Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 20, 2024
KITTY KANTILLA (c1928-2003), Pumpuni Jilamara 2002
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, VICTORIA KITTY KANTILLA (c1928-2003) Pumpuni Jilamara 2002 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas 60.5 x 79.5 cm; 63.0 x 82.0 cm (framed) accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Northern Territory
Menzies
Nov. 12, 2024
KITTY KANTILLA (KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU), JILLAMARA, 2001
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
KITTY KANTILLA (KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU) c.1928-2003 JILLAMARA, 2001 ochre on paper 77 x 57 cm; 88.5 x 69 cm (framed) artwork cataloguing details verso PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts and Crafts, NT Cat No. 97-01 Aboriginal and Pacific Art, NSW Private collection, NSW Private collection, NSW EXHIBITED: Ngaruwanajirri Yirrara Paintings by Tiwi Artists from Nguiu”, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney NSW, 2001 ©Kitty Kantilla (Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu) / Copyright Agency, 2024 Kitty Kantilla’s art is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is that the meaning of these designs characterised by abstract patterns made up of dots and lines has been largely lost since the missionary era. She, was amongst the very last who inherited these designs intact from her father. In her own words, ‘I watched him as a young girl and I’ve still got the design in my head’ (Ryan 2004: 394). In the early period of Kantilla’s works on paper and canvas her style consisted of white, red and yellow dots against a black background. The fields of dots were punctuated solely by bands of solid colour or geometric shapes. By 1997 she began painting onto a white background, thereby reversing the colour dynamics and energy of her works. Her style varied once more in 2002, when she began to employ large blocks of textured colour, punctuated by small segments of dots and lines on both black and white underlay. Art critic Sebastian Smee most aptly described Kitty Kantilla as ‘a poet of small scale contrasts,’ (2000: 22). This piece is a fine example of an Australian Aboriginal artwork.
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Oct. 27, 2024
KITTY KANTILLA (CIRCA 1928-2003), Untitled 1998
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
KITTY KANTILLA (CIRCA 1928-2003) Untitled 1998 ochre and pigment on paper 55 x 74cm PROVENANCE King Street Gallery, Sydney © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency, 2024
Gibson's
Jul. 20, 2024
KANTILLA Kitty (Aboriginal c.1928-2003), Head, 1988-1990., Natural Pigments on Carved Ironwood, H61.5cm
Est: $800 - $1,200
KANTILLA, Kitty (Aboriginal c.1928-2003) Head, 1988-1990. Natural Pigments on Carved Ironwood H61.5cm PROVENANCE: Purchased from Tiwi Pima Art, Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, N.T. Original label attached. Private collection, Sydney.
Davidson Auctions
Jul. 15, 2024
Kitty Kantilla, (c. 1928-2003), Untitled, natural ochres on paper, 70 x 50 cm
Est: $3,500 - $5,500
Kitty Kantilla (c. 1928-2003) Untitled natural ochres on paper
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jul. 15, 2024
Kitty Kantilla, (c. 1928-2003), Fire (Yikwani), 1994, natural ochres on paper, 70 x 50 cm
Est: $3,500 - $5,500
Kitty Kantilla (c. 1928-2003) Fire (Yikwani), 1994 natural ochres on paper
Shapiro Auctioneers
Mar. 26, 2024
KITTY KANTILLA (KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU), UNTITLED, 2000
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KITTY KANTILLA (KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU) (c.1928 - 2003) UNTITLED, 2000 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas 100.5 x 81.0 cm bears inscription and stamp verso: artist’s name and Jilamara Arts cat. 140-00 PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts, Melville Island, Northern Territory (stamped verso) Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Kitty Kantilla; New Works on Paper and Canvas, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney, 7 – 23 December 2000 Meridian: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 28 February 2002 – 23 February 2003 Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008, cat. 60 (label attached verso) LITERATURE Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, p. 46 (illus.) ESSAY In response to her solo exhibition in December 2000 held at Aboriginal and Pacific Art in Sydney, art critic Sebastian Smee lauded the art of Kitty Kantilla as reminiscent of Italian still life painter Giorgio Morandi: ‘Her brilliant and original works vibrate with a moment-to-moment immediacy: nothing is allowed to settle into monotony… as well, she knows how leave things out... she lets the various elements breathe.’1 Reproduced on the invitation for the December 2000 Sydney exhibition and painted on a black ground, Untitled, 2000 encompasses all the elements of the artist’s lexicon. Pwanga (dots), marlipinyini (lines), and turtiyangimari (colours including white, red, yellow and black) all feature, however here the painting opens up with rhythmic movement – blocks of ochre dots separated by vertical lines are contained between wide horizontal bands of red and yellow ochre and smokey white clay. Although seemingly abstract in appearance, Kantilla’s mark making is far from arbitrary; rather her designs evoke cultural history and ritual, particularly the Pukumani ceremony, where the Tiwi gather to farewell the dead and performers in full body decoration participate in a cycle of song and dance. In the catalogue to Kantilla’s National Gallery of Victoria retrospective in 2007, Judith Ryan describes Kantilla’s approach: ‘She is able to distil and pare back figurative elements so that her work, like an analytic cubist still life, reduces form to structure and partakes of the quality of inwardness. The balancing patterns of red, yellow and white ochre in counterpoise with constant rows of alternating ochre dots on black or white, results in work of overriding presence and great beauty, borne of restraint and imbued with adagio rhythm.’2 1. Smee, S., ‘The Poet of Small things’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 December 2000 p. 22, cited in Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007 p. 81 2. Ryan, ibid., p. 82 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency 2024
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 09, 2024
KANTILLA Kitty (Aboriginal c.1928-2003), Head, 1988-1990., Natural Pigments on Carved Ironwood, H61.5cm
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
KANTILLA, Kitty (Aboriginal c.1928-2003) Head, 1988-1990. Natural Pigments on Carved Ironwood H61.5cm PROVENANCE: Purchased from Tiwi Pima Art, Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, N.T. Original label attached. Private collection, Sydney.
Davidson Auctions
Mar. 05, 2024
Kitty Kantilla (Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu) - Jillamara, 2001
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Kitty Kantillaâs art is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is that the meaning of these designs characterised by abstract patterns made up of dots and lines has been largely lost since the missionary era. She, was amongst the very last who inherited these designs intact from her father. In her own words, âI watched him as a young girl and Iâve still got the design in my headâ (Ryan 2004: 394). In the early period of Kantillaâs works on paper and canvas her style consisted of white, red and yellow dots against a black background. The fields of dots were punctuated solely by bands of solid colour or geometric shapes. By 1997 she began painting on to a white background, thereby reversing the colour dynamics and energy of her works. Her style varied once more in 2002, when she began to employ large blocks of textured colour, punctuated by small segments of dots and lines on both black and white underlay. Her subtle mastery over abstraction, anchored to the very essence of her culture, and the trembling impression of her marks at this late stage of her life, evoked the kinetic movement of participants as they sang and danced during ceremony. This was only heightened by her exquisite attention to detail. Art critic Sebastian Smee most aptly described Kitty Kantilla as âa poet of small scale contrasts,â (2000: 22). In her final years, though frail, she could imbue her works, despite their lack of figuration, with her mixed feelings about the passing of the old ways and the uncertainty about the new.
Cooee Art
Mar. 05, 2024
Kitty Kantilla (Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu) - Bima (Female Creation Figure), 1989
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
The Tiwi people live on Bathurst and Melville Islands, north of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Here, the main ceremonies are associated with fertility, increase and abundance (Kurlama â Yam ceremonies), and funeral rites (Pukumani ceremonies), during which the soul of the deceased makes its spirit journey back to live amongst the ancestors. This object reflects the Tiwi foundation creation story Purukapali and Tarpara were brothers. Tapara made love to Purukapaliâs wife, Bima, who left her son Jinani out under the hot sun. When Jinani passed away, death came to the Tiwi Islands for the first time. The two brothers fought and Tapara fled into the sky, where he became the moon. Kitty Kantilla was the leader of a group of elderly women who carved figures such as this at Paru in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Cooee Art
Nov. 25, 2023
KANTILLA Kitty (Aboriginal c.1928-2003), Head, 1988-1990., Natural Pigments on Carved Ironwood, H61.5cm
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
KANTILLA, Kitty (Aboriginal c.1928-2003) Head, 1988-1990. Natural Pigments on Carved Ironwood H61.5cm PROVENANCE: Purchased from Tiwi Pima Art, Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, N.T. Original label attached. Private collection, Sydney.
