+61 2 6240 6411 His first opportunity to paint came when one of Albert Namatjira's sons gave him acrylic paints and the master began his work. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO (1932 21 June 2002) was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists. In 1971, Geoffrey Bardon, a young teacher, arrived at Papunya. This painting depicts the sacred Bushfire Dreaming story. [5] A number of the men developed a distinctive style of narrative painting that, beginning around 1976, resulted in the production of several "monumental" works that included representations of both their traditional lands and of ceremonial iconography. He is and has always been regarded as the leading figure in Australian Aboriginal Art.Copyright Kate Owen Gallery May 2022, Copyright 2022 Kate Owen Gallery Pty Ltd. One [] The image is used according to Educational Fair Use, and tagged Maps. Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002 By the 1970's he was one of the most accomplished carvers in Central Australia. [9] The Gallery's purchase eased tensions of a rumoured Government legal intervention had the work been purchased by an overseas buyer, out of concern that significant indigenous art would be "lost" overseas. [21][22], Warlugulong was first exhibited at a show in Alice Springs, where it attracted crowds of interested viewers, but failed to sell. Get art in your inbox, The National Gallery acknowledges the First Peoples of this land and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country, First Nations [9], This work excludes elements of several dreamings associated with country further south, which had been included in the painting created by Clifford Possum and his brother a year earlier. CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI (AUSTRALIAN, 1932-2002) View catalog Sold: $11,000.00 Estimate: $8,000 - $14,000 November 19, 2022 10:00 AM CST St. Louis, MO, US Request more information Additional Details Description: Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Aboriginal Australian (Anmatyerre), 1932-2002 Perentie Dreaming, c. 1986 Acrylic on canvas Follow us on our social channels and learn about what AIE artists and their art are showcasing worldwide. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri is survived by his two daughters, Gabrielle and Michelle, and son Lionel. All the young fella they bring 'em back kangaroo. WARLUGULONG 1977. Going, going, gone: The painting sold for $2.4 million. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was born on Napperby Station about 200 kilometres north-west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). These included a number of paintings depicting Warlugulong, the Bushfire Dreaming story relating to his mother's birthplace. The National Museum of Australia acknowledges First Australians and recognises their continuous connection to Country, community and culture. On one level TheCompanion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri is arguably the most famous male Central Western Desert artist, who from 1971 until his death in 2002 dominated the Aboriginal art scene. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was born c. 1932 to Tjatjiti Tjungurrayai and Long Rose Nangala in Tjuirri, an area north-west of Alice Springs also known as Napperby Station. [8] The two images are amongst five that the artist created between 1976 and 1979 that linked the iconography of sacred stories to geographic representation of his country the land to which he belonged and about which he had traditional knowledge. Carved snake (view from front), 1973, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, pigment on wood, 71 x 40 x 15 cm. Similar to many Aboriginal artists of this time, he began his working career as a stockman on various cattle stations established on his ancestral country and later was employed in the construction of the Papunya settlement. One of the extraordinary qualities of Clifford's work and other Western Desert artists is that they are a visual writing and speak to the Aboriginal as books do to Europeans.When asked why he became an Artist, he answered,"That Dreaming been all the time. The Papunya movement began in 1971 when Western Desert men began painting their traditional designs onto small boardsdesigns that were previously confined to . Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was the most famous of the contemporary artists who lived around Papunya, in the Northern Territory's Western Desert area, when the acrylic painting style (known popularly as "dot art") was initiated. On the stations, Tjapaltjarri roamed the land that had been home to 50,000 years of aboriginal people, displaced by the rapid colonization of the early 1900s. Billy Stockman, another founding member of the Papunya Tula art movement, survived the massacre and was raised by Clifford Possums mother. The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. When it held an exhibition of his work in 2004, the Art Gallery of New South Wales described his artistic background: He was an expert wood-carver and took up painting long before the emergence of the Papunya Tula School in the early 1970s. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri In Ocula Magazine Ocula News Swiss Collector Buys Kelton Collection of Australian Indigenous Art Melbourne, 3 December 2020 In a deal worth millions, Bruno Raschle acquired more than 250 works in the California-based collection. He began carving during the same period and had established a reputation as a craftsman before becoming one of the first men to take up painting at Papunya, a settlement established 240 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs in the 1960s. