While most people in the modern western world may associate paintings with linen and canvases, that’s not the case with aboriginal paintings. Aboriginal paintings or art include bark paintings, dot paintings, and numerous types of rock paintings.
Since there is no written form of the aboriginal language, the paintings were a way to convey their stories, culture, and other aspects of daily lives to the next generation. So, a lot of the indigenous art centers around storytelling, which includes myths. It conveys aspects of life, like knowledge of the land, beliefs, and significant events for aboriginal people.
Rock Paintings
In the world of art, Australian indigenous or aboriginal art happens to be the only oldest unbroken tradition. That’s why the oldest dated rock art painting found in Australia dates back 28,000 years and is an image on a rock made using charcoal. If anything, it is amongst one of the oldest pieces of art in the world, discovered Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter in South-Western Arnhem Land.
It is interesting to note that a couple of ancient paintings depict now-extinct animals like the Thylacoleo and Genyornis. Then there are also paintings that clearly show the arrival of Europeans in ships to the continent.
Dot Paintings
As the term suggests, aboriginal dot paintings are comprised of small dots of paint. However, each color represents something; for instance, brown is for soil, yellow represents the sun, and white is for the clouds, all of which are traditional colors. Dot paintings are often made on various mediums like on rocks, bark, etc. The paintings would depict lakes, dreamtime, stories, etc.
Bark painting
Aboriginal bark paintings were made on large and small sheets of bark. This type of painting was regarded as fine art, and much of these paintings command a very high price. Some collectors can end up paying over a million of dollars for rare pieces. However, the best artists are also recognized each year with the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award or have been promoted via reputable galleries, art cultural centres and institutions.
Do You Have Aboriginal Art?
Marc Pinto is an avid collector of Aboriginal art both bark and contemporary artwork from Yirrkala, Papunya, Balgo, Groote Eylandt, and the Kimberleys. He and his team like to keep their ears to the ground when it comes to finding unique, interesting, and rare pieces of aboriginal paintings. If you have a rare piece that you’d want to sell, then get in touch with us via the form below. Make sure to attach as many pictures as possible. We will then contact you with a quote within a few days. You can also reach out to Marc directly via Whatsapp via +61411866227.
Below are some examples of what we are looking for.