The artist’s works at the National Gallery of Australia

 

The Exhibitionists | Emily Kam Kngwarray (video from the National Gallery of Australia)

 

Emily Kam Kngwarray (video from the National Gallery of Australia)

Read a Reframing Art History textbook chapter that includes Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Earth’s Creation—“Re-Mapping Land Art: Earthworks, Borderlands, Ecology”

“Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye” at the National Museum of Australia.

 

Emily Kame Kngwarreye, The Alhalkere suite from the National Gallery of Australia.

 

“Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye” review by Chrischona Schmidt.

 

More on Australia 1900–present from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.

 

 

Australia, 1900 A.D.–present

  • Australia, 1900 A.D.–present
 

Building upon the gradual realization of the artistic achievements of Australian Aboriginals that began in the late 1800s, the twentieth century witnesses the discovery and recognition of the vast depth and diversity of pre-European Aboriginal art as well as the development of a series of distinctive regional schools of contemporary Aboriginal painting and sculpture, including Western Desert acrylic painting, or “dot” painting.

In the first years of the century, Australian art is still dominated by the Impressionist landscape painting made popular by the Heidelberg School of the 1880s and 1890s. The Society of Artists in Melbourne and Sydney sponsors exhibitions filled with local landscape scenes. It is only in the years following World War I that the effect of international modernism begins to appear in Australian art. The 1930s mark the establishment of a number of institutions for the exhibition of new Australian art, both abstract and representational, including the Modern Art Centre in Sydney and the Contemporary Art Society in Melbourne. Toward the end of the decade, some contemporary landscape painters begin to adopt the formal devices and pictorial motifs of Aboriginal art, interpreting them through modernist eyes.

Throughout the 1940s and ’50s, tension mounts between the proponents of representational and nonrepresentational art. The conflict peaks in 1959–61, when figurative artists calling themselves the Antipodeans and the “Sydney 9” group of abstractionists square off in a series of provocative exhibitions. Abstract painting, however, continues to dominate the Australian art scene for the next decade. Artists such as Fred Williams (1927–1982), Ian Fairweather (1891–1974), and Janet Dawson (born 1935) draw upon the colors and forms of the Australian landscape for their abstract work, and in 1968 an exhibition titled The Field launches the careers of a new generation of artists practicing “color field” abstraction.

The decade of the 1970s sees a great deal of experimentation in media other than traditional forms of painting and sculpture, much of it informed by political activism and the women’s movement, which motivate artists to produce community-oriented, socially engaged work, including posters and protest banners. By the end of the decade and into the 1980s, painting regains its status as a major form of visual art in Australia with the development of Neo-Expressionism. Many painters also show an interest in incorporating references to Australian history and earlier Australian art into their own work. Bea Maddock (1934–2016), for example, creates works that unite the characteristics and themes of Aboriginal and modernist art, combining layers of landscape imagery and written language.

The latter decades of the century witness the growing recognition of contemporary Aboriginal painting as an important movement within twentieth-century art. The bark painting traditions of Arnhem Land, which had first come to the attention of Westerners nearly a century earlier, continue to flourish, while Western Desert painting continues to expand and evolve. At the same time, other regions such as the Kimberley and Queensland also begin to produce contemporary paintings in their own distinctive regional styles. In the major cities, artists from Australia’s urban Aboriginal communities also begin to create works in a variety of media and styles.

“Australia, 1900 A.D.–present.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=11®ion=oca (October 2004)

 

  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, Utopia, Northern Territory (1910 - 1996), Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 73.5 x 54 (frame: 76.5 x 57) cmsold
    Jun. 02, 2026

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, Utopia, Northern Territory (1910 - 1996), Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 73.5 x 54 (frame: 76.5 x 57) cm

    Est: $9,000 - $10,000
    Sold:$16,000

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE Utopia, Northern Territory, (1910 - 1996) Untitled acrylic on canvas signed verso; authenticity certificate supplied.