Davidson Auctions
Nov. 08, 2023
Kitty Kantilla (Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu) - Kulama (Yam) Ceremony in Rain, 1999
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
This painting refers to people participating in the Kulama ceremony which is the Tiwi initiation and fertility ritual. The path followed by the participants is indicated by the spear, leading to the central ceremonial ground. Four initiates are depicted lying with their heads touching and their bodies facing the four directions. The row of brown shapes indicates yams, the long parallel lines are rain, the triangular patterning represents the hills surrounding the ceremonial site, and the variegated patterns of dotted areas are Jilamara, body designs which denote country.
Cooee Art
Jun. 20, 2023
Kitty Kantilla - Pumpuni Jilamara, 2000
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Kitty Kantilla’s art, and indeed all Tiwi art, is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is the fact that the meaning of these designs has been largely lost since the missionary era. She was amongst the very last who inherited them intact. A seemingly abstract iconography lies at the heart of Kitty Kantilla’s art. Far from being non-representational, the different combinations of dots, lines, and blocks of colour called jilamara (design), when combined, evoke elements of ritual and reveal the essence of Kantilla’s cultural identity. Like other Tiwi artists, Kantilla gained her artistic knowledge in ceremonial contexts, before learning to express her individuality by carving and painting objects related to the Pukumani (mourning) ceremony. Her artworks, regardless of medium, were always tied to the fundamental Tiwi creation story. Bima, the wife of Purukapali, makes love to her brother-in-law while her son Jinani, left lying under a tree in the sun, dies of exposure. Purukapali becomes enraged and, after his wife is transformed into a night curlew, begins an elaborate mourning ceremony for his son. This was the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, telling how death first came to the Tiwi Islands.The roots of Kitty Kantilla’s art, regardless of medium, were always tied to the fundamental Tiwi creation story. Bima, the wife of Purukapali, makes love to her brother in law while her son Jinani, left lying under a tree in the sun, dies of exposure. Purukapali becomes enraged and after his wife is transformed into a night curlew he begins an elaborate mourning ceremony for his son. This was the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, and tells how death first came to the Tiwi Islands. Kitty Kantilla’s art, and indeed all Tiwi art, is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is that the meaning of these designs, characterised by abstract patterns made up of dots and lines, has been largely lost since the missionary era. She was amongst the very last who inherited these designs intact from her father.
Cooee Art
Jun. 06, 2023
KITTY KANTILLA (KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU), JILAMARA #2, 2001
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
KITTY KANTILLA (KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU) (c.1928 - 2003) JILAMARA #2, 2001 lithograph on paper 65.0 x 33.0 cm (image) 88.5 x 55.0 cm (frame) edition: 3/80 PROVENANCE Private collection, Melbourne, acquired in 2001 RELATED WORK Another example of this print is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency 2023 This work is located in our Melbourne Gallery This work is in excellent, stable, and original condition. The work has been placed in a window mount and housed in a grey painted timber frame under perspex.
Deutscher and Hackett
Apr. 20, 2023
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928-2003) Jilamara #2 2001 lithograph, ed. 29/80
Est: $600 - $800
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928-2003) Jilamara #2 2001 lithograph, ed. 29/80 signed and editioned below image 69.5 x 37.5cm (reveal); frame size: 94 x 60cm
Leonard Joel
Mar. 22, 2023
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA), UNTITLED, 1997
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA) (c.1928 - 2003) UNTITLED, 1997 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas 71.0 x 78.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name and date PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory (stamped verso) Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 22 November 1999, lot 410 Private collection, Melbourne Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 26 July 2004, lot 223 Private collection, Sydney ESSAY ‘I will paint until the day I die .’1 ‘Kitty Kantilla was one of Australia’s most remarkable Indigenous artists, celebrated for her innovation, unique style and mastery of a range of mediums... She produced an extraordinary body of work from the 1970s until her last days in 2003. In her hands the magic of Tiwi culture was translated into works of international significance.’2 ‘Her poetics of intimacy taught the art world that quality is not contingent upon scale. Her means were few: she needed only dots, lines and ochre colours to create infinite variations of rhythm, balance and beauty, of which no two are exactly alike. Kantilla’s works, like those of early European modernists, do not map space or tell a story, but radically affirm the painted surface and thereby guarantee the autonomy of art. Yet the power and inwardness of Kantilla’s innovative art hinges on its deep resonance with customary ritual. For the viewer, Kantilla’s inescapably modern works are also highly charged with ceremony, with something spiritual and untouchable. Kantilla’s sophisticated form of abstraction eludes explanation in terms of narrative because she strenuously pursued her art from deep within her culture. By painting, Kantilla was also singing and dancing: she sensed and invoked holistically, through a special music of natural ochre and design, the decorated objects, the painted dancers and their kinetic movement, the percussive rhythm and dynamism of ceremony. This was her Tiwi-ness, her identity: it drove her to make art and was her special form of activism; painting was central to her identity...’3 1. Kantilla, K., quoted in Ryan, J., ‘Kitty Kantilla’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007 at http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/kittykantilla/background.html 2. ‘KITTY KANTILLA’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2007 at http://archive.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media/archives_2007/kitty_kantilla/ 3. Ryan, op. cit. © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency 2023
Deutscher and Hackett
Dec. 08, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED 1997, SCREENPRINT ED. 94/99, 62 X 42CM, FRAME SIZE: 96.5 X 74.5CM PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK...
