Thursday, March 20, 2014

Australian Aboriginal "Bush Seed" Themed Art

While cruising Ebay I encountered two paintings by women artists in Australia who are aboriginal and paint in that tradition.  One appears genuine, the other may or may not be, as the artist appears nowhere online that I could find easily.  (More on the paintings below.)  I wondered what species "bush seeds" might be as the phrase is in both titles...and the answer was there are quite a few possibilities as the Aboriginal people used everything it seems.  There is nothing like many thousands of years of respectful experimentation to get the most out your natural environment. Food, medicine, decoration and more.

Seed Links:


Kathleen Petyarre's 
"Bush Seeds"
 Link to the Ebay seller's store 




Each dot of paint, applied with a stick, is carefully applied and hard edged.


From Wikipedia (and there is much more there):
Kathleen Petyarre (born 1940) is an eminent Australian Aboriginal artist, known for her paintings displaying an extremely refined layering technique with intricate dotting. Her art refers directly to her country and her Dreamings. However, the vastness of the country can be clearly felt in the landscapes of Petyarre's paintings, which have occasionally been compared to the works of American Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, and even to those of J.M.W. Turner. They have been described as: "magisterial works that can be likened to symphonic compositions" (Hood Museum of ArtDartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA). Petyarre's painstaking and virtuosic method of applying countless dots with kebab sticks of various sizes means she typically spends many days, sometimes weeks, on one canvas and has thus avoided the dangers of overproduction, widespread in Aboriginal art.
From Artlandish:
Kathleen has travelled overseas extensively with her art and is the winner of several major art awards and is hung in major galleries around the world. Kathleen is the niece of Emily Kngwarreye and one of seven artistic sisters, including Gloria Petyarre, Nancy Petyarre, Jean Petyarre, Myrtle Petyarre, Violet Petyarre and Ada Bird. 
Selected Collections
Paintings Collection of H. M. Queen Elizabeth 11 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia 
The Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth, WA, Australia. 
The Museum & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT., Australia. 
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, S.A. Australia. 
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, S.A. Australia 
The Kluge-Rhue Collection, University of West Virginia, VA, USA. 
The Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles, CA., USA. 
The Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle, WA., USA 
A.T.S.I.C. Collection, Adelaide, S.A. Australia. 
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic. Australia. 
Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. 
University of South Australia Art Museum, Adelaide, S.A. Australia. 
Riddoch Regional Art Gallery, Mount Gambier, S.A. Australia. 
Edith Cowan University, Perth, W.A. Australia. 
Collection de Musee des Arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie, Paris, France. 
Peabody - Essex Anthropology and Ethnology Museum, Harvard University, Salem, Mass., USA. 



The other work by Anne Butler is from another Ebay gallery store.   While not the older, more traditional style, it is very appealing. Ann is said to have been born in 1950, but is not working much anymore due to failing eyesight and arthritis.


"BUSH MELONS & SEEDS"
Link to seller

This style is a much more contemporary response to tradition.
The brush work is free and softer. 

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