MAJOR AT GROWLER GULLY, 1999

Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art
Melbourne
14 October 2009
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13

Freddie Timms

born c.1948
MAJOR AT GROWLER GULLY, 1999

natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on linen

122.0 x 135.0 cm

inscribed verso: artist's name, date, title (Growlery [sic]), and Jirrawun Aboriginal Art Corporation cat. FT59978

Estimate: 
$10,000 - $15,000
Sold for $18,000 (inc. BP) in Auction 11 - 14 October 2009, Melbourne
Provenance

Jirrawun Aboriginal Art Corporation, Kununurra
Watters Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso)
Private collection, New South Wales

Related works

For a brief outline of Major's life and a reproduction of a large six panel work depicting the last days of Major's life see: Oliver, T., Blood on the Spinifex, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2002, pp. 40–45 (fold out)

Catalogue text

This painting shows an episode in the life of an Aboriginal man called Major who rebelled against the intrusion of Europeans into his land and life. Major, along with two other Aboriginal men, were shot by police near the Western Australian / Northern Territory border in 1908. Major had been 'adopted' by Jack Kelly, the owner of Texas Downs Station. He was said to have been badly mistreated as a child and upon adulthood he became an outlaw, holding up travellers between Wyndham and Turkey Creek. Major has been described as an 'outlaw, a bushranger and a rebel'1. In this painting the armed Major is seen taking cover at Growler Gully.

1. Oliver, T., 2002, p. 40