#pintupi

Nosepeg Tjupurrula (c. 1915–1990) was one of the founding artists of the Papunya painting movement, but he was first and foremost a senior Pintupi ceremonial leader. Raised entirely within the traditional nomadic life of the Western Desert, he became one of Central Australia's most respected authorities on Aboriginal Law, played a key role in the Homelands movement, worked as an interpreter during early government contact with remote Pintupi families, and helped establish the Papunya art movement in 1971. Because painting was never his primary role, authentic works by Nosepeg are exceptionally rare and among the most historically significant of the early Papunya Boards.

This illustrated biography explores Nosepeg Tjupurrula's remarkable life, his role in the birth of contemporary Aboriginal art, his distinctive painting style, and why his surviving paintings are so highly sought after by collectors of Western Desert Art.

Fabric designed by Eunice Napanangka Jack.

Papunya Tula Artists

Dreaming Journey, Unknown

Children’s Goanna Dreaming, Timmy Payungka Tjapangati

Frog Spirit Dreaming, Charlie Tararu Tjungurrayi

Love Story of a Man and the Moon, Charlie Tararu Tjungurrayi

Dreaming  Journey West of Papunya, Unknown

Untitled [c.1971] Uta Uta Tjangala

(Left to right)

The Pintupi and and Luritja people had been displaced from their homeland in the Western Desert and placed into an overcrowded government settlement of Papunya, under a forced assimilation plan. Years later, in the early 1970s, Pintupi painting was a way for these male artists to retain a connection to Country.

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.

Charlie Egalie Tjapaltjarri was one of the important early Papunya artists whose paintings helped establish the Western Desert Art movement during the early 1970s. A Warlpiri/Luritja artist born at Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs), he worked as a stockman before joining Papunya Tula Artists, where he was encouraged by pioneers including Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula and Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri. His paintings depict public Dreaming stories connected to Budgerigar, Wallaby, Sugar Ant, Bushfire and ceremonial traditions of his Country.

This illustrated biography explores Charlie Egalie's life, painting style, the stories behind his artworks, what his paintings are worth today, and why authenticated early works remain highly sought after by collectors of Papunya Art.