A depiction of the Seagull Mourning Ceremony, the top half of the painting illustrates the Ngurula flying across the country as it travels from one clan’s land to another, linking the communities together. The bottom half of the work shows the mortuary ritual of using a carved seagull’s head with a body and wings made from feathers and string as a ceremonial object to announce a death.

Another highlight on offer in the sale is Tingari Ceremonies at The Site of Pintjun (estimate $120/180,000) by one of Australia’s most prominent abstract painters, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa. Hailing from the Collection of Gabrielle Pizzi, the present lot was recently featured on the cover of the catalogue for curator Kaspar König’s exhibition, ‘Remembering Forward – Australian Aboriginal Painting Since 1960,’ mounted by the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. A classic example of his style, Tingari Ceremonies at The Site of Pintjun features repetitive, geometric shapes and bold lines in the traditional four basic colors of black, red, yellow and white, representing the activities of the Tingari ancestors, and evoking the sacred powers of these supernatural creators, who established Pintupi law and ritual – a common theme throughout Tjampitjinpa’s oeuvre.