Ena Gimme Nungurrayi Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Ena Gimme Nungurrayi Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 21, 2023
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI (born c.1944) (Language group: Kukatja) (Artist's Mother's Country) 1991 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 120..
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI (born c.1944) (Language group: Kukatja) (Artist's Mother's Country) 1991 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 120 x 60.5cm PROVENANCE: The Artist Warlayirti Artists, Western Australia, cat. no. 252/91 (accompanied by a copy of the certificate of authenticity) Private collection Sotheby's, Melbourne, Contemporary and Aboriginal Art, 18 June 1995, lot 302 The Thompson Marecaux Collection of Balgo Paintings Sotheby's, Melbourne, Aboriginal Art, 20 July 2009, lot 44 The Le Pley Collection, Western Australia, acquired from the above in 2009 OTHER NOTES: "This waterhole has been used by the artist's family for generations and she herself spent her early years around here. The women would go out to collect food and they would camp under the shady trees. There are places associated with important events from the Dreamtime and a rock formation believed to have been where the digging stick is shown." As stated on the Warlayirti Artists certificate of authenticity © Ena Gimme Nungurrayi/Copyright Agency, 2023 Ena Gimme Nungurrayi was a leading exponent of the art movement established at Balgo. Born in Kaliyangku, her father's country, on the western edge of the Tanami Desert in the far north of Western Australia, Ena was an especially talented artist alongside her mother, Eubena Yupinya Nampitjin. While Ena's career as an artist was sadly brief, her resulting paintings demonstrate her unique visual language and the overall significance of the female Balgo painters emerging in the 1980s. The Balgo settlement, a former mission station, brought together diverse tribal groups including the Kukatja, Walmajarri, Warlpiri, Pintupi, Ngardi and Tjaru people, as well as a mix of different languages, traditions and ceremonial practices. The Balgo landscape is one of flat plateaus, descending plains, and defined desert hills and ridges. Referred to by locals as Wirrimanu ('dirty wind'), it is adjoined by three deserts, the Tanami, the Great Sandy and the Gibson. Across these arid regions permanent water sources are spoken of with whispered reverence as 'living water'. Balgo is one of the most isolated communities in Australia, some 200 miles from the nearest town of Hall's Creek. Painting began at Balgo in 1981, mostly by young men who joined an adult education centre. Later the older men became involved in painting, and made the transition to acrylic paint on canvas in 1984. While the early Balgo artworks were painted in earthy tones, the works of the 1990s began to incorporate vivid acrylic paints in pinks, greens, blues and yellows as well as using brushes instead of wooden dotting sticks. The Balgo women, such as Ena, also became involved in painting as a communal exercise and by 1987 the Warlayirti Artist Co-Operative had officially been formed to support this great diverse range of artists. The artists' diverse styles stemmed from the culturally diverse and highly mobile population of Balgo, due to its location placed between various groups, allowing for social and ceremonial exchanges with other communities. Ena Gimme Nungurrayi began painting in 1989, immediately showing her mother's artistic influence. The circular motifs featured in her works centred upon two waterholes from Eubena's country. Ena's paintings are often inviting, rich, and with mixed strokes. In this painting, we see the traditionally earthy tones of early Balgo painting with the vivid blue of the waterhole encapsulating the importance of this water source to the community. It was often food and water sources that Ena captured in her paintings. For an artist of such brief activity, Ena Gimme Nungurrayi's paintings convey her own highly original interpretation of central desert motifs. The current lot presents as one of the most significant exampes of Ena's work to come to auction. Olivia Fuller Head of Art
Leonard Joel
Nov. 27, 2018
Ena Nungurayai Gimme (1953-1992) Artist's Mother's Country 1991
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
Ena Gimme began painting for Warlayirti Artists in 1989. She was the eldest daughter of Eubena Nampitjin and, because of the strong influence of her mother, her artistic expression more closely followed the developments of the older female painters. This was in part also due to the fact that she did not leave her traditional lands on the Canning Stock Route until she was mature in age. The circular motifs in her paintings centered upon two waterholes from her mother country, surrounded by a grove of trees. This painting shows one of these important waterholes which generations of the artist's family camped at. In the surrounding bush there is always plentiful supplies of the 'ngungun' fruit which is collected by the women. The rocks shown have associations with Dreamtime creation stories passed down in law and ceremony. Ena Gimme passed away in 1992 at 36 years of age, just three years after she had begun painting. After a period spent in the sorry camp her mother Eubena left Balgo Hills and returned to Well 33. It was to be another 3 years before she would return to the art centre and begin painting once more.