    Lawsons
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1910-1996), Untitled (Bush Potato) 1994sold
    May. 17, 2026

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1910-1996), Untitled (Bush Potato) 1994

    Est: $30,000 - $40,000
    Sold:$32,000

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1910-1996) Untitled (Bush Potato) 1994 acrylic on canvas inscribed verso: EmIly 144 x 147cm PROVENANCE Private collection, Sydney NOTE Accompanied by documentation from Yanda Aboriginal Art, Alice Springs and Barbara Weir, 2020 © Estate of Emily Kame Kngwarreye/Copyright Agency, 2026

    Gibson's
  • Kngwarreye Emily Kame - Yam (1996)sold
    May. 16, 2026

    Kngwarreye Emily Kame - Yam (1996)

    Est: €34,000 - €44,000
    Sold:€32,000

    Acrylic on canvas - On the reverse A.G.O.D #5564 - Unframed - With certificate by Aboriginal Gal. of Dreamings, Melbourne (AUS), A.G.O.D #5564

    De Vuyst
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), My Country 1995passed
    May. 07, 2026

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), My Country 1995

    Est: $35,000 - $45,000
    Passed

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, SWITZERLAND EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group My Country 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 122.0 x 152.0 cm; 128.0 x 158.5 cm (framed) bears inscription verso: Property of/ Aboriginal Gallery/ of Dreamings/ Ph: 015 525052 bears inscription verso: #4883

    Menzies
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), The Anooralya Yam 1995sold
    May. 07, 2026

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), The Anooralya Yam 1995

    Est: $100,000 - $150,000
    Sold:$220,000

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BRISBANE EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group The Anooralya Yam 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 152.0 x 91.5 cm bears inscription verso: 95H123/ Emily Kngwareye/ Commissioned by/ Delmore bears inscription verso: 95H123

    Menzies
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c. 1915 - 1996), My Country 1995, synthetic polymer paint on linensold
    May. 05, 2026

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c. 1915 - 1996), My Country 1995, synthetic polymer paint on linen

    Est: $80,000 - $100,000
    Sold:$65,000

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE c. 1915 - 1996 My Country 1995 synthetic polymer paint on linen Horizontal bands of sky blue, warm ochre, and deep rust move in parallel across the full width of this large canvas, and through them fine dotted marks cascade diagonally like rain moving on wind. 'My Country' 1995 belongs to the period in which Kngwarreye turned with full authority to the stripe compositions derived directly from awelye, the ceremonial body painting designs of Anmatyerre women. As Christopher Hodges of Utopia Art Sydney observed, in her terms there is no distinction between dot-filled landscapes and striped body paintings: the two modes are one continuous act of Country-making. The tradition Kngwarreye brought to canvas had deep roots - in the body paint designs of ceremony, in the marks awelye demanded across a lifetime, in a practice sustained through decades before her first canvas in 1989. The stripe works are among the most formally radical of her career and among the most culturally precise, each band of colour a direct transposition of the designs painted on women's bodies in ceremony.

    Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c. 1915 - 1996), My Country 1995, synthetic polymer paint on canvaspassed
    May. 05, 2026

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c. 1915 - 1996), My Country 1995, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

    Est: $30,000 - $40,000
    Passed

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE c. 1915 - 1996 My Country 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas Among the most compelling aspects of this work's provenance is a photograph of Kngwarreye seated on the red earth at Utopia with this canvas laid out before her - documentary evidence of a kind rarely available for works of this period, placing the painting unambiguously in the hands and Country of its maker. This smaller  My Country is distinct from the large linen work of the same title and year also in this sale, the two canvases approaching the same declaration from entirely different formal positions. Across this intimate square canvas, dense crescent and ring forms accumulate in teal, grey-white, ochre, and warm rust, the marks overlapping and interpenetrating until the surface achieves the saturated, breathing depth that characterises her finest work from this phase. The underlying ground, glimpsed between marks in flashes of blue and burnt orange, gives the composition a luminous interior, as though lit from beneath. This is her dump-dump technique at its most physically exuberant, the brush pounded directly into the canvas to build successive layers of interlocking pigment. The title is among the most direct in Kngwarreye's lexicon: an unmediated declaration of custodianship and Dreaming obligation. Where many titles name specific sites or ceremonies, this one names the relationship itself. It is, as she always said, whole lot.

    Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
  • Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Australian, c. 1910-1996) My Country, 1994sold
    Mar. 25, 2026

    Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Australian, c. 1910-1996) My Country, 1994

    Est: $8,000 - $12,000
    Sold:$35,000

    Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Australian, c. 1910-1996) My Country, 1994 polymer on canvas 36 x 47 inches. This lot is located in Chicago.

    Freeman’s
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c.1910-1996), "After the Rain", Acrylic on canvas., 58cm x 43cmsold
    Dec. 15, 2025

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c.1910-1996), "After the Rain", Acrylic on canvas., 58cm x 43cm

    Est: $12,000 - $18,000
    Sold:$10,500

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c.1910-1996) "After the Rain" Acrylic on canvas. Painted in 1994. Comes with a certificate of authenticity. Artwork is framed and ready to hang.

