MIDJAW MIDJAW, JIMMY (1897-1985)

"The Anteater & The Tortoise"
bark painting
25 x 68cm
labels on verso
*private collection, Sydney
 
Jimmy was a famous Indigenous Australian bark painter. He was born in Minjilang on Crocker Island and spoke Kuninjku language. His barks have a great fluidity and lack European convention. Some of his paintings are directly related to sorcery. Sorcery, in this case, is traditional beliefs disliked by Christian missionaries. He belonged to a generation of aboriginal artists who knew their art had a direct magical effect in the real world. His early works can easily be mistaken for those of Namatbara Wagbara or even Yirawala. Mijaw Mijaw had two very distinct phases of bark painting. His early works were mainly for anthropologists and are extremely traditional. They have strong fields of color; bold outlining in white pigment and animated forms. These early works are very similar to early works by Paddy Compass Namatbara. The faces on his early bark paintings of spirits look more animal than human. His later works were predominantly made for sale at the mission. In later works, he retains the animated forms but incorporates cross-hatching techniques. These cross-hatching techniques are traditional to Eastern Arnhem Land. He learned these techniques from Yirawala. He was well known for his paintings of animals including Kangaroos, turtles, snake, fish, and echidna.