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people. Find out more about Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri at the Aboriginal Art Directory Prodigy at Eighty - The Miracle of Emily Posted by Frannie Hopkirk | 2014-03-05 18:19:07 Emily Kame Kngwarreye. . Colonial Australian Art. Reed Enger, "Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Reclaiming the land," in Obelisk Art History, Published January 16, 2020; last modified November 06, 2022, http://www.arthistoryproject.com/artists/clifford-possum-tjapaltjarri/. Napperby Station, NT Because everybody there all ready waiting. Albrecht from Hermannsburg Lutheran mission noticed that the young Clifford was suffering from severe malnutrition during one of these visits and arranged for him to be nursed back to health at the mission and then returned to his mother. [12], When the Australian government in 2009 introduced a resale royalty scheme, the sale history of Warlugulong was frequently used to argue in favour of the scheme, designed to ensure that artists and their families continued to benefit from the appreciating value of old works.[18][26][27]. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was the most famous of the contemporary artists who lived around Papunya, in the Northern Territory's Western Desert area, when the acrylic painting style (known popularly as "dot art") was initiated. Chicago, Los Angeles and St Louis 1988, 'Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Paintings 1973-1986', retrospective exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; 1990 'l'ete . He was the chairman of the Papunya Tula Artists from the 1970's to the 1980's. In 1983 Possums Mulga Seed Dreaming won the 14th Alice Prize, an important breakthrough. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, AO (c.1937 - 2002) Australia's Most Celebrated Aboriginal Artist. Animal representations include tracks of a cluster of emus from a place called Napperby, on the artist's country, as well as those left by the rock wallaby, or Mala, men journeying north from Port Augusta in South Australia, as well as, on the left hand edge of the picture, those of two groups of dingoes going to a place called Warrabri. Although married and father to Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi and Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, Clifford Possum dedicated his time to creating extraordinary three-dimensional artworks widening the circles of knowledge relating to Anmatyerre history, Aboriginal and national history. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Anmatyerr people about 1932-2002 Born in a creek bed on Napperby cattle station, Clifford Possum worked from late boyhood as a stockman. [25] The Gallery considers the painting to be possibly the most important in its collection of Indigenous Australian art. Possum was one of the first Aboriginal artists to use acrylic paint for what is now known as the dot art style. Born: Napperby, Northern Territory, Australia circa 1932, Died: Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia 21 Jun 2002, Language group: Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO (c. 1932-2002) was a founding member of the artists cooperative established at Papunya in the early 1970s and one of the most renowned practitioners within the Western Desert art movement. His brother was Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, whose artwork appeared on another stamp. Tjapaltjarri was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2002. 1977 painting by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Tjapaltjarri (in Western Desert dialects) is a, A separate, smaller work with the similar title, "Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri: Larger than Life", "Dreaming Story at Warlugulong (Warlukurlangu)", "Aboriginal artwork sells at record price", "A pretty good result all round, possums", "Clifford Possum artwork sells for record price", "National Gallery of Australia unveils major painting by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - Warlugulong 1977", "Aboriginal artists gain royalties for resold art", List of Indigenous Australian art movements and cooperatives, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Warlugulong&oldid=1105769071, Collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 August 2022, at 18:20. Geoffrey Bardon came to Papunya in the early 1970s and encouraged the Aboriginal people to put their dreaming stories on canvas, stories which had previously been depicted ephemerally on the ground. By the mid-1970s he was chairman of the company and had emerged as one of its most inventive artists. His brother was Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, whose artwork appeared on another stamp. [14][notes 2] Art critic Benjamin Genocchio has referred to the 1977 work as also being by the brothers;[13] however, the National Gallery of Australia credits it solely to Clifford Possum. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (American, 1932-2002) Dingo Dreaming Oil on canvas 50-1/2 x 28 inches (128.3 x 71.1 cm) Signed on the reverse: Clifford Possum PROVENANCE: Aboriginals Art of The First Person; Acquired from the above by the current owner, December 18, 1992. The Aboriginal Memorial commemorates Aboriginal Australians who have lost their lives defending their land since the beginning of European settlement. In 1972 Clifford Possum was introduced to the emergent painting movement at Papunya by his cousin Kaapa Tjapitjinpa and brother Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri. Tjapaltjarri was chairperson of Papunya Tula Artists during the early 1980s. Warlugulong is an Indigenous Australian Art Acrylic Painting created by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri in 1977. The artist's majestic painting Warlugulong (previously bought by the Commonwealth Bank for just $1,200) was auctioned by Sotheby's on 24 July 2007. This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [8] The work and the price it achieved at auction in 2007 are cited as evidence of both the importance of Clifford Possum as an artist, and of the maturation and growth of the Australian Indigenous art market. 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