Lot 28
Kathleen Petyarre(circa 1940-2018)Thorny Devil Lizard Dreaming (My Country), 1997
11 – 12 May 2022, 19:30 AEST
SydneySold for AU$18,450 inc. premium
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Kathleen Petyarre (circa 1940-2018)
Thorny Devil Lizard Dreaming (My Country), 1997
inscribed verso: 'KATHLEEN PETYARRE / GAKP0697083'
synthetic polymer paint on linen
182.0 x 183.0cm (71 5/8 x 72 1/16in).
inscribed verso: 'KATHLEEN PETYARRE / GAKP0697083'
synthetic polymer paint on linen
182.0 x 183.0cm (71 5/8 x 72 1/16in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
Gallerie Australis, Adelaide (cat. GAKP0697083)
The Stefano Spaccapietra Collection, Switzerland, acquired from the above in 1997
Much of Petyarre's oeuvre centres around the travels of her Ancestor, Arnkerrth - the Old Woman Mountain Devil - around her birthplace, Atnangker.1 The Mountain or Thorny devil is a spiny lizard that is well adapted to survive the arid and sparsely vegetated environment of Kathleen's Country with its distinctive red sandy earth. It is a country of extremes with a searingly hot and dry summer season punctuated by fierce sandstorms, followed by the intense rains and hailstorms of its wet season. Its vast geography is interspersed with hilly regions as well as important water sources such as sacred rockhole sites and creeks.
Petyarre transposes her country in its various seasons with expansive fields of fine dots across the canvas. To these she overlays undulating variations and the subtly executed tracks of various animals and Dreaming Ancestors, the sites of various food sources as well as important initiation and ceremony sites. All of these features are inextricably intertwined and span both the physical as well as the spiritual realm.
1. Christine Nicholls and Ian North, Kathleen Petyarre: Genius of Place, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2001, p. 9