In the early 1950s, Possum met Albert Namatjira at Glen Helen Gorge, a newly developing tourist spot established by the nearby cattle station owner. Bears artist's name and title on Art Gallery of South Australia, Clifford Possum Tjapalatjarri Retrospective Tour label, on the protective foam core backing attached to the reverse of stretcher. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was born on Napperby Station about 200 kilometres north-west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Tjapaltjarri joined Papunya Tula Artists in February 1972 and was one of their founding directors. Clifford, living at the Papunya Community, was one of the first artists to be involved with the Aboriginal Art Movement. / (Sotheby's) A dot painting by Indigenous artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri broke the existing record for an Aboriginal artwork at auction . While Possum never forgot the Christian teachings at Hermannsburg, he never fully embraced the religion, unlike his older brother who studied at Hermannsburg and was ordained as a Lutheran pastor. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (c.1932-2002) was one of the truly visionary Australian artists of the twentieth century. 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. In the late 1970's he expanded the scope of Papunya Tula painting by placing the trails of several ancestors on the same canvas in the fashion of a road map. Description. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, one of the acknowledged pioneers of the contemporary Australian Aboriginal art movement which emerged at Papunya settlement in central Australia in the early 1970s . Growing up, Clifford enjoyed a tradition bush lifestyle and was given the name Possum by his parental grandfather. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified. Artworks are displayed solely to aid potential purchasers in making their selection. [11], Created in synthetic polymer paint on canvas,[12] and a substantial 2 by 3.3 metres (6.6ft 10.8ft) in size, the work's title is taken from a location roughly 300 kilometres (190mi) "northwest of Alice Springs associated with a powerful desert dreaming". DOB: Tjapaltjarri was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2002. . This information and Possums work herding cattle and horses across the desert provided the source and content of his later paintings. The work had been tipped to fetch up to A$2.5 million, more than double the then-record for Aboriginal art at auction. Warlugulong is a 1977 acrylic on canvas painting by Indigenous Australian artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. The omission led scholar Vivien Johnson to conclude that Warlugulong (1977) portrays a narrower geographic area than the preceding work. [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. Commissioned with funds from the Basil Bressler Bequest 2002 Learn the market value of your Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri led a ground-breaking career and was amongst the vanguard of Indigenous Australian artists to be recognised by the international art world. Possum's father was Tjatjiti Tjungurrayai and his mother was Long Rose Nangala. [16], While the painting has been described as showing the story of an ancestral being called Lungkata starting the first bushfire,[13] it portrays elements of nine distinct dreamings, of which Lungkata's tale is the central motif. It makes accessible the development of a master painter of the Anmatyerre tribe, one of the founders and leaders of Western Desert art. Geoffrey Bardon came to Papunya in the early 1970s and encouraged the Aboriginal people to put their dreaming . Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri is arguably the most widely acclaimed, collected and exhibited Aboriginal artist of . Some features and content of this website may not work as intended. Carpet Snake Dreaming. Contact with Albrecht had an ongoing impact on Possum and his family. 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. Old people carry on this law, business, schooling for the young people. Pre-auction, the work was expected to make art history as the most expensive Aboriginal canvas at auction. 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. That Dreaming carry on. 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. 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 Poss.. 61: CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI (c. 1932 - 2002) "Worm Dreaming Napperby" Est: AUD 2,000 - AUD 4,000 View sold prices Jan. 04, 2023 Ozbid Auctions LEICHHARDT, NSW, AU 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]. It is named after the place west of Yuendumu where the fire began, indicated by the concentric circles at the centre of the glowing fire-burst, which conveys the explosive nature of the fire. To appreciate its full richness it is imperative that it is seen not only by its colour, composition and balance, but by its mythological detail. While his year of birth is considered to be approximately correct, the day and month remain undocumented. Lot includes the original bill of sale from Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime Gallery, 1990 and two photographs of the artist holding the painting.106.29 x 50.39 in. After learning how to muster and brand cattle, he became a stockman at Hamilton Downs and then head stockman at Narwietooma station. At last, The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri presents a comprehensive account of the work of this extraordinary artist. [25] The Gallery considers the painting to be possibly the most important in its collection of Indigenous Australian art. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Source See Warlugulong in the Kaleidoscope. The unwanted publicity and other pressures had a debilitating impact on Possum and he largely withdrew from the art scene. 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. A little closer to the centre of the painting are marks representing a dreaming called the Chase of the Goanna Men. Art critic Benjamin Genocchio describes it as "a work of real national significance [and] one of the most important 20th-century Australian paintings". On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. While white settlers and government officials had driven tens of thousands of Aborigines from Australias richest farming land during the 19th century, the dispossession of central Australian Aborigines did not occur until the early 1900s and continued during the early years of Possums life. International Committee of the Fourth International. After accepting a commission in 1985 to paint a mural for the Araluen Art Centre, Possum moved his family to Alice Springs, the first Papunya Tula artist to do so. Born in a creek bed on Napperby cattle station, Clifford Possum worked from late boyhood as a stockman. (age70in2002), Basil P. Bressler (48portraits supported). Business time we don't use paints the way I use them, no we use them from rock, teach 'em all the young fellas. All the young fella they bring 'em back kangaroo. [23] The bank sold it by auction in 1996. Napperby Station, NT Video excerpt from the ABC documentary 'The Exhibitionists' on Australian female artist Vivienne Binns. The artist's works have gone up for sale at public auction 402 times, mostly in the Painting category. But a year later his brother Tim died, deeply affecting Possum and ending many years of a close artistic collaboration. His mother, Long Rose Nangala and father, Tjatjiti Tjungurrayi, were members of the Anmatyerre tribal group living on ancestral lands near Napperby cattle station. His brother was Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, whose artwork appeared on another stamp. He refined his skill as a woodcarver while continuing to work as a stockman. [9], Around this central motif are arranged elements of eight other stories, all of them represented at least in part by sets of footprints. His working life began at an early age on the Hamilton Downs cattle stationthe very industry that had driven his family from the land. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was the first recognized star of the Western Desert art movement. (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004). It has been said that her work "enabled the flowering of a whole new generation of Aboriginal artists". (English) 1 reference. Tim Johnson became interested in the Papunya Tula Artists after seeing an exhibition of their paintings in Sydney in 1977. The Papunya movement began in 1971 when Western Desert men began painting their traditional designs onto small boardsdesigns that were previously confined to . Often these techniques would be carefully interwoven into an integrated composition, overlaid with more dots to producing an illusion of changing spatial depth. Going, going, gone: The painting sold for $2.4 million. 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. In 2002 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for service as a contributor to and pioneer of the development of the Western Desert art movement, and to the Indigenous community through interpretation of ancient traditions and cultural values., Vivien Johnson in 'Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2014, Open daily You have Javascript disabled. Flinders University Art Museum Collection. 'Tjapaltjarri finally allowed to rest in peace', "Indigenous artwork tipped to sell for $2.5m", ABC News online, "Aboriginal Artwork sells for record price", News Limited, news.com.au, "National Gallery bought dot painting", 25 July 2007, Clifford Possum - An Audio Interview with Aboriginal Artist Malcolm Jagamarra, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clifford_Possum_Tjapaltjarri&oldid=1101388819, Clifford Possum, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjari, This page was last edited on 30 July 2022, at 19:35. Sale Date: October 23, 2021. Possum's father was Tjatjiti Tjungurrayai and his mother was Long Rose Nangala. It was given extensive media coverage and had record attendances. Images may not be reproduced for any reason without express permission from the artist. Geoffrey Bardon came to Papunya in the early 1970s and encouraged the Aboriginal people to put their dreaming . 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