The Emily Kngwarreye show has been very popular in Japan, as Akino Yoshihara writes:
An Aborigine community in the boundless red desert of central Australia nurtured a gifted artist who was full of dynamism and creativity. Emily Kame Kngwarreye, who lived in a remote region on the edge of the Simpson Desert for more than 80 years, had no exposure to the Western art world for most of her life. Nevertheless, she is highly admired by international art experts and collectors as one of the great abstract painters of the 20th century.
The sophisticated artistic expression in her paintings is often compared with that of Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. In fact, the development her art followed is regarded as parallel to that of contemporary art itself.
Some readers may still remember a Sydney auction that stunned the art world in 2007. Her 1994 painting Earth’s Creation was sold for more than 1 million Australian dollars (about 95 million yen), marking a new record for a female Australian artist.
The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Until April 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (until 7 p.m. on Fridays). Closed Mondays.
National Museum of Art, Osaka in Kita Ward, Osaka, a 10-minute walk from Higobashi Station on the city’s Yotsubashi subway line.
