Lot 50: ANATJARI TJAKAMARRA (CIRCA 1930-1992)

Untitled
With Stuart Art Centre Artists Number 19089 (on th reverse)
synthetic polymer paint on board
57 x 46.5 cm
This board is consignment 19 to the Stuart Art Centre in Alice Springs. There were 19 consignments in total, although undted, all fall between July 1971 and August 1972

Stuart Art Centre, Alice Springs
Private collection, Victoria

In the vast mostly flat Central Australian landscape, any outcrop or any range can be seen from far away. It can offer shade, shelter and even water at times. In Aboriginal Mythology, the life of the ancestors revolved around caves. Subsequently, caves remained "sacred" sites, often forbidden to the uninitiated. As the caves provided shelter for the "totems" of the dreamtime, they were chosen as the last resting -place for the old men of that totem who would lie in their shelter awaiting death. The bones of the elders as well as the sacred objects of the tribe were kept there.

The most precious objects were the "churingas", flat and elongated stones, engraved with the totemic patterns. Every man who had gone through all stages of initiation, would identify with these, it was a link between the generations of the same totemic tribe. These symbols were kept in caves and hidden from sight tightly wrapped in strings made from human hair. During special ceremonies, they would be unwrapped and exposed to the eyes of the privileged few who were fully initiated.

This painting shows two "churingas", one still camouflaged and the other exposed. The snake ancestor's tracks, illustrated as wavy traces, can be identified on the stone as well as on the rock surface of the cave, an allusion to the many tracks left during its long life in this very location.

The painter, Anatara No.3 (also known as Anatjari, Anitjarri or Yanyatjarri Tjakamarra) was one of the last Pintubis from the southern part of the Gibson desert to come in contact with the western world. He became one of the original painters who transmitted their rich culture through the Papunya Tula "Art" movement. He often painted for the older representatives of the tribe including John Tjakamarra.

The simple masonite board used as a support for the painting is a witness of the times when this was the choice medium of the early 70's. The relatively small size of the painting meant that this image could be kept out of sight from unauthorised eyes. On the settlement Aborigines from different tribes shared the same facilities, the same painting shed, but in the wild access to such representations would, of course, have been totally forbidden.

Also in this painting the irregularity of the lines, the naivete even, and the choice of natural colours, are typical of the period during which the painters were still "primitive", untouched by our ideas or rules of aesthetics, which were to influence Anatara's work in the following years.

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