Est: $200 - $300
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED 1997, SCREENPRINT ED. 94/99, 62 X 42CM, FRAME SIZE: 96.5 X 74.5CM PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART COLLECTION
Leonard Joel
Nov. 10, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED, SCREENPRINT ED. 83/99, 62 X 42CM, FRAME SIZE: 87 X 65CM PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART COLL...
Est: $400 - $600
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED, SCREENPRINT ED. 83/99, 62 X 42CM, FRAME SIZE: 87 X 65CM PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART COLLECTION
Leonard Joel
Oct. 11, 2022
Kitty Kantilla - Pumpuni Jilamara, 2002
Est: $24,000 - $28,000
Kitty Kantilla’s art, and indeed all Tiwi art, is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is the fact that the meaning of these designs has been largely lost since the missionary era. She was amongst the very last who inherited them intact. A seemingly abstract iconography lies at the heart of Kitty Kantilla’s art. Far from being non-representational, the different combinations of dots, lines, and blocks of colour called jilamara (design), when combined, evoke elements of ritual and reveal the essence of Kantilla’s cultural identity. Like other Tiwi artists, Kantilla gained her artistic knowledge in ceremonial contexts, before learning to express her individuality by carving and painting objects related to the Pukumani (mourning) ceremony. Her artworks, regardless of medium, were always tied to the fundamental Tiwi creation story. Bima, the wife of Purukapali, makes love to her brother-in-law while her son Jinani, left lying under a tree in the sun, dies of exposure. Purukapali becomes enraged and, after his wife is transformed into a night curlew, begins an elaborate mourning ceremony for his son. This was the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, telling how death first came to the Tiwi Islands.
Cooee Art
Aug. 11, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED 1997, SCREENPRINT ED. 91/99, 61 X 42CM, FRAME SIZE: 92 X 72CM PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART...
