Girndi (Bush Plum)

2003

Australian Aboriginal, Gooniyandi people, Fitzroy Crossing, Kimberley, Western Australia, 1918 - 2009

This is a still life painting. Four plums stand ready for inspection to determine which is the sweetest or the most medicinal. Differing colors suggest a chance to observe the plums closely and recognize the ripening that takes time after the monsoonal rains of the Kimberley wet season. Butcher Cherel’s inclination to study plant foods—presenting them in cross-section—relates to his role as a teacher who was concerned with recognition of the location, seasons, curative and nutritional value of bush foods.

--Pam McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art, 2012

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

17 11/16 x 39 3/8 in. (45 x 100 cm)

Gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

2019.20.2

Provenance: [Raft Art Space, Alice Springs, Australia]; purchased by Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2003

Photo: iocolor, Seattle

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection, May 31 - Sept. 12, 2012 (Nashville, Tenessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, June 23 - Oct. 15, 2017; Madison, Wisconsin, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Jan. 26 - Apr. 22, 2018; Austin, Texas, Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, June 3 - Sept. 9, 2018; Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Audain Art Museum, Oct. 5, 2018 - Jan. 28, 2019). Text by Pamela McClusky, Wally Caruana, Lisa Graziose Corrin, and Stephen Gilchrist. Cat. no. 4, pp. 60-61, reproduced.

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