The audience and the message: Nayombolmi’s bark paintings from western Arnhem Land, Australia

The Aboriginal Badmardi artist Nayombolmi (c.1895-1967) is mostly known for his extensive rock art creations.In this article, we compile and present 17 bark paintings attributed to Nayombolmi.We picture the artist's life and engagement with art collectors and tourists, especially his long-term relationship with Dorothy Bennett and her son Lance.Known artworks created on stone and bark are compared regarding painted subject matters.Our findings reveal that artworks in the stone media are more varied and mainly created for his closest family and kin, while the bark paintings created for the growing art market are found to be more homogenous.It is argued that the artist's audiences and the social context of creating the art had a major impact on what motifs Nayombolmi painted.