Est: $300 - $500
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED 1997, SCREENPRINT ED. 91/99, 61 X 42CM, FRAME SIZE: 92 X 72CM PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART COLLECTION
Leonard Joel
Jun. 09, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED, SCREENPRINT 93/99, 62 X 42CM, FRAME: 96 X 74CM, PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART COLLECTION
Est: $400 - $600
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED, SCREENPRINT 93/99, 62 X 42CM, FRAME: 96 X 74CM, PROVENANCE: THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK ART COLLECTION
Leonard Joel
May. 19, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 Untitled 1997 screenprint, ed. 15/99
Est: $400 - $600
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 Untitled 1997 screenprint, ed. 15/99 editioned and signed in pencil below image 61.5 x 42cm
Leonard Joel
Apr. 28, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 Untitled 1997 screenprint, ed. 92/99
Est: $400 - $600
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 Untitled 1997 screenprint, ed. 92/99 editioned and signed in pencil below image 61.5 x 42cm PROVENANCE: The National Australia Bank Art Collection
Leonard Joel
Apr. 28, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 Untitled 1997 screenprint, ed. 14/99
Est: $400 - $600
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 Untitled 1997 screenprint, ed. 14/99 editioned and signed in pencil below image 62 x 42cm PROVENANCE: The National Australia Bank Art Collection
Leonard Joel
Mar. 31, 2022
KITTY KANTILLA (c1928-2003), Tiwi language group, Untitled 2000
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
KITTY KANTILLA (c1928-2003) Tiwi language group Untitled 2000 natural earth pigments on linen 127.5 x 89.0 cm bears inscription verso: KITTY KANTILLA/ (KKLC007)
Menzies
Mar. 30, 2022
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA), UNTITLED, 2000
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA) (c.1928 - 2003) UNTITLED, 2000 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas 127.0 x 79.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist's name and Jilamara Arts and Crafts cat. 138 – 00 PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 2000 EXHIBITED Kitty Kantilla: New Works on Paper and Canvas, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney, 6 – 23 December 2000, cat. 14 Meridian: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 28 November – 23 February 2003 Kitty Kantilla Retrospective, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008, cat. 64 (label attached verso) LITERATURE Smee, S., ‘The Poet of Small Things’, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 22 December 2000, p. 22 (illus.) Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, cat. 64, pp. 56 (illus.), 103 ESSAY This painting was acquired from Kitty Kantilla’s 5th solo exhibition held in December 2000 at Aboriginal and Pacific Art in Sydney. Painted on a black ground, this painting encompasses all the elements of the artist’s lexicon; pwanga (dots), marlipinyini (lines) and turtiyangimari (colours: white, red, yellow and black). Although seemingly abstract in appearance, Kantilla’s mark making is far from arbitrary, her designs evoke cultural history and ritual, particularly the Pukumani ceremony, where the Tiwi gather to farewell the dead. Here performers in full body decoration participate in a cycle of song and dance. © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 23, 2021
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928-2003) Jilamara 1994 natural earth pigments on paper
Est: $4,500 - $5,500
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928-2003) Jilamara 1994 natural earth pigments on paper 53 x 72cm PROVENANCE: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Melville Island Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney Deutscher + Hackett, Melbourne, 24 March 2010, lot 13 (label verso) Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITIONS: Kitty Kantilla, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney, August 1994, cat. no. 21 OTHER NOTES: © Kitty Kantilla / Copyright Agency 2021
Leonard Joel
Nov. 10, 2021
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA), UNTITLED, 1998
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA) (c.1928 - 2003) UNTITLED, 1998 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas 92.0 x 79.0 cm bears inscription and stamp verso: artist’s name Kitty Kantilla and Jilamara Arts cat. 980266 PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts, Melville Island, Northern Territory (stamped verso) Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 24 June 2002, lot 30 Private collection, New South Wales EXHIBITED Kitty Kantilla Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney, 1 – 24 October 1998 Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008, cat. 60 (label attached verso) LITERATURE Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, p. 53 (illus.) ESSAY Kitty Kantilla achieved much acclaim during her painting career. A pioneer of women artists from the Tiwi Islands, Kantilla first began producing intricate bark paintings and decorated carvings with a group of Tiwi women in the 1970s. Living a traditional life during her childhood at Yimpinari with her mother and father, Kantilla grew up speaking old Tiwi, eating bush foods and sleeping in paper–bark shelters during the wet season. Having undergone initiation as part of her education and witnessing her father painting jilamara (designs) for the Pukumani (funeral) ceremony, Kantilla was imbued with Tiwi rituals and the associated designs. She began making collaborative sculpture with her third husband Larry Kantilla in 1978 and ten years later Kantilla exhibited sixteen sculptures in Carved Wooden Sculptures by Tiwi Women from Paru at Aboriginal Artists Gallery, Sydney. By the early 1990s she had ceased carving and was