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.

Lin ONUS (1948 - 1996)
'Blue Leaves with Frogs Heads' 1994
screenprint on paper
Edition of 1
Image Size: 50 x 75 cm
Dimensions: 70 x 100 cm
Signed: Embossed with Lin Onus Estate stamp in lower right hand corner.
Comes with Letter of Provenance.

Unique experimental print produced by Lin Onus. Excellent provenance, direct from the master printmaker Shaike Snir at Port Jackson Press Australia. 

Similar unique print in the collection of the NGA, Blue leaves, Accession Number: 2019.755.

Condition is Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. Crease in paper near top of image, creating slight cracking in paint surface. Small grey paint spot in bottom left margin likely occurring during printing process.

(c) Lin Onus / Copyright Agency