His older brother Cassidy Possum Tjapaltjarri was a traditionalist who barely gone outside of the Yuelamu community and was one of most respected elder till his passing in 2006, 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. During the '70s and '80s, he and his family lived at Papunya, Napperby Station, M'bunghara outstation near Glen Helen, and then Alice Springs. In June he received the Order of Australia for his pioneering work in the development of the Western Desert Art movement, and was to be officially invested with the award on the day he died. Encouraged by his brother Tim, Clifford Possum, who had already begun teaching woodcarving at the settlement, joined Bardons painting group, which later became the Papunya Tula Artists Company. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Australia Born: Napperby, Northern Territory, Australia circa 1932 Died: Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia 21 Jun 2002 Language group: Anmatyerr, Central Desert region Biography Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was born on Napperby Station about 200 kilometres north-west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). [4] The youngest was Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, encouraged by his older brother Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri. And they been using them on body different times.Kids, I see them all the time, painted. As an artist who frequently incorporates celestial-like symbols and motifs in his work, Johnson was drawn to the meditative and intricate quality of dotting and sought permission from the Papunya artists to employ it. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO Born: c.1932; Napperby, Australia Died: June 21, 2002; Alice Springs / Stuart, Australia Nationality: Australian Art Movement: Native Art Painting School: Papunya Tula Field: painting Family and Relatives: Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri died in Alice Springs on the day he was scheduled to be invested with the Order of Australia for his contributions to art and to the Indigenous community. Close product . Clifford Possum was already a woodcarver of reknown, and had been employed at Papunya School teaching woodcarving to the children and was Chairman of Papunya Tula Artists during the early 1980s. (Sotheby's) A dot painting by Indigenous artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri broke the existing record for an Aboriginal artwork at auction . He was chosen by Papunya Tula Artists to paint, with his brother Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, the large canvas that became Warlugulong, 1976, for a BBC documentary, Desert Dreamers. Indigenous Australian Art Artists Possum Tjapaltjarri's Contemporaries An Anmatyerr man, he was born on Napperby Station near Alice Springs and started his working life in the 1940s as a stockman. While Possum had two small exhibitions in Brisbane and Melbourne in 1987, his first major retrospective was at Londons Institute of Contemporary Art in 1988. By the mid-1970s he was chairman of the company and had emerged as one of its most inventive artists. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - Artist Biography Shopping Cart | Wish List | About Us Artworks Exhibitions Buying Guide Our Services Art & Culture Contact Us Search Aboriginal Artworks Text Search Search Website Colour Range Size and Shape Range Size: Shape: Price Range On Sale Low: High: Region & Theme This heightened his appreciation of the idea that a painting might function as a map, and as a unified embodiment of place, identity and spirituality. When Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri joined this group of 'dot and circle' painters early in 1972 he immediately distinguished himself as one of its most talented members[2] and went on to create some of the largest and most complex paintings ever produced. Clifford Possum was said to be a true master artist, his character, charisma, and total dedication to his art and dreamings, as well as his tireless promotion of his and his family's work has set a high standard in establishing this movement from its inception to the present day. Warlugulong After learning how to muster and brand cattle, he became a stockman at Hamilton Downs and then head stockman at Narwietooma station. Namatjira, recognising his obvious talent, inquired whether he wanted to learn to paint in his style. LANGUAGE GROUP: Anmatyerre (270 x 128 cm.) But a year later his brother Tim died, deeply affecting Possum and ending many years of a close artistic collaboration. Join the conversation in our Discord, and if you enjoy content like this, consider becoming a member for exclusive essays, downloadables, and discounts in the Obelisk Store. Human footprints include a set left by dancing women from a place called Aileron; another shows a family group travelling to a place called Ngama, and a third trail is that of a Tjungurrayi man, which lead to his skeleton, representing his death after committing the crime of trying to steal sacred items. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Possum & Rock Wallaby Dreaming - Napperby, ca. [13] Clifford Possum would often collaborate with other artists, particularly his brother Tim Leura, and the brothers together created the 1976 work of the same name. NOTICE: 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. Artworks are displayed solely to aid potential purchasers in making their selection. WARLUGULONG 1977. 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. 202-647-4000 | TTY:1-800-877-8339 (FRS) He was of the Peltharr skin. Video excerpt from the ABC documentary 'The Exhibitionists' on Australian female artist Vivienne Binns. Like Albert Namatjira before him, Clifford Possum blazed a trail for future generations of Indigenous artists; bridging the gap between Aboriginal art and contemporary Australian art. Numerous Indigenous Australians are noted for their participation in, and contributions to, the Visual arts of Australia and abroad. For the first time many different legends were told or mapped on one canvas, each story layered one upon the other. His paintings are held in galleries and collections in Australia and elsewhere, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia, the Kelton Foundation and the Royal Collection. Through his remarkable paintings, Clifford Possums unique images and stories will endure. Clifford Possum emerged as one of the leaders in this school of painting, which has come to be called the Western Desert Art Movement. In the early 1950s the artist went to live at a recently opened lodge that catered to tourists drawn to the area by the landscapes of the Hermannsburg Mission watercolourists. Born at Napperby Station, north-west of Alice Springs, he is the youngest son of One Pound Jimmy Tjungurrayi and Long Rose Nangala [both deceased]. Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). [3], Contemporary Indigenous Australian art originated with the Indigenous men of Papunya, located around 240 kilometres (150mi) northwest of Alice Springs in Australia's Western Desert, who began painting in 1971. Later that year he travelled to the US to attend the Dreamings exhibition at New Yorks Asia Society Galleries. http://www.arthistoryproject.com/artists/clifford-possum-tjapaltjarri/. [4] He was buried at Yuelamu, which had been the preference of his community and daughters, several weeks after his death.[5]. You have Javascript disabled. 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. (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004). Many of his canvasses have strong figurative elements which stand out from the highly descriptive background dotting. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO (c. 19322002) 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. The Papunya movement began in 1971 when Western Desert men began painting their traditional designs onto small boardsdesigns that were previously confined to . Warlugulong 1976 and several paintings by Aboriginal artists was exhibited at the inaugural Australian Perspecta at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1981, the first time Aborigines had been included in a general survey of Australian contemporary work. Tjapaltjarri worked alongside many of Australias discrete indigenous cultures, mastering six Western Desert languages and absorbing a vast swath of the traditional stories of the Dreaming. Go to Artist page. Contact with Albrecht had an ongoing impact on Possum and his family. Phone:(02) 9555 5283 World:+612 9555 5283680 Darling St. Rozelle NSW 2039 Australia. 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. Tjapaltjarri joined Papunya Tula Artists in February 1972 and was one of their founding directors. The painting illustrates the story of an ancestral being called Lungkata, together with eight other dreamings associated with localities about which Clifford Possum had traditional knowledge. Clifford POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI - Love Story 1997, 91 x 145cm ADG:1074 ADG: 1074 Description CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Love Story - Story of painting This painting tells of a young Tjungurrayi man who fell in love with a Napangati woman, however she was the wrong skin group and was not allowed to marry him. Video, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri 'Warlugulong'. (age70in2002), Basil P. Bressler (48portraits supported). After completing five works of similar scale and style during the 1970s, Possum began experimenting with colour and subtle modifications of traditional symbols. Find an AIE artist Lawson Crescent Acton Peninsula, CanberraDaily 9am5pm, closed Christmas Day Freecall: 1800 026 132, Museum Cafe9am4pm, weekdays9am4.30pm, weekends. [3] The authors of the National Gallery of Australia's book, Collection Highlights, characterises the painting as the artist's most significant. It became the first 'dot' painting to enter a major public art collection. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was the first recognized star of the Western Desert art movement. Other Aboriginal artists have incorporated western mediums into their work, such as Emily Kngwarreye, Rover Thomas, and Freddy Timms. The move coincided with a growing interest in Western Desert art by private and public galleries, with financial support and commissions from the federal government, which was anxious to include paintings by Aborigines in the 1988 bicentennial celebrations and the new parliament house. Over 60 major paintings, all with detailed annotations and spanning more than two decades of his output, are reproduced in this volume. For a time he experimented with complex striping, linked dotting or overlapping the background with a patching pattern. The charcoal grey areas indicate the burnt-out country, and the white dots represent ash. It sold for $2.4million, thoroughly eclipsing the previous record for an Indigenous Australian painting, set when Emily Kngwarreye's Earth's Creation was bought in May of the same year for just over $1million. This website contains names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In the 1940's, Clifford and his family re-located to Jay Creek, where he became a stockman, working at several stations throughout the area. Tjapaltjarri had been a part of the Papunya art community for four years and was one of their most successful and respected artists, but it was his previous career as a stockman working on central Australias pastoral stations, or ranches, that made him uniquely qualified for the project. Source See Warlugulong in the Kaleidoscope. [12] As of 2016, the work is on display in the National Gallery. 2201 C Street NW | Washington, DC 20520 Check out news and media, U.S. Department of State Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. See opening hours All the young fella they bring 'em back kangaroo. The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. His work is featured in many of the main galleries and collections around Australia and internationally. +61 2 6240 6411 1-20 out of 145 LOAD MORE. Within this framework, he depicted the land geographically. He has had a book published dedicated to him and his paintings, 'The Art of Clifford Possum Japaltjarri', by Vivien Johnson. Police claimed that the Aborigines had killed a local dingo hunter. Auction Closed The National Gallery acknowledges the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the Kamberri/Canberra region, and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country. (age55in2002), Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO Colonial Australian Art. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - 14 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy Artists Artworks Auctions Viewing Rooms Galleries Fairs Shows Museums Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Australian, 1932-2002 Follow 99 Followers Active Secondary Market Overview Works for Sale (14) Auction Results Featured Works Artist Name Artwork Title Partner Price Artist Name A patching pattern x27 ; painting to enter a major public Art.... Recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities age70in2002 ), Basil P. (. Young fella they bring 'em back kangaroo Peltharr skin affecting Possum and his family men began painting their designs! 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