Welcome to the first Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art offering for 2021. Our specialists have collected 100 lots with a total value of $1.8-2.4 million for this multi-vendor auction which will be held in our newly appointed auction showrooms in Redfern on June 8th starting at 7pm. The sale features 16 lots from the estate of Lorna Mellor AM who acquired most of her lovely collection from her close family friend Dorothy Bennett. Lorna Mellor was a stylish, larger than life character, who played a leading role in children’s health care as the International President of the Diabetes Foundation. Her collection included rare Tiwi artefacts that Dorothy Bennett personally collected during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as Arnhem Land barks and sculptures, two lovely works by Albert Namatjira (Lots 33 and 36), and other exquisite desert paintings. Amongst them is Clifford Possum’s refined 1982 work Yabbierangu, Honey Ant Dreaming. It is a delight, and carries a very conservative pre-sale estimate of $40,000-60,000 (Lot 37). The sale also includes a number of works from the private collection of Melbourne art dealer Hank Ebes, among them several works by Emily Kngwarreye, as well as key pieces from the international touring exhibition Nangara, which visited several venues in Belgium, Denmark, and Japan between 1996 and 2006. Amongst these are 4 early works on composition board created by some of the first Western Desert masters. They include Old Tutuma Tjapangati’s Hunting for Mingi (Lot 7), Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri’s Star Dreaming (Lot 8), Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri’s Yam Story (Lot 58), and Johnny Warrangkula’s Water Dreaming at Tjikari(Lot 56), all created between 1971 and 1973 at Papunya. Other sale highlights include several works by East Kimberley art movement founder Rover Thomas. While there are some lovely early works among them, his by far largest and most striking work in this sale was created during Rover’s visit to Melbourne in 1995. Lightning, measuring 212 x 275.5 cm, first exhibited at Niagara Galleries in Melbourne, is dramatic and brooding in its deceptive simplicity and estimated at $90,000-110,000 (Lot 67). Though far from the most expensive work in this sale, Lot 28 has a famous, storied past. A woven rug depicting an artwork by George Milpurrurru created a storm when it was first offered for sale, sparking a landmark case in Australian legal history. In 1994, Federal Court Judge John Von Doussa awarded record damages ($188,640) to 3 living and 5 deceased Indigenous artists, whose works had been reproduced on carpets without knowledge or permission from the artists or their representatives. The 'Carpet Case', as it became known, came in the wake of the Federal Government’s review of intellectual property laws as they apply to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultures. Foremost amongst the litigants was George Milpurrurru, the first Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition at the Australian National Gallery [sic], and whose original bark painting had previously been adopted as a design for the Australian 85 cent stamp, issued in 1993 to celebrate the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The Carpet Case set a precedent and became a landmark in the protection of individual property rights for Australia’s Indigenous people. The rug, Hunting Magpie Geese Eggs, is accompanied by a beautiful bark depicting the same story, painted by Milpurrurru's brother, Jimmy Djelminy. The pair of items is estimated at just $6,000-8,000 (Lot 65). In March, more than 350 clients, curators, and artists attended the opening and the proceeding week of our new gracious 480m2 museum-style exhibiting gallery, project space, and auction rooms in Redfern, Sydney. This Indigenous Fine Art auction will be the first in Cooee Art’s beautiful new home. We look forward to welcoming you at the preview (Tuesday 1st – Monday 7th June) and at the sale at 7pm on Tuesday 8th June.