Hi,
I bought the attached painting at an auction- it was very cheap and is unsigned so I don't think it's particularly valuable. Regardless, I really love the painting and have been quite curious as to what the symbols on the bottom of the painting mean. I am not even sure whether this picture is aboriginal and if so, have no idea what language it could be so I could look it up- does anyone have any information or do you know who could help me?

Thanks!

It certainly depicts some aboriginal symbols but whether it was painted by an aboriginal artist is difficult to say. It seems a very mismatched piece which makes it difficult to know where it was from. It may be someone's attempt at an aboriginal style painting as well? Some of the symbols don't appear to be in any style traditionally associated with aboriginal art but then there are a couple that could be found in other aboriginal art so it makes it hard to know!

I notice in the bottom right hand corner the green paint appears smudged and i was wondering if that was where the artist had signed it?

When you say you bought it at auction, do you mean a back yard style auction or a more formal type?

Maybe someone else will have some thoughts but it is tough to tell what we have here.

Cheers

Hi, thanks for looking. I agree- there's a good chance this was done by an amateur non-indigenous artist who wanted to have a go at painting what they thought looked like an aboriginal painting, but I figured they must have gotten the symbols from somewhere, even if it was just a textbook? Then again, maybe they just made something up they figured 'looked aboriginal'? It doesn't bother me too much either way to be honest, since I love the painting and it was very cheap ($5); I was just hoping someone may have some more info on whether the painting had some meaning (e.g. relates a particular story) or what the symbols said (even if it's as basic as 'one of those symbols says 'sun'' or something).

I bought it at an actual antiques and collectables auction, but they do have a wide range of items, from high-end antiques through to very cheap items (they take items on commission but also do whole-house clearances). I don't think there's a signature- to me it just looks like someone realised there was a bare patch in that corner and they tried to fill it in later with similar paint.