Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle easy categorisation. ‘Untitled (Cross)’ is a unique screenprint, the fruit of a collaboration between Onus and master printmaker Shaike Snir. The two met at Port Jackson Press Australia in 1989 and over the subsequent years built an intimate rapport, spending their lunch breaks producing experimental works like this. The cross that rears across this work is inspired by iconic Aboriginal artist, Rover Thomas. In his work, Thomas references the ‘Killing times’, periods of Australian history that were rife with the massacres of Aboriginal people. From this perspective, the cross repeated here can be read as an 'X' marks the spot, a signifier that something serious occurred on this ground. This screenprint is not just symbolically powerful, it is culturally significant – a vestige of artistic collaboration, experimentation and Onus’s sensitive yet compelling eye. He was an artist whose vision was only matched by his activism, writing in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation across public collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, ‘Untitled (Cross)’ is a unique opportunity. It has an unbroken chain of provenance and is embossed with the Lin Onus Estate Stamp.

Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle easy categorisation. ‘Green and Red Pattern with Frog Pattern’ is a unique screenprint, the fruit of a collaboration between Onus and master printmaker Shaike Snir. The two met at Port Jackson Press Australia in 1989 and over the subsequent years built an intimate rapport, spending their lunch breaks producing experimental works like this. While Onus’s work traverses the border between figurative and abstract, he was rarely as abstract as is here. Across a black ground, symbolic of his cultural heritage, Onus runs an intricate lattice of green dots and red veins. Clusters of pattern evoke the silhouettes of frogs, a totem animal of his. What can be recognised in these patterns, what associations are drawn? Like ripples, the frogs in this work are traces, a reminder that everything leaves an imprint. This screenprint is not just beautiful, it is culturally significant – a vestige of artistic collaboration, experimentation and Onus’s sensitive yet compelling eye. He was an artist whose vision was only matched by his activism, writing in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation across public collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, ‘Green and Red Pattern with Frog Pattern’ is a unique opportunity. It has an unbroken chain of provenance and is embossed with the Lin Onus Estate Stamp.

Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle easy categorisation. ‘In Memory of Our Ancestors Who Were Shot and Burnt Here’ is a unique hand-painted screenprint, the fruit of a collaboration between Onus and master printmaker Shaike Snir. The two met at Port Jackson Press Australia in 1989 and over the subsequent years built an intimate rapport, spending their lunch breaks producing experimental works like this. To understand the significance of this work, we must look to a dark event in Australian history: the Mistake Creek Massacre. In 1915, after wrongly accusing an Aboriginal person of stealing a cow, it is believed that two White men attacked a camp of Gija people in Alice Springs, killing and burning the bodies of between eight and 32 people. After all blood was shed, the cow turned up. At the massacre's site stands a plaque inscribed with ‘In Memory of Our Ancestors Who Were Shot and Burnt Here’, echoed by Onus here. While Onus was known for building his screenprints from a black ground, symbolic of his cultural identity, ‘In Memory…’ casts pebbles across empty space. Against the scorched earth, a motif repeated throughout his work, he paints Mistake Creek's plaque of remembrance. It is an achingly poignant configuration, an assertion of grief, violence and a refusal to scrub the landscape clean. This work of art is not just powerful, it is culturally significant – a vestige of collaboration, experimentation and Onus’s artistic vision. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, ‘In Memory…’ is a unique, museum-quality opportunity. It has an unbroken chain of provenance and is embossed with the Lin Onus Estate Stamp.

Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of culture identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle categorisation. After being racistly expelled from school at age fourteen, Onus worked as a mechanic and activist, before teaching himself to draw. He forged a style that combined photo-realism, surrealism and indigenous iconography. Not only was this reflective of his heritage, it also represented his attitude at large, which championed reconciliation over alienation. Recognisably Onus, ‘Burnt Earth’ is a layered, textual work. In it, black and white stones are superimposed over colourful stones recalling how after a blaze, only black ash remains. Perspective is also skewed: the colourful rocks appear to be captured from above, while the black centre is cut with a horizon line. Onus presents two perspectives at once; two sides of the same stone. Detailed, multi-coloured and impeccably composed, ‘Burnt Earth’ testifies to an artist whose artistic vision was only matched by his activism. Caught between different worlds, Onus wrote in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation in most major Australian collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has. Despite being a screenprint, ‘Burnt Earth’ is a unique work of art. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, give your collection new life with ‘Burnt Earth’.

Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle easy categorisation. ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Black)’ is a unique screenprint, the fruit of a collaboration between Onus and master printmaker Shaike Snir. The two met at Port Jackson Press Australia in 1989 and over the subsequent years built an intimate rapport, spending their lunch breaks producing experimental works like this. ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Black)’ compels our attention. Across a black ground, a pigment symbolic of Onus’s identity, lie the reflection of trees on water, their tendrils punctuated by Onus’s totem animal, the frog. The presence of water too represents his ancestral country and spiritual home, the Barmah Forest along the Murray River, as well a conceptual inversion of the European panoramic landscape. Before ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Black)’, we are compelled to look below the surface. This screenprint is not just beautiful, it is culturally significant – a vestige of artistic collaboration, experimentation and Onus’s sensitive yet compelling eye. He was an artist whose vision was only matched by his activism, writing in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation across public collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Black)’ is a unique opportunity. It has an unbroken chain of ownership and is accompanied by a Letter of Provenance.

Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle easy categorisation. ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Charcoal)’ is a unique screenprint, the fruit of a collaboration between Onus and master printmaker Shaike Snir. The two met at Port Jackson Press Australia in 1989 and over the subsequent years built an intimate rapport, spending their lunch breaks producing experimental works like this. ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Charcoal)’ compels our attention. Across a black ground, a pigment symbolic of Onus’s identity, lie the reflection of trees on water, their tendrils punctuated by Onus’s totem animal, the frog. The presence of water too represents his ancestral country and spiritual home, the Barmah Forest along the Murray River, as well a conceptual inversion of the European panoramic landscape. Before ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Black)’, we are compelled to look below the surface. This screenprint is not just beautiful, it is culturally significant – a vestige of artistic collaboration, experimentation and Onus’s sensitive yet compelling eye. He was an artist whose vision was only matched by his activism, writing in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation across public collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, ‘Blue Reflection with Frogs Heads (Charcoal)’ is a unique opportunity. It has an unbroken chain of provenance and is embossed with the Lin Onus Estate Stamp.

Lin Onus, a Yorta Yorta artist of Aboriginal and Scottish descent, represents a singular voice in Australia’s cultural life. Esteemed for his wit, talent and panache, Onus’s work is a negotiation of cultural identity, using both Aboriginal and Western techniques to unsettle easy categorisation. This work is a one-of-a-kind screenprint, the fruit of a collaboration between Onus and master printmaker Shaike Snir. The two met at Port Jackson Press Australia in 1989 and over the subsequent years built an intimate rapport, spending their lunch breaks producing experimental works like this until Onus's untimely death. ‘Blue Leaves with Frogs Heads’ is an exquisite work. Across a black ground lie the reflection of trees on water, their tendrils punctuated by Onus’s totem animal, the frog. Over this layer are wisps of an impossibly rich blue, perhaps scattered leaves or ripples in the water. If you squint, you may sense yet more frogs lying between the blue. For Onus, screenprints were always to start with black – a pigment symbolic of his cultural identity – requiring colours, like this blue, bold enough to shine in the dark. This screenprint is not just beautiful, it is culturally significant – a vestige of artistic collaboration, experimentation and Onus’s sensitive yet compelling eye. He was an artist whose vision was only matched by his activism, writing in 1990 that he hoped to be remembered as a “bridge between cultures, technology and ideas”. With representation across public collections and an OBE, it is undoubtable that he has. For collectors of important Australian, Aboriginal and contemporary art, ‘Blue Leaves with Frogs Head’ is a unique opportunity. It has an unbroken chain of provenance and is embossed with The Estate of Lin Onus stamp.