AGOD / EBEScontemporary has the largest collection of EMILY paintings (if you want to own one – contact us – prices range from under $100,000 to over $1m+++; sizes range from small to extra large (we have a range or Rovers +++; largest collection of Australian indigenous dot paintings, Aboriginal Art – in the world = all for sale.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye, the artist who changed Australia
by Andrew Bailey
AUD $55.00
An Anmatyerr woman from the Central Desert may be Australia’s most important artist. This is the incredible story of how Emily Kame Kngwarreye came to fame and started an art movement that changed the nation.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye only started painting at the age of 79. She is now regarded by many as Australia’s most important artist, with an international reputation that continues to grow.
Drawing on accounts from those close to her as well as previously unexamined sources, Andrew Bailey reveals the inside story of how a senior law woman from one of the most remote parts of the country came to prominence in just seven years. She has twice been represented at the Venice Biennale, and a solo retrospective of her work appeared at the Tate Modern in London in 2025.
Yet Bailey shows we still greatly underestimate Kngwarreye. He demonstrates how her striking work was a catalyst for profound national cultural change in the final decade of the twentieth century. This is the previously untold story of the emergence of contemporary Indigenous art, and a compelling insight into how Australia sees itself.
‘This is the first comprehensive book on one of Australia’s greatest artists.’ Margo Ngawa Neale, curator and author
‘An intimate portrait of an artist who has become an Australian legend.’ John McDonald, art critic
‘Andrew Bailey brings some of the dramatic pull of an adventure story to the life and times of the Indigenous Australian artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye.’ Jed Perl, art critic
‘With a forensic eye for detail, Bailey has unpicked the layered politics and personality surrounding Kngwarreye, exposing the extraordinarily powerful forces at play around her—and the savvy and grounded personal force she clearly wielded.’ Dan Bourchier, NITV
‘This is art history at its best: meticulous and obsessed with the right question, which is what it means that the most powerful Australian art of the twentieth century came from someone mainstream Australia had spent two centuries ignoring.’ Morgan Meis, art critic
Author bio:
Andrew Bailey is a former business executive and publisher of the weekly art newsletter The Easel. He has held roles in the Commonwealth Treasury and McKinsey & Company; and senior executive roles at Optus Communications, Crown Castle Australia and the Department of Climate Change.
Mar 30, 2022
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, MERNE EUDUNGA, 1993
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD100,000
May 18, 2011
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE AWELYE, 1995 122.0 x 216.0
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD96,000
Jul 31, 2006
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE CIRCA 1910-1996
Sotheby’s
Sold: AUD96,000
Aug 20, 2025
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), (Untitled) 1993
Menzies
Sold: AUD95,000
Apr 12, 2022
EMILY KNGWARREYE 1908-1996 Kame Flowers 1991 synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Smith & Singer
Sold: AUD95,000
May 25, 2016
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c.1910 1996), KAME COLOUR XII, 1996, synthetic polymer paint on linen
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD95,000
Mar 26, 2024
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, UNTITLED (EMU COUNTRY), 1993
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD90,000
Sep 12, 2021
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (ABORIGINAL-AUSTRALIAN, c.
Clarke Auction Gallery
Sold: $90,000
Mar 22, 2023
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, AWELYE, 1994
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD89,000
Jul 27, 2026
Lawsons
Sold: AUD88,000
Mar 26, 2024
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, ALAGURA LANDSCAPE I, 1994
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD88,000
May 10, 2017
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD85,400
Mar 26, 2025
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, LIFE CYCLE III, 1994
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD85,000
Mar 05, 2024
Emily Kame Kngwarreye – Bush Yam Awelye, 1994
Cooee Art
Sold: AUD85,000
Mar 30, 2022
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, ALHALKERE COUNTRY, 1990
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD85,000
Mar 17, 2021
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, UNTITLED, 1994
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD85,000
Mar 18, 2020
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c.1910 – 1996), CEREMONY, 1994, synthetic polymer paint on linen
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD85,000
Nov 23, 2022
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Anmatyerre language group, Desert Wildness II 1996
Menzies
Sold: AUD84,000
Mar 25, 2026
Emily Kam Kngwarreye, Life cycle I, II & III, 1994
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD80,000
Mar 17, 2026
ETHEL CARRICK FOX (1872-1952) (Place de la Concorde, Paris) c.1918-1919 oil on panel 26 x 33.5cm
Leonard Joel
Sold: AUD80,000
Nov 18, 2025
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Sold: AUD80,000
Nov 08, 2023
Emily Kame Kngwarreye – Bush Yam Dreaming, 1994
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Sold: AUD80,000
Oct 20, 2020
Emily Kame Kngwarreye – My Country, 1995
Cooee Art
Sold: AUD80,000
Nov 12, 2024
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (EMILY KAM KNGWARRAY), UNTITLED (ALHAKERE – MY COUNTRY), 1992
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Sold: AUD78,000
Mar 25, 2026
Emily Kam Kngwarreye, Untitled (Yam), 1995
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD75,000
Aug 26, 2003
Christie’s
Sold: AUD72,850
Oct 06, 2010
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE Oorooterna, Wild Fruits,
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD72,000
Mar 25, 2026
Daniel Walbidi, All the jila, 2007
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD72,000
May 19, 2026
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (EMILY KAM KNGWARRAY), Alhalkere, 1993
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art)
Sold: AUD70,000
Aug 20, 2025
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Alalgura Soak – My Country 1994
Menzies
Sold: AUD70,000
Mar 05, 2024
Emily Kame Kngwarreye – Alalgurra Soak – My Country, 1994
Cooee Art
Sold: AUD70,000
Jul 26, 2004
Sotheby’s
Sold: AUD68,062
Apr 05, 2017
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD67,100
May 05, 2026
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c. 1915 – 1996), My Country 1995, synthetic polymer paint on linen
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
Sold: AUD65,000
May 05, 2026
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, (c. 1915 – 1996), Alhalkere 1994, synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Theodore Bruce Auctioneers & Valuers
Sold: AUD65,000
Apr 09, 2025
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Anmatyerre language group My Country 1991
Menzies
Sold: AUD65,000
Nov 26, 2024
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, UNTITLED, 1995
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD65,000
Mar 26, 2024
EMILY KAM KNGWARREYE, UNTITLED, 1994
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD65,000
Mar 14, 2018
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE 1910-1996 | Fertile Desert
Sotheby’s
Sold: £65,000
Apr 30, 2014
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE c1910 – 1996, A CARPETED DESERT, 1990, synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Deutscher and Hackett
Sold: AUD60,000
Nov 22, 2006
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (CIRCA 1910 – 1996) – Alalgura Soak – My Country 1994
Lawsons
Sold: AUD60,000
Jun 30, 2021
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (c1910-1996), Yam Country 1993
Menzies
Sold: AUD60,000
Oct 20, 2020
Emily Kame Kngwarreye – Awelye, 1993
Cooee Art
Sold: AUD60,000
June 18, 2024
Share