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 and went on to create some of the largest and most complex paintings ever produced". It exemplifies a distinctive painting style developed by Papunya Tula artists in the 1970s, and blends representation of landscape with ceremonial iconography. Research 10 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri prices and auction results in Art. [18] Described as "epic"[19] and "sprawling",[20] Genocchio said of it that is "a work of real national significance [and] one of the most important 20th-century Australian paintings". SYDNEY, Australia, June 29 Clifford Possum, who painted some of the masterpieces of Australian aboriginal art, died on June 21 in Alice Springs in the Australian desert, an ancient landscape. Reed Enger, "Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Reclaiming the land," in Obelisk Art History, Published January 16, 2020; last modified November 06, 2022, http://www.arthistoryproject.com/artists/clifford-possum-tjapaltjarri/. [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". What is now referred to as the Papunya movement began in 1971, when the men started transferring their designs from the body and the ground onto panels of masonite and other moveable surfaces. His two daughters, Gabriella Possum Nungurayyi and Michelle Possum Nungurayyi, are renowned artists in their own right. 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). Search instead in Creative? While his year of birth is considered to be approximately correct, the day and month remain undocumented. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Hailed as the master and pioneer of Central Western Dot painting, Clifford merged the traditional with the contemporary creating artworks which moved beyond their canvas speaking to all who gaze upon them. Close product . 1-20 out of 145 LOAD MORE. The art of Clifford Possum is notable for its brilliant manipulation of three-dimensional space. [8] The two images are amongst five that the artist created between 1976 and 1979 that linked the iconography of sacred stories to geographic representation of his country the land to which he belonged and about which he had traditional knowledge. During this time he developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Dreaming Trails that criss-cross the area to the north of the western McDonnell Ranges, which he depicts in painting his Dreamings. Forty years ago, Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, Tim Leura, Clifford Possum and Johnny Warangula were central to the constitution of contemporary desert art at Papunya. See more ideas about clifford possum tjapaltjarri, aboriginal artists, aboriginal. This meant removing them from tribal lands and herding them into settlements. And they been using them on body different times.Kids, I see them all the time, painted. Clifford Possum was born in 1932 on Napperby Station. During the '70s and '80s, he and his family lived at Papunya, Napperby Station, M'bunghara outstation near Glen Helen, and then Alice Springs. Learn the market value of your Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. (Sotheby's) A dot painting by Indigenous artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri broke the existing record for an Aboriginal artwork at auction . 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. Sale Date: October 23, 2021. While his year of birth is considered to be approximately correct, the day and month remain undocumented. A co-founder of the audacious Papunya Tula style and the first Aboriginal painter to be critically acclaimed by art patrons in Europe and North America, Clifford Possums life bore all the scars of poverty and racist oppression confronting Aborigines in central Australia in the 20th century. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. [4] The youngest was Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, encouraged by his older brother Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri. Numerous Indigenous Australians are noted for their participation in, and contributions to, the Visual arts of Australia and abroad. In the early 1950s, Possum met Albert Namatjira at Glen Helen Gorge, a newly developing tourist spot established by the nearby cattle station owner. Going, going, gone: The painting sold for $2.4 million. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, AO (c.1937 - 2002) Australia's Most Celebrated Aboriginal Artist. 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. But a year later his brother Tim died, deeply affecting Possum and ending many years of a close artistic collaboration. 1977. 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. His final days were spent at the Hetty Perkins Nursing Home in Alice Springs, where he passed away surrounded by close family and friends. Tim Johnson, Tim Johnson Police claimed that the Aborigines had killed a local dingo hunter. Colonial Australian Art. 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 Possum PROVENANCE: Aboriginals Art of The First Person; Acquired from the above by the current owner, December 18, 1992. Anmatyerr, Central Desert region. Closed Good Friday & Christmas day His working life began at an early age on the Hamilton Downs cattle stationthe very industry that had driven his family from the land. Growing up, Clifford enjoyed a tradition bush lifestyle and was given the name Possum by his parental grandfather. '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. 