The blazingly talented Emily Kame Kngwarreye has cemented her position as the most sought after Australian Aboriginal artist on the international market. At Sotheby’s second major New York auction of Aboriginal art last week, four of the top-10 prices achieved were for works by Kngwarreye.

The artist’s Alhalkere – Old Man Emu with Babies, 1989, an early and intricately layered painting on the theme of the ancestral Emu, achieved the auction’s highest-price when it sold to an American private collector for $US819,000 (including buyer’s fees). That translates to $1.14 million and it’s the second-highest price paid for a Kngwarreye artwork at auction.