Description:

Yalpi Yunupingu
(1961 - )
Baru at Nalarrwuy, 1995
natural earth pigment on stringy bark
This bark painting depicts the Ancestral Crocodile, Baru, at Nalarrwuy, a coastal paperbark swamp in north-east Arnhem Land that is central to the Gumatj people's fire-bringing narratives. The diamond grids and crosshatched fields symbolise the ancestral fire, while the presence of crocodiles recalls Baru's transformative role in establishing law, ceremony, and fertility for the Gumatj clan.

The work demonstrates Yunupingu's assured hand in conveying ancestral events through the dynamic interplay of figurative and geometric elements. Executed with natural ochres on bark, the painting resonates with the ceremonial power of its subject and its place within Yolngu cosmology

  • Provenance: Buku-Larrnggay Arts, Yirrkala, NT
  • Dimensions: 122 x 38 cm
  • Medium: natural earth pigment on stringy bark
  • Condition: Buyers Please Note


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All Lots Are Located In Albany, New York, USA, we have a representative onsite and a recommended carrier available until 8 November, 2025. All Lots MUST collected by that date.

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31 October 2025 09:00 AEDT
Stanmore, Australia

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