Lot 26: Yirawala 1903 - 1976 LUMAHLUMAH THE BIG MARAIAN CULT HERO natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark

bears artist's name, moiety, region and descriptive notes on label on the reverse natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark

60 by 28.5cm

Likely to have been painted at Minjilang (Croker Island), Western Arnhem Land circa 1970
Private collection

Cf. See two paintings by the artist of images of ancestral beings depicted with power sacks emanating from the joints; Barra, Lightning and Thunderman, c.1973, and Namarrgin the Bird Man, c.1973, in Sandra Le Brun Holmes, Yirawala: Painter of the Dreaming, Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1994, pls.93 and 103 respectively, illus. The latter image shows the ancestor towering over two kangaroos. Both paintings are in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.