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Property from various vendors (lot 17-43)

Lot 23

Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu
(Kitty Kantilla) (circa 1928-2003)
Untitled, c.1980 height: 70.0cm (27 9/16in).

The Serra Collection of Aboriginal Art including property from various vendors

22 July 2020, 18:00 AEST

Sydney

Sold for AU$9,760 inc. premium

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Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu (Kitty Kantilla) (circa 1928-2003)

Untitled, c.1980
natural earth pigments on ironwood
height: 70.0cm (27 9/16in).

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Sydney

EXHIBITED
Kitty Kantilla, The Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery Victoria, Melbourne, 27 April - 19 August 2007; The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 December 2007 - 21 January 2008

LITERATURE
Judith Ryan et.al., Kitty Kantilla, Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2007, p.75 and p.23, cat.17 (illus.)

Kitty Kantilla began carving sculptures after moving to Paru on Melville Island in the 1970s. In her late 50s she joined a group known as the Paru women, who focussed primarily on creating sculptures.

Judith Ryan notes that this work is representative of the artist's earliest forays into carving: "Kantilla's Untitled, c.1980 - a simple head and oblong torso on legs formed by hollowing a rectangular cavity into the block, is characteristic of these very early self-standing carvings, marked with eyes but no other facial or anatomical details. Even genitals, a strong feature of later sculptures, are lacking. Uneven sections of cross-hatching are punctuated by black vertical bands bearing white chevron patterns which are placed off-centre, encouraging the viewer to consider the figure fully in the round." (Ryan, 2007, p.75)

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