This was followed two years later by another London exhibition, which was favourably reviewed in the prestigious Artline magazine. I use paint and canvas that's not from us, from European people. Some of the many other famous Aboriginal artists who used dot art styles include . Hundreds of Aborigines were forced from tribal lands. He is one aboriginal Australia's best known artists. 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. His two daughters, Gabriella Possum Nungurayyi and Michelle Possum Nungurayyi, are renowned artists in their own right. This writer had the opportunity to meet Clifford Possum at an exhibition of his paintings and sculpture held at a small inner city Sydney gallery in August 2001, a few months before he became seriously ill. A gentle and quiet-spoken man with a light-hearted sense of humour, Possum was proud of his life as a stockman and passionate about his artistic work. For the first time many different legends were told or mapped on one canvas, each story layered one upon the other. There is greater visual symmetry in this painting than in its 1976 predecessor; symmetry is a strong influence in the works of many of the early Western Desert artists, including Clifford Possum, Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri and Kaapa Tjampitjinpa. 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. 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. 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. He is one of Australia's most distinguished and best-selling painters of the late twentieth century. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri REGION: PAPUNYA - NORTHERN TERRITORY LANGUAGE: ANMATYERRE B. The art of Clifford Possum is notable for its brilliant manipulation of three-dimensional space. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (cca. 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. 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. Clifford Possum was the first recognised star of the Western Desert art and one of Australia's most distinguished painters of the late twentieth century. Four years prior to his birth, a harsh drought had compelled several groups of Aborigines into the Coniston area, producing tensions with local farmers who wanted the scarce water resources for their cattle. 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. The auction house trading the work expected it to fetch around $5,000 and did not make a feature of it in the catalogue, but dealers including Hank Ebes, the successful bidder, recognised the painting's significance and it sold for $36,000 plus commission. 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. The image is used according to Educational Fair Use, and tagged Maps. (Sotheby's) A dot painting by Indigenous artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri broke the existing record for an Aboriginal artwork at auction . His paintings show superlative skill, incredible inventiveness of form and are visually spectacular.Clifford's work is contemporary but essentially Aboriginal in inspiration. 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 the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Clifford Possum was Chairman of this group and in 1990 presented the Queen Elizabeth II with one of his paintings. 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. Through the sheer power and beauty of his paintings, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri introduced his culture to the rest of Australia and then, to the world. Tjapaltjarri was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2002. Possum was of the Anmatyerre culture-linguistic group from around Alherramp (Laramba) community. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people. Police claimed that the Aborigines had killed a local dingo hunter. Their works were mostly Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) stories, representing the creation of significant sites and landforms by ancestral beings along their paths of travel through traditional lands. Clifford possum tjapaltjarri warlugulong 2007 Background Contemporary Indigenous Australian art originated with the Indigenous men of Papunya, located around 240 kilometres (150 mi) northwest of Alice Springs in Australia's Western Desert, who began painting in 1971. 2201 C Street NW | Washington, DC 20520 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian artist born in 1932. [17], Johnson's analysis of the painting emphasises the relationship between the representation of geographical sites in the Yuendumu region and the dreaming stories associated with those sites. Got questions, comments or corrections about Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri? 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. Lungkata was the Bluetongue Lizard Man, an ancestral figure responsible for creating bushfire. NOTICE: Open Air is an exhibition of portraits of Australians in environments of particular significance to them. This information and Possums work herding cattle and horses across the desert provided the source and content of his later paintings. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the, Let me know when this portraits on display. Pre-auction, the work was expected to make art history as the most expensive Aboriginal canvas at auction. It makes accessible the development of a master painter of the Anmatyerre tribe, one of the founders and leaders of Western Desert art. 