    Ozbid Auctions
  • EMILY KAME KNGWAREYYE, Australia (Aboriginal) (c1909 - 1996), Old Man Emu with Babies, 1989, archival pigment print after original, 34.5 x 27.5 cm. (13.5 x 10.8 in.), frame: 39 x 33 x 3 cm. (15.3 x 12.9 x 1.1 in.)passed
    Dec. 03, 2025

    EMILY KAME KNGWAREYYE, Australia (Aboriginal) (c1909 - 1996), Old Man Emu with Babies, 1989, archival pigment print after original, 34.5 x 27.5 cm. (13.5 x 10.8 in.), frame: 39 x 33 x 3 cm. (15.3 x 12.9 x 1.1 in.)

    Est: $200 - $300
    Passed

    EMILY KAME KNGWAREYYE Australia (Aboriginal), (c1909 - 1996) Old Man Emu with Babies, 1989 archival pigment print after original unsigned

    Lawsons
  • Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Endunga, 1990sold
    Dec. 02, 2025

    Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Endunga, 1990

    Est: $150,000 - $250,000
    Sold:$220,000

    Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996) Endunga, 1990 inscribed verso with artist's name, date and Delmore Gallery cat. OG19 synthetic polymer paint on linen 121.0 x 91.0cm (47 5/8 x 35 13/16in).

    Bonhams
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Alalgura Soak - My Country 1994sold
    Aug. 20, 2025

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Alalgura Soak - My Country 1994

    Est: $70,000 - $90,000
    Sold:$70,000

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, MELBOURNE EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group Alalgura Soak - My Country 1994 synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen 151.0 x 91.0 cm; 155.0 x 94.0 cm (framed) signed verso: EmIly bears inscription verso: 94L10/ Emily Kngwarreye

    Menzies
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Alalgura - My Country 1991sold
    Aug. 20, 2025

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Alalgura - My Country 1991

    Est: $60,000 - $80,000
    Sold:$110,000

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BRISBANE EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group Alalgura - My Country 1991 synthetic polymer paint on linen 121.0 x 90.0 cm; 124.0 x 92.5 cm (framed) signed lower left: Emily bears inscription verso: OJ19/ Emily Kngwarreye

    Menzies
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), (Untitled) 1993sold
    Aug. 20, 2025

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), (Untitled) 1993

    Est: $60,000 - $80,000
    Sold:$95,000

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, MELBOURNE EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group (Untitled) 1993 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 121.0 x 90.5 cm; 123.5 x 93.0 cm (framed)

    Menzies
  • KNGWARREYE Emily Kame (Aboriginal c.1910-1996), 'My Country (Sand Dunes)' 1995., Acrylic on Canvas, 90x90cmsold
    May. 17, 2025

    KNGWARREYE Emily Kame (Aboriginal c.1910-1996), 'My Country (Sand Dunes)' 1995., Acrylic on Canvas, 90x90cm

    Est: $10,000 - $15,000
    Sold:$14,000

    KNGWARREYE, Emily Kame (Aboriginal c.1910-1996) 'My Country (Sand Dunes)' 1995. Acrylic on Canvas 90x90cm PROVENANCE: Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Melbourne, cat #5385 (certificate of authenticity included); Collection Mr H & Mrs P Wallace, Sydney.

    Davidson Auctions
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Anmatyerre language group My Country 1990sold
    Apr. 09, 2025

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Anmatyerre language group My Country 1990

    Est: $20,000 - $30,000
    Sold:$26,000

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, SYDNEY EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Anmatyerre language group My Country 1990 synthetic polymer paint on linen 120.0 x 61.0 cm bears inscription verso: IV66/ Emily Kngwarreye

    Menzies
  • EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Flower Dreamingsold
    Jun. 26, 2024

    EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Flower Dreaming

    Est: $20,000 - $30,000
    Sold:$20,000

    PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, SYDNEY EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996) Flower Dreaming synthetic polymer paint on canvas 144.0 x 124.0 cm

    Menzies
     
     
    AGOD / EBEScontemporary has the largest collection of EMILY paintings (if you want to own one - contact us - prices range from under $100,000 to over $1m+++; sizes range from small to extra large (we have a range or Rovers +++; largest collection of Australian indigenous dot paintings, Aboriginal Art - in the world = all for sale.
March 11, 2024