Dick Nguleingulei Murrumurru | National Museum of Australia

Bularlhdja clan, Dangbon and Kunwinjku languages, Yirridjdja moiety

Black and white photograph portrait of a man. - click to view larger image — Dick Nguleingulei Murrumurru

About 1920–1988

Nguleingulei occasionally worked in a timber camp or as a crocodile shooter, but preferred to live in his homelands on the Liverpool River plateau. He was a magnificent draughtsman with acute powers of observation, as seen in his finely detailed drawings of animals that suggest volume and three-dimensionality.

In 1982 one of Nguleingulei’s paintings was reproduced on the 75-cent Australian stamp. His work has been selected for several major exhibitions, including: The Art of Aboriginal Australia, which toured North America in 1974–76; Kunwinjku Bim at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1984; The Art of the First Australians, Kobe, Japan, in 1986; Dreamings, New York, in 1988; and Keepers of the Secrets at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in 1990.

Paintings in the exhibition

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restrainers. It depicts a male plains kangaroo painted as a pipeclay silhouette. This is infilled with cross hatching and x-ray detail depicting the heart, lungs, backbone, liver and other parts of the intestinal tract. The painting has a brown ochre background. - click to view larger image — *Butchered Kangaroo*

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark. It depicts a human skeleton with its legs crossed in a seated position. The figure has long arms and an uplifted right shoulder. The skeleton is crosshatched in red, yellow and purple. It has white hands, face and teeth. The painting has a red background. - click to view larger image — Dead Man

A bark painting worked with ochres on bark and on wooden restrainers. It features a kangaroo and Mimi figure. The kangaroo is painted with red, white and green hatching. The figure is painted in red and white. The painting has a red background. - click to view larger image — Mimih Hunting

A bark painting worked in ochres and on wooden restrainers. It depicts a male spirit figure in the background who is painted in pipeclay and infilled with dashes. In the foreground there are four female figures outlined in pipeclay and infilled with crosshatching. - click to view larger image — *Nawongberd and His Four Wives*

Bardayal Nadjamerrek

Najombolmi

Paddy Compass Namatbara

January Nangunyari Namiridali

Fred Didjbaralkka Narroldol

Endeavour Voyage

Evolution: Torres Strait Masks

Knowing Plants

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All these bark paintings are part of the National Museum of Australia’s collection. © the artist or the artist’s estate, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency 2013, unless otherwise specified. These images must not be reproduced in any form without permission.

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