Lot 12: JARINYANU DAVID DOWNS, (1925 – 1995), DANCE OF KURTAL, 1988, synthetic polymer paint and natural earth pigments on linen

JARINYANU DAVID DOWNS, (1925 – 1995), DANCE OF KURTAL, 1988, synthetic polymer paint and natural earth pigments on linen

SIGNED:
signed verso: David Dowzs [sic] / jorijonu
bears inscription verso: size, cat. 010/88

DIMENSIONS:
197.5 x 137.0 cm

PROVENANCE:
Commissioned by Duncan Kentish in 1988
Bonython Meadmore Gallery, Sydney (label attached verso)
Holmes à Court Collection, Heytesbury, Western Australia (label attached verso cat. 2548)
Private collection
Sotheby's, Sydney, 25 November 2007, lot 77
The Luczo Family Collection, USA

EXHIBITED:
Jarinyanu David Downs, Bonython Meadmore Gallery, Sydney, 18 August – 13 September 1988, cat. 22 (illus. in exhibition catalogue and front cover)

ESSAY:
The following excerpt is quoted from Kentish, D., Jarinyanu David Downs, exhibition catalogue, Bonython Meadmore Gallery, Sydney, 1988

The original accompanying certificate of authenticity stated in part: 'Kurtal is a Storm Being from the Ngarangarni – the Walmajarri word for the Dreaming. [...] When Kurtal entered Jarinyanu's country he was nearing the end of his journey. [...] Before a gathering of people from this area, Kurtal danced his final dance, metamorphosed into a snake, and sank into the earth where he remains today in a permanent rockhole spring. This spring supplied a reliable supply of water in all seasons, but in addition the old man would perform rituals at this site during the hot weather season to make Kurtal bring rain. [...] He is held to be responsible for and present within those particularly dramatic storms that usher in the break of the rainy season. [...][Dance of Kurtal, 1988] reveals Kurtal generating storms, with his arms and head enveloped in a cloud streaked with lightning and dust. A vertical snake motif suggests Kurtal's face is simultaneously the head of a snake, prefiguring his approaching metamorphosis. A band of cloud at his waist divides earth from sky. The lower section shows a grouping of women, girls and young boys. The women wear a vertical-striped body paint while the boys are painted with a snake motif.'