Mary (Pantjiti) McLean Art for Sale and Sold Prices

b. 1935 -

Pantjiti Mary McLean’s artistic career began in 1992, and she was soon represented in every important public and private collection in Australia. Mary McLean won the 1995 Telstra National Aboriginal Art Award and was the commissioned artist for the 1996 Festival of Perth. Mary McLean’s work has been exhibited internationally, including in a special retrospective at Australia House in London in 1995.

Mary McLean’s individual style of painting was born at a street art project in 1992, run by artist Nalda Searles at Kalgoorlie for people from Ninga Mia and other fringe camp communities. The project aim was for Aboriginal people to express themselves in their paintings as a reinforcement of cultural values.

Mary McLean’s paintings and prints are everyday narratives that evoke the life of her early childhood with energy and abundance: men hunting, women and kids collecting bush tucker or running free and family life around the camp. The secular and the sacred are totally enmeshed in her images. The irresistible humour and humanity of Pantjiti Mary McLean’s works have brought her popularity with an audience that extends far beyond the gallery. There is a powerful affirmation of life in her paintings and her unique style has guaranteed her a strong buying public.