instead painting her traditional designs on paper and canvas, Kitty Kantilla's Untitled 1998 is significant for being one of the earlier works to represent a fundamental shift away from her characteristic black ground by the introduction of a white ground. Kantilla's black ground works were a more literal translation of the Tiwi body paint decoration for which she had become so well known. It was this dramatic transition to white canvas that catapulted her work into the realm of deep abstraction, as though a light had been turned on all the cultural ceremonial elements Kantilla had been taught to paint by her father. As Judith Ryan astutely observed, 'The white surface broke the direct link between surface of object or body and two–dimensional painting and introduced stronger tonal contrasts, giving life to dramatic divisions of space, larger fields of colour and the adventurous use of squares and lines within rectangles on a white wall.' 1 1. Ryan, J., 'Dot Dot'– the Art of Kitty Kantilla', in Meridian: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2002, p. 99 © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 31, 2021
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA), UNTITLED, C.1995
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
KUTUWULUMI PURAWARRUMPATU (KITTY KANTILLA) (c.1928 - 2003) UNTITLED, c.1995 natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark 60.5 x 39.0 cm (irregular) PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Melville Island, Northern Territory Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne This work is located at our Melbourne gallery © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 31, 2021
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 - 2003) Jilamara #2 2001 lithograph
Est: $600 - $800
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 - 2003) Jilamara #2 2001 lithograph signed 'X' below image 76 x 57cm (sheet size), frame size: 92 x 72cm PROVENANCE: The Aboriginal Art Network Private collection, Melbourne
Leonard Joel
Mar. 17, 2021
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED, 2000
Est: $16,000 - $20,000
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 – 2003) UNTITLED, 2000 natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas 133.0 x 80.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name and Jilamarra Arts and Crafts cat.137 – 00 PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED Kitty Kantilla, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney, November 2001, cat. 9 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti. Acquired from Kitty Kantilla’s 5th solo exhibition held in December 2000 at Aboriginal and Pacific Art in Sydney, Untitled, 2000 is painted on a white ground and encompasses all the elements of the artist’s lexicon: pwanga (dots), marlipinyini (lines) and turtiyangimari (colours of white, red, yellow and black). Although seemingly abstract in appearance, Kantilla’s mark making is far from arbitrary, her designs evoke cultural history and ritual, particularly the Pukumani ceremony, where the Tiwi gather to farewell the dead. Here performers in full body decoration participate in a cycle of song and dance. © Kitty Kantilla/Copyright Agency, 2021
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 20, 2020
Kitty Kantilla - Jilamara, 2000
Est: $3,500 - $6,500
Kitty Kantillaâs art, and indeed all Tiwi art, is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is that the meaning of these designs, characterised by abstract patterns made up of dots and lines, has been largely lost since the missionary era. She was amongst the very last who inherited these designs intact from her father. The roots of Kitty's art, regardless of medium, were always tied to the fundamental Tiwi creation story. Bima, the wife of Purukapali, makes love to her brother-in-law Tarpara while her son Jinani is left lying under a tree in the sun and dies of exposure. Purukapali becomes enraged and after his wife is transformed into a night curlew he begins an elaborate mourning ceremony for his son. This was the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, and tells how death first came to the Tiwi Islands.
Cooee Art
Jul. 22, 2020
Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu (Kitty Kantilla) (circa 1928-2003) Untitled, c.1980 height: 70.0cm (27 9/16in).
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu (Kitty Kantilla) (circa 1928-2003) Untitled, c.1980 natural earth pigments on ironwood height: 70.0cm (27 9/16in). For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
Bonhams
Jun. 23, 2020
Kitty Kantilla - Jilamara - Ceremonial Design
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
Kitty Kantillaâs art, and indeed all Tiwi art, is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is the fact that the meaning of these designs has been largely lost since the missionary era. She was amongst the very last who inherited them intact. A seemingly abstract iconography lies at the heart of Kitty Kantillaâs art. Far from being non-representational, however, the different combinations of dots, lines, and blocks of colour called jilamara (design), when combined, evoke elements of ritual and reveal the essence of Kantillaâs cultural identity. Like other Tiwi artists, Kantilla gained her artistic knowledge in ceremonial contexts, before learning to express her individuality by carving and painting objects related to the Pukumani (mourning) ceremony. Her artworks, regardless of medium, were always tied to the fundamental Tiwi creation story. Bima, the wife of Purukapali, makes love to her brother-in-law while her son Jinani, left lying under a tree in the sun, dies of exposure. Purukapali becomes enraged and, after his wife is transformed into a night curlew, begins an elaborate mourning ceremony for his son. This was the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, telling how death first came to the Tiwi Islands.
