SERPENT IN THE FORM OF YINARNGA (KANGAROO), 1989 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 212.0 x 68.0 cm (irregular) PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. MAW142, certificate of authenticity attached verso) Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 1989 The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection of Aboriginal Art, London EXHIBITED Kunwinjku; Bark paintings by James Iyuna, John Mawurndjul and Ivan Namirikki, Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 12 – 28 July 1989 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Crafts which states: 'Ngalyod – rainbow serpent is a very important figure in Kunwinjku mythology. He is known by different names and assumes different forms. He is the central focus of many dreaming sites, each of which has a different story. Here, Ngalyod is taking the form of Yinarnga – a dreaming kangaroo – at the artist’s mother’s country at Barrihdjokweng. At this site – Daluk (female spirit) of the Yirridja moiety, broke the sacred law by entering Ngalyod’s territory and was swallowed by him. This spirit now exists at the site as Wyuk – waterlily, which is shown on the stomach of Yinarnga. Ngalyod disguises himself with Wyuk, hiding so as to surprise intruders. This is considered a dangerous place to touch or break waterlily stems of leaves. On the right hand side and under the chin of Yinarnga is goln – palm tree.’
Deutscher and Hackett
Jul. 15, 2020
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, NGARRT – SHORT NECKED TURTLE, 1989
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
THE PETER AND RENATE NAHUM COLLECTION OF ABORIGINAL ART, LONDON JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 NGARRT – SHORT NECKED TURTLE, 1989 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 215.0 x 95.0 cm (irregular) PROVENANCE Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. MAW147, certificate of authenticity attached verso) Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne The Peter and Renate Nahum Collection of Aboriginal Art, London, acquired from the above in 1989 EXHIBITED Kunwinjku; Bark paintings by James Iyuna, John Mawurndjul and Ivan Namirikki, Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 12 – 28 July 1989 Dreamtime: zeitgenössische Aboriginal art / The Dark and the Light, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuberg, Austria, 18 May – 30 September 2001 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, p. 62) Rarrk – John Mawurndjul: Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland, 21 September 2005 – 29 January 2006; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 19 February – 5 June 2006 LITERATURE Kaufmann, C., et al., rarrk – John Mawurndjul: Journey Through Time in Northern Australia, Crawford House Publishing Australia, Belair, South Australia, 2005, pp. 103 (illus.), 227 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida which states: ‘Ngarrt – Short-necked turtle at a site known as Kabarabardi. It’s a female turtle shown with its egg, living inside the water at this place. Also shown is a plant growing in the water which is like a pandanus. It is known as manjimjim. It has a fruit, which is shown, which is edible by Ngarrt, but which is ‘cheeky’ or poisonous for humans.’
Deutscher and Hackett
Jun. 23, 2020
John Mawurndjul - Namarrkon (the Lightning Spirit)
Est: $18,000 - $22,000
Mawurndjul painted collaboratively with his older brother, Jimmy Njiminjuma, until the late 1970s. At this early stage in his painting career, the primary subject matter for his work was the mythology of the surrounding environment at Milmilngkan. Throughout the early to mid 1980s, Mawurndjul painted small barks of Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent), other spirit beings including Namarrkon (the Lightning Spirit), and various depictions of the local natural species, such as fish, bandicoots, and possum. In all these subjects he paid precise attention to anatomical detail. Mawurndjulâs work at this time reflected his placeÂ as an heir to the long painting tradition of Kuninjku artists, who had created magnificent bark paintings over the previous decade. Though artists such as Yirawala, Peter Marralwanga, and Mick Kubarkku incorporated rarrk designs into their art, this âdesign elementâ remained secondary to the figurative elements, rarely leaving the interior of the figure and instead employing a plain background. This, in time, came to be thought of as the quintessential Central and Western Arnhem Land painting style. As time progressed, however, Mawurndjul increasingly allowed the rarrk designs to dominate, filling both the interior and surrounding space of his figures. By the mid 1990s, he had abandoned figurative iconography all but completely. This work is a very rare exception. In this painting, Mawurndjul has depicted the Lightning Spirit in its female manifestation. The Lightning spirit Namarrkon lives above the clouds and controls the electrical storms, also associated with the monsoon weather in the Top End of the Northern Territory. The Lightning spirit also makes sure aspects of tribal law are not broken, striking fearlessly with bolts of thunder and lightning as punishment.
Cooee Art
Jun. 23, 2020
John Mawurndjul - Mardayin from Kuruldul
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
John Mawurndjul lives at Milmilngkan. Here, the power of Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, lies underneath the water of a billabong. This painting, the Mardayin Design, displays the complex composition of Mawurndjul's intricate rarrk skills, conveying the power of the place. The Mardayin is a major male ceremony of a secret and sacred nature. Much of the meaning of the iconography in the painting is not in the domain of public knowledge and so it cannot be explained in detail here. The site referred to is Kakodbebuldi, an outstation on the Dangkorlo clan estate in the Mann River region. It is located on a large billabong covered in waterlillies. This place is about 50km south of Maningrida in Central North Arnhem Land. Born at Mumeka, an important site for the Kurulk clan located near the Mann River in Central Arnhem Land, John Mawurndjul was taught to paint by his elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his uncle Peter Marralwanga. Today he often paints alongside his wife Kay Lindjuwanga, while they guide the development of their children and his niece Irenie Ngalinba, Jimmy Njiminjuma's daughter.
