Emily Kam 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:
$138,000 (inc. BP)
lot details
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
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