Lot 92: PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996

UNTITLED C.1986

MEASUREMENTS

64 by 120 cm (irregular)

Bears artist's name in charcoal on the reverse
Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood

PROVENANCE
This painting was purchased from Paddy Tjamatji around 1986 by the vendor's brother, an anthropologist working in the Kimberley Private collection, South Australia Cf. For a painting with similar compositional elements see 'Jilili, big swamp near Mount House', 1983, in Thomas, R. with K. Akerman, M. Macha, W. Christensen and W. Caruana, Roads Cross: The paintings of Rover Thomas, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1994, p. 30, illus. Tjamatji was the first to paint the boards used in the Kurirr Kurirr ceremony belonging to Rover Thomas in the late 1970s (see entries for lots 94 and 95). Although the Kurirr Kurirr had been revealed to Rover Thomas and he was the owner of the associated narrative, choreography, songs and imagery, his classificatory uncle, Paddy Tjamatji had the traditional responsibility of painting the designs onto the boards that were carried by the ritual participants across their shoulders. The series of nine Kurirr Kurirr paintings dating from 1983 in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia were painted by Rover Thomas and Paddy Tjamatji (see Thomas et al, 1994, pp.28-35, pp.59-60 and the back cover). One of the paintings by Tjamatji, 'Jilili, big swamp near Mount House', bears a striking resemblance to this work in terms of composition and the treatment of the major pictorial elements. It is likely the image is of three major waterholes or swampy areas, although their location cannot be specified For an extensive analysis of Tjamatji's early work, in particular related to the Kurirr Kurirr ceremony, see Akerman, K. 'The art of the Kurirr-Kurirr ceremony' in Taylor, L. (ed.), Painting the Land Story, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 1999, pp.15-32; and Christensen, W., 'Paddy Jaminji and the Gurirr Gurirr' in Ryan, J. and K. Akerman (eds.), Images of Power: Aboriginal art of the Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1993, pp.32-39. The exhibition Paddy Jaminji: I bin paint'im first at the Holmes à Court Gallery, in Perth in 2004, featured paintings on board and canvas between 1985 and 1987. The text in the accompanying brochure by Kim Akerman, 'Paddy Jaminji - Trail-blazing artist of the Warmun school of Aboriginal art' is a personal appreciation of the Tjamatji's early years as a painter. See also Akerman, K., 'Recent developments in the East Kimberley' in Caruana, W. (ed), Windows on the Dreaming: Aboriginal Paintings in the Australian National Gallery, Australian National Gallery and Ellsyd Press, Canberra and Sydney, 1989, pp.164-75