Cooee Art
Mar. 18, 2020
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, born 1952, LORRKON, 2007, natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on hollowed stringybark log
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 LORRKON, 2007 natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on hollowed stringybark log DIMENSIONS: 186.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 4014–07) Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Maclean collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in November 2007 EXHIBITED: John Mawurndjul, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in association with Maningrida Arts and Culture, Melbourne, 20 November – 22 December 2007 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida which states: ‘The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log which was decorated with painted clan designs and ceremonially placed into the ground where it remained until it slowly decayed over many years. The log is made from a termite hollowed Stringybark tree ( Eucalyptus tetradonta) and is decorated with totemic emblems. The western Arnhem Land version of the Lorrkon ceremony involves the singing of sacred songs to the accompaniment of the karlikarli, a pair of sacred boomerangs used as rhythm instruments. During the final evening of the ceremony, dancers decorate themselves with kapok down, or today, cotton wool and conduct much of the final segments of the ceremony in the secrecy of a restricted mens’ camp. The complete ceremony may stretch over a period of two weeks, but on the last night the bones of the deceased, which have been kept in a bark container or today wrapped in cloth and kept in a suitcase are taken out, painted with red ochre and placed inside the hollow log. This ceremony may take place years after the person has died. At first light on the final morning of the Lorrkon ceremony, the men appear, coming out of their secret bush camp carrying the pole towards the women’s camp. The two groups call to each other using distinct ceremonial calls. The women have prepared a hole for the pole to be placed into and when it is stood upright, women in particular kinship relationships to the deceased dance around the pole in a jumping / shuffling motion. The Lorrkon is then often covered with a tarpaulin and left to slowly decay.’
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 18, 2020
JOHN MAWURNDJUL‎, born ‎1952‎, MILMILNGKAN‎, ‎2009‎, natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark‎
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL‎ born ‎1952‎ MILMILNGKAN‎, ‎2009‎ natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark‎ SIGNED: bears inscription verso‎: ‎artist‎'‎s name and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat‎. ‎1948‎-‎09‎ DIMENSIONS: 130‎.‎0 ‎x ‎71‎.‎0 ‎cm ‎(‎irregular‎)‎ PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (label attached verso) Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in March 2012 EXHIBITED: New Work from Maningrida, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in association with Maningrida Arts and Culture, Melbourne, 6 – 31 March 2012 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida which states: ‘John Mawurndjul lives at Milmilngkan near a billabong and says that underneath the water lies the power of Ngalyod. In this painting, he depicts the power of the place with rarrk -cross-hatching- which contains Mardayin power. John Mawurndjul has depicted Milmilngkan place where Ngalyod -the rainbow serpent- resides under the water. Kuninjku people say there are two Rainbow serpents. One is Yingarna who is said to have been the original creator of all ancestral beings, the ‘first mother’. Yingarna’s first born is a Rainbow serpent call Ngaloyd. Yingarna -the Rainbow serpent – or her son Ngalyod are common subject on contemporary Kuninjku bark paintings. Ngalyod is very important in Kuninjku cosmology and is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. For example, ancestral stories relate how creator or ancestral beings had travelled across the country and had angered Ngalyod who swallowed them and returned to the earth to create the site. Today, Ngalyod protects these sites and its power is present in each one. Ngalyod has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and rainbows which are a manifestation of Ngalyod’s power and presence. Ngalyod is associated with the destructive power of the storms and with the plenty of the wet season, being both a destroyer and a giver of life. Ngalyod’s power controls the fertility of the country and the seasons.’
