EMU STORY, 1989

Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art
Melbourne
27 March 2013
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EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE

(c.1910 - 1996)
EMU STORY, 1989

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

151.5 x 121.0 cm

inscribed verso: artist's name and Delmore Gallery cat. EO02

Estimate: 
$80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $138,000 (inc. BP) in Auction 28 - 27 March 2013, Melbourne
Provenance

Private Collection, Donald Holt, Delmore Downs Station, Alice Springs

Literature

Isaacs, J., Smith, T., Ryan, J., Holt, D., and Holt,J., Emily Kame Kngwarreye Paintings, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998, p. 47, pl. 4 (illus.)

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery

Catalogue text

Emu Story is a highly significant early work, possessing a multitude of stylistic elements - of dot (seed), yam lines and the track marks of the Emu. Essentially, this work represents a symbiotic relationship between the animal and Country. Beneath the soil, the bush potato (anatye) sits, plump for the digging. Above, a feeding frenzy of various seeds oscillates around the protagonist of the male Emu.

Caring for his young, as eggs and vulnerable hatchlings, the Emu regurgitates seed held in his crop and expels it onto the ground, on which his chicks feed. This action additionally keeps them close by, lessening the likelihood them falling prey to predators.

ANNABEL HOLT AND JANET HOLT