Untitled
- Date
- 1989
- Material
- Wood, pigment
- made in
- Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania
- Classification
- Sculpture, wood
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 103
- Dimensions
- approximate: 101 15/16 x 7 in. (259 x 17.8 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Shop Fund
- Rights
- © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Object Number
- 36:1994
NOTES
The painting on this tall wood column combines representational imagery with fine-line abstraction. The artist’s clan owns the design, which conveys Aboriginal Dreamtime stories associated with that group.
Alluding to historical funerary practices among Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, this pole offers a means to contemplate legacies of loss across Australia. Early-20th century federal incursions in Arnhem Land involved colonial violence. Additionally, the prior European settlement of southeastern Australia is strongly associated with massacres, disease, and trauma for Aboriginal communities.
This work was made the year after the Aboriginal Memorial. Featuring 200 non-ceremonial painted hollow logs, that 1988 installation coincided with the bicentennial of Australian colonization.
Alluding to historical funerary practices among Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, this pole offers a means to contemplate legacies of loss across Australia. Early-20th century federal incursions in Arnhem Land involved colonial violence. Additionally, the prior European settlement of southeastern Australia is strongly associated with massacres, disease, and trauma for Aboriginal communities.
This work was made the year after the Aboriginal Memorial. Featuring 200 non-ceremonial painted hollow logs, that 1988 installation coincided with the bicentennial of Australian colonization.
Provenance
- 1994
Robert Holmes à Court (1937–1990) and Janet Holmes à Court, Perth, Australia [1]
1994 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Holmes à Court Collection through agent Mary Brunstrom of Austral Gallery [2]
Notes:
[1] In an email to Amy Clark on January 25, 2023, Mary Brunstrom stated the work (along with 34-35:1994, 37-39:1994) was purchased from the collection of Robert and Janet Holmes à Court. She confirmed her gallery, Austal Gallery, facilitated the purchase from the Holmes à Court Collection [SLAM document files].
[2] An Austral Gallery invoice dated March 28, 1994 documents the purchase of this work [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1994.
Robert Holmes à Court (1937–1990) and Janet Holmes à Court, Perth, Australia [1]
1994 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Holmes à Court Collection through agent Mary Brunstrom of Austral Gallery [2]
Notes:
[1] In an email to Amy Clark on January 25, 2023, Mary Brunstrom stated the work (along with 34-35:1994, 37-39:1994) was purchased from the collection of Robert and Janet Holmes à Court. She confirmed her gallery, Austal Gallery, facilitated the purchase from the Holmes à Court Collection [SLAM document files].
[2] An Austral Gallery invoice dated March 28, 1994 documents the purchase of this work [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1994.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.