Jeremy Eccles seems to be enjoying the trump in this story of the fashion designers whose prints were inspired by Aboriginal artists. The firm followed the principle of the droite de suite royalty in paying the artist’s estate for the use of imagery from his art:

For many, Rodarte‘s 2012 prints were nothing more than a pretty appropriation that’s gone a little further afield than New Mexico. But for Megan Davis, the academic who heads up the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre and is also a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the prints were an insensitive theft of her Australian Aboriginal culture. […]

Unfortunately, Ms Davis has jumped to a whole raft of unjust conclusions here. […] Indeed, a quick check with the Aboriginal Artists’ Agency which represents Papunya Tula Artists in this matter, confirmed the licence. “The widow of artist Benny Tjangala will see this use of his artworks quite differently to the professor”, explained Anthony Wallis of AAA. “She will appreciate the royalty flow over the next 12 months! “

Aboriginal Art Dress Spat (Aboriginal Art News)

Sotheby’s in Australia has uncovered an Aboriginal painting that has been missing for a generation. It was in New York, owned by a woman who had no idea of the work’s importance or value:

A significant piece of Indigenous artwork thought to have been lost for almost 40 years has arrived back in Australia. The painting by renowned Indigenous artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri has been unveiled at the Sotheby’s Auction House in Melbourne. It has been in New York since 1975, when it was given as a gift to an American woman by an Australian family.

Possum Magic as Important Artwork Returns Home (ABC Online)

CNN says that Aboriginal artists are driven by the creative opportunities that come from transferring their culture’s imagery and techniques into new media despite the fall in the market for Aboriginal art:

It wasn’t until the 1990s that a secondary market for Aboriginal art developed, but it quickly began to make serious money. “Aboriginal art had never appeared at auction before, and it was incredible to see the reaction to it,” said Cavazzini. “Collectors were fighting over it.”

By the turn of the century it had become a major business, and in some cases art centers were making enough money to become self-sufficient.

According to Bonhams, Emily Kame Kngwarreye has achieved AUS$1 million at auction and the market peaked in 2007, before the global financial crisis, with the AUS$2.4 million sale of a work by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri.

More recently, prices have been dropping — with a Deutscher and Hackett auction in Melbourne this month grossing just AUS$1.25 million from estimates of double or triple that.

Yet for many Aboriginal artists, the motivation is not financial. “The current correction in the speculative end of the market is not only of no concern to the artists, they are generally unaware of it,” said Will Stubbs, coordinator of the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka art center in North East Arnhem Land. “Their concern is with the ceremonial and spiritual health of their land.”

Aboriginal Artists Ignore Spotty Art Market (CNN.com)