Cooee Art
Mar. 18, 2020
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 1995, natural earth pigments on Arches paper
Est: $3,500 - $5,500
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 – 2003) UNTITLED, 1995 natural earth pigments on Arches paper SIGNED: bears inscription verso, artist's name, date, skin, dance and Jilamara Arts and Crafts cat. LP95KK095 and OA 142 DIMENSIONS: 56.0 x 75.5 cm PROVENANCE: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory Private collection, Darwin
Deutscher and Hackett
Oct. 29, 2019
Kitty Kantilla (c. 1928-2003)
Est: $800 - $1,200
Untitled, 1998 etching on paper, edition: 17/30 numbered and signed below image '17/30, X'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Jun. 04, 2019
Â Kitty Kantilla (c.1928-2003) Jilamara 2000
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Kitty Kantillaâs art, and indeed all Tiwi art, is informed by the ornate body painting of the Pukumani ceremony. What makes the art of Kitty Kantilla and those of her generation so inherently important is that the meaning of these designs, characterised by abstract patterns made up of dots and lines, has been largely lost since the missionary era. She was amongst the very last who inherited these designs intact from her father. The roots of Kitty's art, regardless of medium, were always tied to the fundamental Tiwi creation story. Bima, the wife of Purukapali, makes love to her brother-in-law Tarpara while her son Jinani, left lying under a tree in the sun, dies of exposure. Purukapali becomes enraged and after his wife is transformed into a night curlew he begins an elaborate mourning ceremony for his son. This was the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, and tells how death first came to the Tiwi Islands.
Cooee Art
May. 21, 2019
KITTY KANTILLA, UNTITLED #1, 2000
Est: $800 - $1,200
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 – 2003) UNTITLED #1, 2000 etching SIGNED: edition: 32/50 signed with artist’s mark and numbered below image DIMENSIONS: 32.5 x 64.0 cm PROVENANCE: Printed in 2000 by Martin King at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Melville Island Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, New South Wales EXHIBITED: Kitty Kantilla, The Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007, then touring; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008 (another example) LITERATURE: Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2007, cat. 45, p.42 (illus. another example) RELATED WORK: Other examples of this print are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 21, 2019
KITTY KANTILLA, JILAMARA #1, 2000
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 – 2003) JILAMARA #1, 2000 lithograph SIGNED: edition: 70/80 signed with artist's mark and numbered below image DIMENSIONS: 65.0 x 33.0 cm PROVENANCE: Printed in 2000 by Martin King at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Melville Island Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney Private collection, New South Wales EXHIBITED: Kitty Kantilla, The Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008 (another example) LITERATURE: Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, cat. 48, p. 41 (illus., another example)
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 21, 2019
ATTRIBUTED TO KITTY KANTILLA, PUKUMANI POLE
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
ATTRIBUTED TO KITTY KANTILLA (1928 – 2003) PUKUMANI POLE natural earth pigments on carved ironwood DIMENSIONS: 170.0 cm height PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Joel Fine Art, Melbourne, 5 June 2007, lot 42 Private collection, Melbourne
Deutscher and Hackett
May. 21, 2019
KITTY KANTILLA, PUMPUNI JILAMARA, 2002
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
KITTY KANTILLA (c.1928 – 2003) PUMPUNI JILAMARA, 2002 natural earth pigments with synthetic binder on paper DIMENSIONS: 57.0 x 77.0 cm (sheet) PROVENANCE: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Melville Island Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney Private collection, New South Wales EXHIBITED: Kitty Kantilla, The Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008 (label attached verso) LITERATURE: Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2007, cat. 38, p. 36 (illus.) ESSAY: Characterised by a mixture of broad areas of solid yellow and red ochre interspersed with lines and dots, the abstract designs of Tiwi art depict the ornate body painting that has been used for centuries as part of the Pukamani (mortuary) ceremonies. The works of Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu (Kitty Kantilla), for many years the senior and most renowned painter from Milikapiti, exemplified this enduring art movement. Her art is typified by a mixture of intricate lines of dots, bold areas of solid pigment and areas of delicate line work. Pumpini Jilamara, 2002 is a classic example by the artist with the design defined by the overall grid, solid bands of ochre with each area in-filled with fine lines and dotting.
