Murtiyarru Sunfly Tjampitjin Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Murtiyarru Sunfly Tjampitjin Art Value Price Guide

Mar. 30, 2022
MURTIYARRU SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN, THE ARTIST'S COUNTRY, 1989
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
MURTIYARRU SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN (1916 - 1996) THE ARTIST'S COUNTRY, 1989 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 119.5 x 85.0 cm bears inscription verso: artist’s name, size and Warlayirti Artists cat. 378/89 PROVENANCE Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills, Western Australia Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne (label attached to stretcher bar verso) Private collection, Melbourne, acquired from the above in 1990 Lawson~Menzies, Sydney, 31 May 2005, lot 46 Private collection, United Kingdom Accompanied by a copy of a certificate of authenticity from Warlayirti Artists. ESSAY Surrounded by the plains of the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts and located at the intersection of major Dreaming tracks linking the Western Desert and the Kimberley regions, Wirrimanu (Balgo Hills) in Western Australia is a place of great religious significance and the ceremonial hub for several Indigenous clans. This importance as a religious place was heightened when a Catholic Pallottine Mission was established there in 1939. The uniqueness of the community is in part a result of the diversity of its members. Culturally varied, the traditions of seven language groups have resulted in a social and creative pluralism unlike any other desert location, with the exception perhaps of Papunya in the early 1970s. Murtiyarru Sunfly Tjampitjin belongs to the first generation of male artists to emerge from the ex-mission settlement, and it was from this extraordinary meld that the first decade (from 1981 - 1992) of the Balgo painting movement arose, in part heralded by the land rights movement of the previous decade.1 The landmark 1986 – 87 exhibition, Art from the Great Sandy Desert, at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, resulted in the art from Balgo being recognised as a distinct body of work, functioning as documents which asserted their custodianship of major ceremonies and tracts of land. The 'genius of Wirrimanu art emerged in all its bold opulence: a broad calligraphic style combined with linear techniques of dotting and lush surfaces, together evoking depths of land and being... Often appearing more as a collection of individual or family renditions of Tjurkurpa (Dreaming) and sites, Wirrimanu's 'style' is one of conjunction, experimentation and expressiveness.'2 It was in this context that the work of Sunfly Tjampitjin flourished. Developing a complex language for the translation of traditional designs onto canvas, he was considered one of the region's major contemporary artists. Bold in form, his paintings have a sense of the monumental in scale, even though the dimensions of a work may not be large. These forms dominate the picture plane and convey notions of faith and authority. The Artist's Country, 1989 portrays an episode of the Wati Kutjarra Tjukurpa, or Two Men dreaming, a significant story that underpins the ritual education in the transformation of boys into men. In their ancestral journey, the Two Men travelled over a large expanse of desert country including that of the Warlpiri, Pintupi, Kukatja, Walmajarri and Ngardi peoples. On their travels, the two men moved in and out of the ground at various places, creating natural phenomena, drinking from rockholes and soakages and leaving traces of their presence in the landforms. The artist's outstation at Yagga Yagga, located 80 kilometres south of Balgo in the Great Sandy Desert, is the site of a major sequence of this story and this episode is centred around Yagga Yagga. It was here that the two men camped (depicted at the top of the painting) and slept (featured centre right). Also illustrated at the bottom of the work are two powerful and secret Tingari men who were passing through on their way to other places. A senior law man who was responsible for the Tingari ritual ceremonies, Sunfly's work is timeless in its minimalist perfection; measured and restrained, it imparts an unfailing atmosphere of authority. 1. The Kimberley Land Council, which serviced the Wirrimanu area, was formed in 1978 (see McDonald, H., Blood, Bones and Spirit: Aboriginal Christianity in an East Kimberley Town, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002, p. 89) 2. Watson, C., in Perkins, H., One Sun, One Moon, Aboriginal Art in Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2007, p. 219 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE © Murtiyarru Sunfly Tjampitjin/Copyright Agency 2022
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 08, 2022
Sunfly Tjampitjin Murtiyarru - Luurnpa - Travels of the Kingfisher Ancestral Spirits, 1992
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Sunfly Tjampitjin was already around 70 years old when the Walayirti art centre opened in Balgo Hills in the mid 1980s and only lived for another ten years. It is estimated that in Sunflyâs entire career he produced little more than a total of 50 paintings and sculptures. Yet so powerful are his works that his renown was unparalleled amongst the burgeoning art community at Balgo Hills during his lifetime. Stripped of subsidiary detail and startling in their economy, the starkness and simplicity of Sunflyâs compositions is reminiscent of sacred ground paintings. The bold use of flat blocks of red, yellow, white and black have spiritual significance for, as ochres, they embody the transformed substances of the ancestral beings. These same pigments are applied as body paint during ceremonies to reunite the participants with the land. Following his participation in group exhibitions at Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery in Sydney and Gallerie Gabriele Pizzi in Melbourne, from the late 1980s onward, Sunfly Tjampitjinâs works were included in the most important landmark exhibitions during the final years of his life. Amongst these wereÂ Mythscapes, Aboriginal Art of the Desert, at the National Gallery of Victoria andÂ Aboriginal Art: The Continuing TraditionÂ at the National Gallery of Australia in 1989;Â Aboriginal Paintings from the Desert, shown at the Union of Soviet Artists Gallery, Moscow and Museum of Ethnographic Art in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1991;Â Crossroads-Towards a New Reality,Â at the, National Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo in 1992 andÂ Aratjara, Art of the First Australians, at the Kunstammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Dusseldorf and other touring venues throughout Europe in 1994.
