Aboriginal art profits

Australian Aboriginal art is sold all over the world, sometimes fetching very high prices. Where go these huge profits from that artwork? Do Aboriginal artist receive their fair share? And what happens if the artwork is sold on?

Aboriginal art: Rich profits, poor artists

Each year Aboriginal art contributes $100 million to the Australian economy [3]. Aboriginal paintings fetch high prices at auctions.

Warlugulong by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was first bought by the Commonwealth Bank in 1977 for AUD 1,200. In 1996 the bank sold the painting for AUD 36,000. In July 2007 the National Gallery of Australia bought it at a Sotheby's auction for AUD 2.4 million [1], the highest price ever paid for an Aboriginal painting and an increase on the original price of 2,000%.

Similarly, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula's Water Dreaming was reportedly sold in 1973 for $150. In 2000 the painting changed hands for $486,500, a rise of 3,243% in 27 years.

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Resale royalty schemes

To help artists earn at each resale of their artwork the French government in 1920 introduced a resale royalty, and resale rights have now been introduced right across the European Union [1].

In Australia the National Association for Visual Arts (NAVA) and Arts Law Centre of Australia lobbied successfully for the introduction of resale royalties which was approved by the federal government in 2008. On 1 July 2009 the royalty resale scheme was introduced. Under the scheme 5% of the resale price is paid to artists if their work is sold for AUD 1,000 or more [6]. All Australian works under copyright will attract the resale royalty, not just works created after the laws are passed [5]. The scheme applies to works by living artists and for a period of 70 years after an artist's death [6].

Australian law entitles artists to copyright royalties but this concept still faces significant resistance from auction houses and galleries. In fact, some public galleries require artists to sign a copyright waiver before they accept their paintings for exhibition.

There are also concerns that the resale royalties help a minority of artists. Only two of the 20 top-selling Australian artists in 2006 and 2007 were Indigenous [4], and of the $4.97 million dollars in royalties which might have been collected in 2007 under such a scheme, only $774,432 would have gone to Indigenous artists. The maximum payout to a non-Indigenous artist would have been almost six times as much as to an Aboriginal artist.

When I paint I feel like I'm in the Dreamtime, and can see all the animals and birds... And it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble. —Trevor 'Turbo' Brown, Latji Latji man and Aboriginal artist [2]

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'Hope for artists', Koori Mail 417, p.26 [2] 'Artist's focus on Dreamtime animals', Koori Mail 422, p.51 [3] 'Caring for culture, Caring for country', NIT 10/7/2008 p.17 [4] NIT 30/10/2008 quoting The Australian [5] 'Govt announces resale scheme', NIT 16/10/2008 p.6 [6] 'New reale scheme is welcomed', Koori Mail 436 p.3