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 28, 2019
Kitty Kantilla (c1928 - 2003) - Tiwi Motif X 61 x 41cm
Est: $800 - $1,200
Kitty Kantilla (c1928 - 2003) Tiwi Motif X screenprint ed.19/99 61 x 41cm signed ''X'' lower right
Lawsons
Mar. 28, 2019
Kitty Kantilla (c1928 - 2003) - Tiwi Motif III 62 x 42cm
Est: $800 - $1,200
Kitty Kantilla (c1928 - 2003) Tiwi Motif III screenprint ed. 1/99 62 x 42cm signed ''X'' lower right
Lawsons
Nov. 28, 2018
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 1999, natural earth pigments on paper
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 1999, natural earth pigments on paper SIGNED: bears inscription verso: artist's name, date, medium, Skin: Rain, Dance: Fire, and Jilamara Arts and Crafts cat. KKP-99415 DIMENSIONS: 75.5 x 57.0 cm PROVENANCE: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti (stamped verso) Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1999 Shapiro Auctioneers, Sydney, 20 – 21 July 2004, lot 4 The Austcorp Group Limited Art Collection, Sydney Sotheby’s Australia, Melbourne, 24 November 2009, lot 98 Private collection, Melbourne
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 28, 2018
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 2000, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 2000, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas SIGNED: bears inscription verso: artist's name and Jilamara Arts and Crafts cat. 137 – 00 DIMENSIONS: 133.0 x 80.0 cm PROVENANCE: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED: Kitty Kantilla, Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney, November 2001, cat. 9 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti. ESSAY: Lots 50 and 51 were acquired from Kitty Kantilla’s 5th solo exhibition held in December 2000 at Aboriginal and Pacific Art in Sydney. Painted on contrasting grounds, one black and the other white, these two paintings encompass all the elements of the artist’s lexicon; pwanga (dots), marlipinyini (lines) and turtiyangimari (colours: white, red, yellow and black). Although seemingly abstract in appearance, Kantilla’s mark making is far from arbitrary, her designs evoke cultural history and ritual, particularly the Pukumani ceremony, where the Tiwi gather to farewell the dead. Here performers in full body decoration participate in a cycle of song and dance.
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 28, 2018
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 2000, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
KITTY KANTILLA, (c.1928 – 2003), UNTITLED, 2000, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on canvas SIGNED: bears inscription verso: artist's name and Jilamara Arts and Crafts cat. 138 – 00 DIMENSIONS: 127.0 x 79.0 cm PROVENANCE: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney Private collection, Sydney EXHIBITED: Kitty Kantilla: New Works on Paper and Canvas, Aboriginal and Pacific Arts, Sydney, 6 – 23 December 2000, cat. 14 Meridian: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 28 November – 23 February 2003 Kitty Kantilla Retrospective, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April – 19 August 2007; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 – 21 January 2008, cat. 64 (label attached verso) LITERATURE: Smee, S., ‘The Poet of Small Things’, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 22 – 28 December 2000, p. 22 (illus.) Ryan, J., Kitty Kantilla, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, cat. 64, p. 65 (illus.) ESSAY: Lots 50 and 51 were acquired from Kitty Kantilla’s 5th solo exhibition held in December 2000 at Aboriginal and Pacific Art in Sydney. Painted on contrasting grounds, one black and the other white, these two paintings encompass all the elements of the artist’s lexicon; pwanga (dots), marlipinyini (lines) and turtiyangimari (colours: white, red, yellow and black). Although seemingly abstract in appearance, Kantilla’s mark making is far from arbitrary, her designs evoke cultural history and ritual, particularly the Pukumani ceremony, where the Tiwi gather to farewell the dead. Here performers in full body decoration participate in a cycle of song and dance.
Deutscher and Hackett
Nov. 21, 2018
Kitty Kantilla (c. 1928-2003)
Est: $1,400 - $1,800
Jilamara #1, lithograph on paper, edition: 51/80, numbered and signed below image '51/80, X'
Shapiro Auctioneers
Sep. 19, 2018
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 (LOCATION SYDNEY OFFICE. All inquiries 02 9362 9045) Jilamara #2 lithograph 45/80
Est: $1,200 - $1,800
KITTY KANTILLA c.1928 - 2003 (LOCATION SYDNEY OFFICE. All inquiries 02 9362 9045) Jilamara #2 lithograph 45/80 signed, l.r margin, artist's mark 'x' inscribed lower left margin '45/80' 65 x 33cm
Leonard Joel