Cooee Art
Nov. 26, 2014
MURTIYARRU SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN, 1916 - 1996, TRAVELS OF THE GOANNA MEN IN THE ARTIST'S COUNTRY, 1990, synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
MURTIYARRU SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN, 1916 - 1996, TRAVELS OF THE GOANNA MEN IN THE ARTIST'S COUNTRY, 1990, synthetic polymer paint on canvas SIGNED: inscribed verso: artist's name and Warlayirti Artists cat. 556/90 DIMENSIONS: 120.0 x 60.0 cm EXHIBITED: Innovation and Tradition: Exhibition of Recent paintings by Warlayirti Artists from Balgo Hills WA, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, November 1990 (label attached verso) Crossroads - Towards a New Reality: Aboriginal Art from Australia, The National Museum of Art, Kyoto, 22 September - 8 November 1992; The National Museum of Art, Tokyo, 17 November - 20 December 1992, cat. 74 (label attached verso) LITERATURE: Uchiyama, T., (ed.), Crossroads - Towards a New Reality: Aboriginal Art from Australia, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 1992, p. 106 (illus.) PROVENANCE: Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne Private collection, Melbourne Encircled by the plains of the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts, and located at the intersection of major Dreaming tracks linking the Western Desert and the Kimberley regions, Wirrimanu (Balgo Hills) in Western Australia is a place of great religious significance and the ceremonial hub for several Indigenous clans. This importance as a religious place was magnified when a Catholic Pallottine Mission was established there in 1939. The uniqueness of the community is in part a result of the diversity of its members. Culturally varied, the traditions of seven language groups have resulted in a social and creative pluralism unlike any other desert location, with the exception perhaps of Papunya in the early 1970s. It was from this extraordinary meld that the first decade (from 1981 to 1992) of the Balgo painting movement emerged, in part, heralded by the land rights movement of the previous decade.1 Functioning as documents which asserted their custodianship of major ceremonies and tracts of land, the 'genius of Wirrimanu art emerged in all its bold opulence: a broad calligraphic style combined with linear techniques of dotting and lush surfaces, together evoking depths of land and being ... Often appearing more as a collection of individual or family renditions of Tjurrkupa (Dreaming), Wirrimanu's "style" is one of conjunction, experimentation and expressiveness.'2 The landmark exhibition, Art from the Great Sandy Desert, held in 1986 at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, resulted in the art from Balgo being recognised as a distinct body of work, distinguished by its diversity of style and bold use of colour. It was in this context that the work of Sunfly Tjampitjin flourished. Developing a complex language for the translation of traditional designs onto canvas, he was considered one of the region's major contemporary artists. Bold in form, his paintings have a sense of the monumental in scale, even though the dimensions of a work may not be large. These forms dominate the picture plane and convey notions of faith and authority. Travels of the Goanna Men in the Artist's Country, 1990 is an iconic painting within the artist's short career. The Wati Kutjarra Tjukurpa, or Two Goanna Men Story, is immensely significant for a number of Aboriginal clans and underpins the ritual education that turns boys into men. In their ancestral journeys, the Two Goanna Men travelled over a large expanse of desert country including that of the Warlpiri, Pintupi, Kukatja, Walmajarri and Ngardi peoples. On their travels, the two men moved in and out of the ground at various places, creating natural phenomena, drinking from rockholes and soakages and leaving traces of their presence in the landforms. The artist's outstation at Yagga Yagga, located 80 kilometres south of Balgo in the Great Sandy Desert, is the site of a major sequence of this story. Centred around Yagga Yagga, this episode of the story involves cultural activities such as teaching about the use of fire and the preparation and cooking of various foods. Sunfly's work is classic in its minimalist perfection, balancing large icons with fine detail to create monumental effects within moderatelysized canvases. It is measured, and restrained, and imparts an unfailing atmosphere of authority. 1. The Kimberley Land Council, which serviced the Wirrimanu area, was formed in 1978 (see McDonald, H., Blood, Bones and Spirit: Aboriginal Christianity in an East Kimberley Town, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002, p. 89) 2. Watson, C., in Perkins, H., One Sun, One Moon, Aboriginal Art in Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2007, p. 219 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE Under the provisions of the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986, buyers may be required to obtain an export permit for certain categories of items in this sale from the Cultural Property, Collections and Cultural Heritage Branch, Ministry for the Arts, Attorney-General's Department, email: movable.heritage@arts.gov.au
Deutscher and Hackett
Mar. 24, 2013
Sunfly Tjampitjin (circa 1916-1996)
Est: £50,000 - £70,000
Men's Law at Artist's Country at Murunpa, 1991 bears artist's name, dimensions and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 668/91 on the reverse, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi label on the stretcher and Aratjara: Art of the First Australians exhibition label on the reverse synthetic polymer paint on canvas 100 x 75cm (39 3/8 x 29 1/2in).
