LOT 4 — Kudditji Kngwarreye (c. 1928-2017)

Kudditji Kngwarreye (c. 1928-2017)
My Country 02, 2008
Acrylic on canvas, signed, 62 × 91.5 cm
OPENING BID € 3.000
Donated by An Jo Fermon and Adrian Mibus of Whitford Fine Art, Brussels

Born around 1928, Kudditji Kngwarreye had a traditional bush upbringing in the lands of the Utopia Station situated about 230 km north-east of Alice Springs, NT. 
As an Anmatyerre elder and custodian of many important Dreamings, Kudditji was originally inspired by the work coming out of Papunya to paint his own Dreamings, telling of the travels and laws of the Emu ancestors. During his younger days Kudditji frequently took the young boys/men hunting emu in these lands, merging tradition with practice as part of their initiation as men. It is the land of this experience that Kudditji painted his ‘Emu Dreamings' and his 'My Country' works. Alongside he worked as stockman and mine worker. 
 
Whilst they were not blood related, Kudditji was recognised as a skin brother of the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye. While Kudditji began painting around 1986, his highly intuitive and gestural method of painting was not welcomed by galleries. Thus, he was encouraged to paint in the fashionable style of the time, executing works with detailed infill. After seeing Emily catapult on to the Australian and International Art scene, Kudditjiresumed his exploration into the abstract and experimented with the synthetic polymer paint to eradicate the pointillist style altogether and to use a heavily loaded paint brush to sweep broadly across the canvas in stages, similar to the western landscape plane. These paintings were romantic images of his country, accentuating the colour and form of the landscape including the depth of the sky in the wet season and in the reds and oranges of the shimmering summer. Subsequently he was seduced by the possibilities of acrylic paint and the kaleidoscope of colours now available to him, 
The present painting shows Kuddiji's lands in the wet season when the red earth is enriched by luscious tropical greens and full watering holes.  
 
Kudditji participated in many international exhibitions and became known for his acrylic colour-field depictions of his Dreamings. Harsh or soft and often surprising to the Western eye, his painterly style maps out the creation, his country, and his traditional Dreamings. While his spatial, painterly compositions have a Rothko-esque quality to them, the work of this Anmatyerre elder from the Northern Territory is clearly a unique Australian voice. While painting, he could be heard singing - his way of infusing his works with stories of the land; the ancestors, hunts, travels and the food and water of Anmatyerre country. Kngwarreye's songs will continue to echo through his beautiful artworks, which now hang in museums, galleries, private collections, homes and offices all over the world. Kudditji was named as one of the top 50 most collectible artists in Australia by Art Collector magazine.