ATOMIC LOUVRE

Don Ellis Tjapanangka (c. 1925–1976) was one of the pioneering artists of the Papunya painting movement and among the small group of men who painted the famous Honey Ant School mural in 1971. Although his painting career lasted only a few years before his untimely death, he is believed to have produced as few as ten paintings, making his work among the rarest of all early Papunya artists. His surviving Papunya Boards are historically significant and highly sought after by collectors of Western Desert Art.

This illustrated biography explores Don Ellis Tjapanangka's life, painting style, the stories behind his rare artworks, and why his small body of work occupies such an important place in the history of contemporary Aboriginal art.

Bremer Canyon killer whale Orcinus orca

‘Going Out To Hunt’ 

Analogue collage 2026