Bonhams
Nov. 19, 2012
Sunfly Tjampitjin (circa 1916-1996)
Est: £8,000 - £12,000
Goanna Men at Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) bears artist's name, title, description of the story and Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation stamp on the reverse synthetic polymer paint on composition board 61 x 46cm
Bonhams
Oct. 15, 2012
Sunfly Tjampitjin circa 1916-1966 MINGKURR (LAKE MACKAY) (1991) synthetic polymer paint on linen
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
Sunfly Tjampitjin circa 1916-1966 MINGKURR (LAKE MACKAY) (1991) synthetic polymer paint on linen 99 X 75CM PROVENANCE Painted at Wirrimanu, Balgo Hills Warlayirti Artists, Western Australia (stock 184/91) Private Collection, Queensland This painting is sold with a Warlayirti Artists certificate PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, QUEENSLAND
Smith & Singer
Jul. 20, 2009
Murtiyarru Sunfly Tjampitjin circa 1916-1996 YATARU synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
bears artists name, size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 87/707 on the reverse synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Sotheby's
Jul. 24, 2007
MURTIYARRU SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN , WANAYARRA THE RAINBOW SNAKE IN THE ARTIST'S COUNTRY 1990
Est: $120,000 - $180,000
Bears artist's name, size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 573/90 on the reverse Synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Sotheby's
Nov. 22, 2006
SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN (CIRCA 1916 - 1996) - Liltjin, 1989
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN (CIRCA 1916 - 1996) Liltjin, 1989 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 86 x 121 cm Provenance: Warlayirti Artists: Cat. no. 236/89 Private Collection, Tas Sold with a copy of art centre documentation Born in the Alec Ross ranges north west of Lake Mackay in the early 1920's, Sunfly Tjampitjin was a revered, and very senior, lawman when he began painting at Yaga Yaga, 120 km in to the sand dunes south of the Balgo community. Liltjin lies near Lake Mackay. The salt lakes depicted only have water after rains when the creeks flow. In the Dreaming story for the area people lived in the holes. This is an important area for men's ceremonies where young men were brought for initiation. The painting was exhibited in the very first exhibition of Balgo Hills artists at Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery.
Lawsons
Jul. 31, 2006
MURTIYARRU SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN CIRCA 1916-1996
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
MAWUKUPANTA 1992 MEASUREMENTS 100 by 50 cm Bears artist's name, size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 213/92 on the reverse Synthetic polymer paint on canvas PROVENANCE Painted for Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills in 1992 Private collection, Sydney Cf. For a similar but earlier painting by the artist see 'Tjikerri', 1997, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, in Ryan, J., Mythscapes: Aboriginal Art of the Desert from the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1989, p.61, illus.; comparable works by the artist include 'Murunpa near Lake Mackay, WA', in the Laverty Collection, in Cowan, J., Balgo: New Directions, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1999, p.82, plate 26, illus., and 'Pinki Dreaming', 1991, previously in the Sam Barry Collection, in Cowan, J., Wirrimanu: Aboriginal Art from the Balgo Hills, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994, p.112, plate 45, illus. A characteristically bold and direct image in raw, primary colours, this is an iconic painting by an artist who was custodian of the highly esoteric and secret/sacred ancestral Tingari ceremonies. Sunfly's imagery exudes a potency and strength that creates a sense of grand scale, as befits his subjects and the landscape they inhabit Sunfly was represented in a number of major international exhibitions including L'été Australiènne à Montpellier: 100 chefs-d'oeuvre de la Peinture Australienne, at the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, France, in 1990; Aboriginal Paintings from the Desert, at the Union of Soviet Artists Gallery, Moscow and the Museum of Ethnographic Art, St. Petersburg, in 1991; Crossroads-Towards a New Reality, Aboriginal Art from Australia, at the National Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo in 1992; and Aratjara: Art of the First Australians: Traditional and Contemporary works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists, at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Hayward Gallery, London and Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark, in 1993-94 This painting is sold with an accompanying Warlayirti Artists certificate with an annotated diagram together with a description of the story depicted that reads: 'Artist's country. A large "Warran" or claypan is shown and the surrounding country is bare of any trees. These features go back to the time of the Dreaming or Tjukurrpa and are explained in the law into which men are initiated. Wanyarra, the Rainbow Serpent, is believed to make it's home underneath this lake and its spirit is looked after by senior custodians such as the artist. Important sites linked with the Tingari Cycle are also found here'
Sotheby's
Jul. 25, 2005
SUNFLY TJAMPITJIN CIRCA 1916-1996 UNTITLED 1986
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Synthetic polymer paint on linen Provenance
Sotheby's