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 18, 2020
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, born 1952, BILLABONG AT MILMILNGKAN, 2006, natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
Est: $45,000 - $65,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 BILLABONG AT MILMILNGKAN, 2006 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark DIMENSIONS: 154.0 x 52.0 cm (irregular) PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory (cat. 2760-06) (label attached verso) Annandale Galleries, Sydney (cat. JMa 531) (label attached verso) Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED: John Mawurndjul: Mapping Djang, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, 7 November – 9 December 2006 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida. ESSAY: ‘Milmilngkan is a duwa moiety place belonging to us. This is the place where I live. There is a sacred site, a Djang, near the billabong… Milmilngkan is where the Rainbow Serpent pierced the ground. There is a Rainbow Serpent there that watches over us’.1 Situated 60 kilometres south of Maningrida in central Arnhem Land, Milmilngkan is a spring not far from a billabong where John Mawurndjul has a seasonal camp. As disclosed in the accompanying certificate, Milmilngkan is a site of immense significance within the structures and dynamics of Kuninjku culture, for ‘the Rainbow serpent resides under the water’.2 A familiar subject of contemporary Kuninjku bark paintings, Ngalyod is the protector of all sacred sites and its power is present in each one. Ngalyod has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and rainbows which are a manifestation of Ngalyod's power and presence. Ngalyod is associated with the destructive power of the storms and with the plenty of the wet season, being both a destroyer and a giver of life. Ngalyod's power controls the fertility of the country and the seasons.3 Guided by his father Anchor Kulunba, elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his uncle Peter Marralwanga, Mawurndjul received a very traditional upbringing that resulted in his extensive knowledge of ritual ceremony and strong interest in cultural heritage. Whilst still at a young age, Mawurndjul was recognised as an exceptional painter of body designs for ceremony. As the artist recalls, ‘I saw my father doing the rarrk (cross hatching) for the Mardayin ceremony and tried to do it myself with my back all doubled over, I ended up being better than any of them at it. They gave me a job in the Mardayin ceremony to paint some rarrk’.4 Originally painting figures and creatures in Kuningku mythology, he has over the years developed a more metaphysical representation of specific sites, events and landscape. Constantly striving for new ways to interpret his country, Mawurndjul’s innovative use of rarrk to map important locations is evident in the fine lineal clan designs spread across the surface of his paintings, creating shifting patterns of grids that are rendered in fine interlocking lines. Utilising his explorations of rarrk designs, Mawurndjul set on a path of creating site specific Mardayin works depicting important ceremonial sites. Showing all his skill as a painter, places such as Dilebang, Murmeka, Kakodbebuldi, Kudjarnngal and his home of Mlilmilngkan, are all represented in a superb display of fine rarrk. As explained by the artist, ‘the blocks of rarrk are the body of the mardayin ceremony. Mardayin phenomena are located in water, underneath bodies of water… as at Kakodbebuldi, Mlilmilngka and Murmeka. It’s always in the water, lying under the water’.5 Mawurndjul’s paintings have pioneered a new interpretation of clan sites and djang that inspired the next generation of bark painters. Indeed, his influence can be seen in the work of his younger brother James Iyuna, his wife Kay Lindjuwanga and other younger artists such as Ivan Namirrikki, Samuel Namundja, Owen Yalandra and his daughter Anna Wurrkidj. 1. The artist quoted in I am the Old and the New, Muse
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 03, 2019
John Mawurndjul (1952-) Milmilngkan Site
Est: $9,000 - $12,000
John Mawurndjul lives at Milmilngkan. Here, the power of Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, lies underneath the water of a billabong. This painting, the Mardayin Design, displays the complex composition of Mawurndjul's intricate rarrk skills, conveying the power of the place. Ngalyod is very important in Kuninjku cosmology and is associated with the creation of all sacred sites, djang, in Kuninjku clan lands. Here stories relate how creator or ancestral beings travelled across the country and angered Ngalyod who swallowed them and returned to the earth to create the site. Ngalyod has both powers of creation and destruction and is most strongly associated with rain, monsoon seasons and rainbows which are a manifestation of Ngaloyd's power and presence. Ngalyod is associated with the destructive power of the storms and with the plenty of the wet season, being both a destroyer and a giver of life. Ngalyod's power controls the fertility of the country and the seasons. Born at Mumeka, located near the Mann River in Central Arnhem Land, an important site for the Kurulk clan, John Mawurndjul was taught to paint by his elder brother Jimmy Njiminjuma and his uncle Peter Marralwanga. Today he guides the development of his children and his niece Irenie Ngalinba, Jimmy Njiminjuma's daughter.
Cooee Art
Nov. 21, 2019
John Mawurndjul (1952 - ) - Narrbek- The Echidna, 1979 58 x 71 cm
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
John Mawurndjul (1952 - ) Narrbek- The Echidna, 1979 natural pigments on bark 58 x 71 cm inscription verso
Lawsons
Oct. 29, 2019
John Mawurndjul (b. 1952)
Est: $600 - $800
Maidaijin Design etching on paper, edition: 9/30, numbered, titled and signed below image '9/30, Maidaijin Design, Johnny'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Oct. 06, 2019
John Mawurndjul Ngalyod and Barramundi Art
Est: $10,000 - $12,000
MAWURNDJUL, John, (Australian, 1952-): Cross hatched and dot figures Ngalyod, the Rainbow Serpent, barramundi, snakes, and other animals, Mixed Media, sight size 41" x 29.5", framed 46.5" 34.75" . Sold with a 2002 certificate from Alice Springs, Northern Territories. Condition: Unable to examine out of frame.
Amero Auctions
Jul. 18, 2019
John Mawurndjul (1952 - ) - Untitled 45 x 18.5cm
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
John Mawurndjul (1952 - ) Untitled natural pigments on bark 45 x 18.5cm Pandanus Gallery cat no. PGAL004
Lawsons
Jun. 25, 2019
JOHN MAWURNDJUL, BIRLMU OR NAMARNKORL (BARRAMUNDI), 2003
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
JOHN MAWURNDJUL born 1952 BIRLMU OR NAMARNKORL (BARRAMUNDI), 2003 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark SIGNED: bears inscription on label verso: artist's name, language group (Kuninjku), medium, size and Maningrida Arts and Culture cat. 3969-03 DIMENSIONS: 23.0 x 72.0 cm PROVENANCE: Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory Private collection, Melbourne
Deutscher and Hackett