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. The unwanted publicity and other pressures had a debilitating impact on Possum and he largely withdrew from the art scene. Video, Know My Name [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. (270 x 128 cm.) How much is your Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri worth? [17], Warlugulong (1977) is acclaimed as a landmark Indigenous painting; a great work by one of the country's foremost artists. Possums first contact with Europeans was through his father, who sold dingo scalps in exchange for tea and flour at the Jay Creek government ration depot. Indian Artist Australian Art Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (circa 1930-2002) Untitled (Possum Ceremony) Estimate: AU$ 120,000 - 180,000 78,000 - 120,000 US$ 130,000 - 190,000 Aboriginal Dot Painting Aboriginal Artists Indigenous Australian Art Indigenous Art Gallery Website Outsider Art Native Art STAY CONNECTED Toward the end of his life Tjapaltjarri was recognised as one of Australia's great painters, and in 2004, when the National Gallery of Victoria presented Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, he became the first of the Papunya Tula artists to have a retrospective exhibition at a major Australian art museum. Research 10 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri prices and auction results in Art. His obituaries, which appeared in newspapers around the world, generally referred to him as Clifford Possum and gave his age as about 70. Go to Artist page. By the mid-1970s he was chairman of the company and had emerged as one of its most inventive artists. [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. 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 He is one of Australia's most distinguished and best-selling painters of the late twentieth century. Flinders University Art Museum Collection. His working life began at an early age on the Hamilton Downs cattle stationthe very industry that had driven his family from the land. [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". Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. 28 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images All News Archival Browse 28 clifford possum tjapaltjarri stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The other artists working with him took his lead and removed any elements of European Art from their work. In June of 2002, Tjapaltjarri traveled to Alice Springs to receive the rank of Officer in the meritorious Order of Australia for Distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large. But on the 21st, the day of the award ceremony, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri passed away. Additional documents supplied by Central Australian . After learning how to muster and brand cattle, he became a stockman at Hamilton Downs and then head stockman at Narwietooma station. His father was born at Ngarlu, a location west of Mt. Within this framework, he depicted the land geographically. Possum Tjapaltjarri contributed to the Indigenous Australian Art movement and died on June 21, 2002. 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. 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. His work has travelled extensively around the world, including 'Dreamings - The Art of Aboriginal Australia' in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and St Louis. A little closer to the centre of the painting are marks representing a dreaming called the Chase of the Goanna Men. [1] His older brother Cassidy Possum Tjapaltjarri was a traditionalist who barely gone outside of the Yuelamu community and was one of the most respected elders 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. At last, The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri presents a comprehensive account of the work of this extraordinary artist. Closed Good Friday & Christmas day In 1988, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London organised a retrospective it was Tjapaltjarris first solo exhibition and the first time an Australian Aboriginal artist had been honoured in this way by the international art world. For a time he experimented with complex striping, linked dotting or overlapping the background with a patching pattern. He worked at various stations throughout Central Australia, acquiring several languages and developing a profound knowledge of the Dreaming trails and sites around the McDonnell Ranges. Clifford Possum led a groundbreaking career and was amongst the vanguard of Indigenous Australian artists to be [17] It was purchased for A$1,200 by the Commonwealth Bank, which hung it in a bank training centre cafeteria on the Mornington Peninsula. Follow us on our social channels and learn about what AIE artists and their art are showcasing worldwide. The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. 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. Namatjira, recognising his obvious talent, inquired whether he wanted to learn to paint in his style. He refined his skill as a woodcarver while continuing to work as a stockman. The work had been tipped to fetch up to A$2.5 million, more than double the then-record for Aboriginal art at auction. 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. Carved snake (view from front), 1973, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, pigment on wood, 71 x 40 x 15 cm. By the time he started visiting Papunya in the mid-1960s he had a well-established reputation as a woodcarver, based on his talent for capturing lifelike effects of motion. Warlugulong is a 1977 acrylic on canvas painting by Indigenous Australian artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Find an AIE artist Forty years ago, Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Tim Leura, Clifford Possum and Johnny Warangula were central to the constitution of contemporary desert art at Papunya. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Clifford Tilmouth Colin Bird Colleen Wallace Nungari Connie Nakamarra Fisher Corinne Nampijinpa Ryan Cornelius Jungarrayi Spencer Cowboy Louie Pwerle D Dadu Gorey Nungarrayi Danny Japaljarri France David Angus Jungala Deborah Napaljarri Wayne Debra Nangala McDonald Debra Young Nakamarra Delores Furber Napaltjarri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons. His final days were spent at the Hetty Perkins Nursing Home in Alice Springs, where he passed away surrounded by close family and friends. Video, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri 'Warlugulong'. Possum's parents were from the Anmatyerre people, and he was born in an isolated, dry creek bed, 200 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs, in June 1932. Contact with Albrecht had an ongoing impact on Possum and his family. Check out news and media, U.S. Department of State It became the first 'dot' painting to enter a major public art collection. 1977. Carpet Snake Dreaming. We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands. 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. 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