Marrapinti Rockhole

Date2007

Label TextRockholes are pools that punctuate the sandhills of the desert, offering respite from the heat and serving as a source of clean, fresh water. Doreen Reid gave credit for the nourishment these pools offer to ancestral women who established them. She painted Marrapinti many times, helping us see the lines of water flowing from a creek into the pool. Carefully guarded and kept clean of debris, the site is a safe haven for women to give birth, gather raisins, and dance and sing the songs of the area.

Object number2019.20.8

Provenance[Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2008

Photo CreditPhoto: iocolor, Seattle

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan and 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. 27, pp. 106-107, reproduced. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Our Blue Planet: Global Visions of Water, Mar. 18 - May 30, 2022.

Credit LineGift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan

Dimensions35 13/16 x 35 13/16 in. (91 x 91 cm)

MediumSynthetic polymer paint on canvas