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. Tjapaltjarri was chairperson of Papunya Tula Artists during the early 1980s. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was born in Tjuirri, an area north of west Alice Springs, also known as Napperby Station. 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. Possum was of the Anmatyerre culture-linguistic group from around Alherramp (Laramba) community. 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. He refined his skill as a woodcarver while continuing to work as a stockman. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Possum & Rock Wallaby Dreaming - Napperby, ca. His paintings show superlative skill, incredible inventiveness of form and are visually spectacular.Clifford's work is contemporary but essentially Aboriginal in inspiration. Clifford enjoyed a traditional bush upbringing and was given the name Possum by his paternal grandfather. Conditions were so bad during these years that Possums father perished from lack of water. The image is used according to Educational Fair Use, and tagged Maps. He was of the Peltharr skin. Later that year he travelled to the US to attend the Dreamings exhibition at New Yorks Asia Society Galleries. 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. [9] The Gallery's purchase eased tensions of a rumoured Government legal intervention had the work been purchased by an overseas buyer, out of concern that significant indigenous art would be "lost" overseas. He began carving in his late teens and had a reputation as a craftsman before the Papunya painting movement began. 1932 c. - 2002 redrock gallery is honoured and proud to presnt the great late Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri arguably the most famous male Central Western Desert artist, who from 1971 until his death in 2002 dominated the Aboriginal art scene. He was selected by the Possum family to be a pall bearer at Clifford's funeral, a great honour he very much valued." Mr Knight featured in the media many times over the years - from when he bred an unusual foal that was shot from the Hume Freeway to winning a bet to ride a donkey over the Princess Bridge in the Melbourne. 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. This painting depicts the sacred Bushfire Dreaming story. It became the first 'dot' painting to enter a major public art collection. International Committee of the Fourth International. Flinders University Art Museum Collection. [9], Around this central motif are arranged elements of eight other stories, all of them represented at least in part by sets of footprints. Despite this success and his prolific output, Possums fame did not bring great personal wealth or security. The work had been tipped to fetch up to A$2.5 million, more than double the then-record for Aboriginal art at auction. Allan, and his mother from Warlugulong, an area southwest of Yuendumu. www.redrockgallery.net/pages/Clifford-Possum-Tjapaltjarri.html. Clifford Possum emerged as one of the leaders in this school of painting, which has come to be called the Western Desert Art Movement. [9][10] The artist's images of this period are visually complex, and contain a wide variety of patterns, unified by strong background motifs and structure. Primary Marketplace ( 2022 ): Australia Clifford Possum TJAPALTJARRI is an artist born in Australia c.1932 and deceased in 2002. Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (c.1932-2002) was one of the truly visionary Australian artists of the twentieth century. +61 2 6240 6411 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. 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. /  He is considered as one of the most famous Central Western Desert artist to dominate the Aboriginal art scene. Diversity in the Desert. 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. #aboriginal art #australian painting #aboriginal art #aboriginal painting #papunya #western desert #painting #australian art #indigenous australian art #art aborigne #Kunst der . [notes 1] Owned for many years by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the work was sold by art dealer Hank Ebes on 24 July 2007, setting a record price for a contemporary Indigenous Australian art work bought at auction when it was Standing out among an exceptional cohort, these four selected artists deployed their inherited iconography while exploring the new poetic possibilities offered by paint on canvas. At last, The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri presents a comprehensive account of the work of this extraordinary artist. 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. See our exhibitions In 1980 he began visiting the Papunya settlement and came to know Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, Michael Nelson Jagamara and others, who invited him to paint with them. [24] After hanging in Ebes's living room for eleven years,[24] it was auctioned in Melbourne by Sotheby's on 24 July 2007. 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. 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 [17], Warlugulong (1977) is acclaimed as a landmark Indigenous painting; a great work by one of the country's foremost artists. [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. 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. From tribal lands and herding them into settlements been tipped to fetch up a... 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