Lot 56
  • 56

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri circa 1932-2002 CHEEKY SNAKE

Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 AUD
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Description

  • Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
  • CHEEKY SNAKE
  • signed Clifford Possum and dated
  • carved beanwood, synthetic polymer paint
  • HEIGHT: 62.8CM

Provenance

Sotheby's, Aboriginal, African and Oceanic Art,  Sydney, 9 November, 1998, lot 166
Private collection

Exhibited

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 31 October 2003 - 26 January 2004; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 24 March - 3 May 2004; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 14 May - 11 July 2004; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 7 August - 24 October 2004

Literature

Vivien Johnson, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2004, pp.50-51, p.250 (illus.)

Condition

To request a condition report please contact Francesca Cavazzini, email: francesca.cavazzini@sothebys.com, tel: +61 (0) 2 9362 1000 or Greer Adams, email: greer.adams@sothebys.com, tel: +61 (0) 3 9509 2900
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Comments on this work in the retrospective catalogue by the artist and the exhibition's curator, Dr Vivien Johnson, read as follows: 'We got a lot of different snakes in Australia. This one red and black - really red, and some brown and white - he got white [markings]. This snake he start 16 mile from Alice Springs up north this time that snake. He stop there and after that he take off to Napperby Lakes' (Clifford Possum, 1999). The artist also commented that the snake looked 'just like live one' and that it was not a carpet snake but a 'cheeky' (ie.poisonous) one. The artist recalled that he had carved the work about a year after Geoffrey Bardon's departure from Papunya in July 1972, making its date of production mid-1973. In the midst of the remarkable development of his painting on flat surfaces over the first two years of working in the medium, Clifford Possum had not lost either his love or skill for carving. His abandonment of the medium soon after this was a practical decision based on the perception that there were too many others competing for the not very lucrative tourist market in carvings and that he would be better off concentrating on painting'. (ibid.p.250).

This lot is sold with a copy of Vivien Johnson, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2004 and photos of the artist signing the work