MAGGIE WATSON NAPANGARDI (BORN CIRCA 1925)
A 10% Goods and Services tax (G.S.T) will be charg… Read more
MAGGIE WATSON NAPANGARDI (BORN CIRCA 1925)

Digging Stick Dreaming

Details
MAGGIE WATSON NAPANGARDI (BORN CIRCA 1925)
Digging Stick Dreaming
with Kimberley Art number KA597 (on the reverse)
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
222 x 151 cm
Painted in 1997

This painting is to be sold with an accompanying certificate of authenticity from Kimberley Art, Melbourne
Provenance
Commissioned by Kimberley Art, Melbourne
Private collection, Melbourne
Literature
Dreamtime: Zeitgenossiche Aboriginal Art: the dark and the light, 2001, pl. 50
Exhibited
Chicago, Australian Exhibition Center, Encompass, October 1999
Austria, Zeitgenossiche Aboriginal Art, Dreamtime, 18 May - 30 September 2001
Special notice
A 10% Goods and Services tax (G.S.T) will be charged on the Buyer's Premium in all lots in this sale
Sale room notice
The artist's birth and death dates should read (C.1925-2004)

Lot Essay

With its flowing lines and multi-hued colours Maggie Watson's Digging Sticks, 1997 has an arresting presence.

One of the founders of Yueundumu's Warlukurlangu Arts Centre in the mid 1980s, Watson's work has appeared in significant survey and solo exhibitions since. The precision of line and well balanced composition in this painting shows Watson to be a painter of meticulous application and with a strong sense of aesthetic. Watson clearly takes time over her paintings; so that large and major works such as this are both impressively executed and rare.

As with other Yuendumu painters Watson has always chosen to work with a vast colour range; mastering the mixing of a large and varied palette with great finesse. Her works are colourful but not garish, and often feature subtle pastel shades such as light blues and soft yellows.

This is a painting which works on many levels. One is immediately drawn to its most striking elements - the strong red ochre panels depicting digging sticks within loosely circled waterhole sites; splashes of a luscious turquoise and a clear blue reminiscent of a summer sky, add contrast and balance. It is also a strongly painterly work with the joyous sense of abandon that characterises the best of this impressive Eastern Desert artist's work.

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