Cooee Art
May. 24, 2018
NUNGURRAYI,ENA GIMME (1953 - 2001). "Artist Mother Country". Óleo sobre lienzo. Firmado al dorso e inscrito 634/91. 100 x 75 cm
Est: -
NUNGURRAYI,ENA GIMME (1953 - 2001). "Artist Mother Country". Óleo sobre lienzo. Firmado al dorso e inscrito 634/91. 100 x 75 cm
Duran Arte y Subastas
Jul. 20, 2009
Ena Gimme Nungurrayi c.1953 - 1992 UNTITLED (ARTIST'S MOTHER'S COUNTRY) synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
bears artist's name, size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 252/91 on the reverse synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Sotheby's
Jul. 31, 2006
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI CIRCA1955-1991
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
MARTUWARRA (THE ARTIST'S MOTHER'S COUNTRY) 1990 MEASUREMENTS 100 by 50 cm Bears artist's name, size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 320/90 on the reverse Synthetic polymer paint on canvas PROVENANCE Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hogarth Gallery, Sydney Private collection, New South Wales Cf. For other paintings by the artist from the last years of her life see 'Father's Country', 1991, and 'Rockhole Dreaming, Lilpuwu', 1991, in Cowan, J., Wirrimanu: Aboriginal Art from the Balgo Hills, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994, pp.82-83, plates 18 and 19, illus. The former is also reproduced in Ryan, J. (ed), Colour Power: Aboriginal Art Post 1984, in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2004, p.41, illus. The artist's mother's country is Martuwarra, near the Canning Stock Route. It is associated with the ancestral Tjitji Kutjarra or Two Children and it abounds with bush foods. The main features of the landscape include the creek, Martuwarra, which is represented by the red arc at the bottom of the painting. Murtilyakutjarra is a major waterhole to the left of this. The horizontal lines joining the two roundels at the top of the painting represent the place called Wirtan where the artist's grandfather is buried This painting is sold with an accompanying Warlayirti Artists certificate
Sotheby's
Nov. 15, 2005
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI CIRCA 1953-1991
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
KALIYANGKU - ARTIST'S COUNTRY 1990 MEASUREMENTS 100 by 75 cm Synthetic polymer paint on canvas Bears artist's name, size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 588/90 together with a cataloguing label on the reverse PROVENANCE Painted for Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills Private collection, U.S.A.
Sotheby's
Jul. 26, 2004
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI CIRCA 1953-1991 LILPUWU 1991 99 by 76cm Synthetic polymer paint on canvas Bears artist's name 'Ena Gimme', size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 94/91 on the reverse Provenance: Painted in 1991 at Wirrimanu (Balgo Hills),
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI CIRCA 1953-1991 LILPUWU 1991 99 by 76cm Synthetic polymer paint on canvas Bears artist's name 'Ena Gimme', size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 94/91 on the reverse Provenance: Painted in 1991 at Wirrimanu (Balgo Hills), for Warlayirti Artists Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney The Sam Barry Collection Exhibited: Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney 1991 Literature: Cowan, J., Wirrimanu: from the Balgo Hills, Gordon and Breech, Sydney, 1994, p. 83, plate 19. This painting is sold with an accompanying certificate from Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills that reads in part: 'Artist's Mother's Country. The painting shows two waterholes that have been used by the artist's family for generations. She herself grew up here when she was young and used to assist her mother and other women in collecting foods from the bush. The family used to camp near the trees and bushes in the middle and use the nearby waterholes as required.'
Sotheby's
Jul. 26, 2004
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI CIRCA 1953-1991 TALINYU 1991 100 by 50 cm Synthetic polymer paint on canvas Bears artist's name 'Ena Gimme', size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 485/91 on the reverse together with an accompanying label Provenance:
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
ENA GIMME NUNGURRAYI CIRCA 1953-1991 TALINYU 1991 100 by 50 cm Synthetic polymer paint on canvas Bears artist's name 'Ena Gimme', size and Warlayirti Artists catalogue number 485/91 on the reverse together with an accompanying label Provenance: Painted in 1991 at Wirrimanu (Balgo Hills), for Warlayirti Artists. Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney The Sam Barry Collection Exhibited: Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney, 1991 Literature: Cowan, J., Balgo Hills: Aboriginal Paintings: Poster Book, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994, illus. p.26. This painting is sold with an accompanying certificate from Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills that reads in part: 'Artist's Husband's Country. The painting concerns two Dreaming stories that hold for this area. One concerns a woman who was carrying a large coolamon with her baby in it on her head. The other is about "Watunuma" the Flying Ant and the holes in the ground that it has dug. There are marks of all of these things in the land that can be read by the initiated. There are also many songs and dances that are performed by senior men and women today that concern these matters.'
Sotheby's