Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri
Tingari

2021

About the Item

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri was the son of Papalya Nangala and Waku Tjungurrayi, an old man who had three wives (Papalya and two of her sisters). They lived out in the desert, avoiding any contact with Westerners. He grew up following the traditional lifestyle of the Western Desert people in the country west of Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay). After his father's death, when Warlimpirnnga was about five years old, Waku's place as senior man of the group was taken by Lanti Tjapanangka, who married Waku's widows and continued to enforce the group's isolation. A few years after Lanti died, the twice-widowed sisters sent off Warlimpirrnga (now in his mid 20s) and his older half-brother Piyirti to search for their long-lost relatives. In October 1984, the brothers encountered Pinta Pinta Tjapanangka and his son Matthew trying to fix a flat tyre at their Mt Webb outstation, just outside of the newly established Pintupi homelands community of Kiwirrkurra. The subsequent arrival of the family group of nine in Kiwirrkurra made national headlines. They became known as the 'Pintupi Nine' or 'The Lost Tribe'. Up to this point, Warlimpirrnga had had no contact with Europeans and their way of living. One night, about two months after arriving at Kiwirrkurra, Piyirti crept away from his camp and walked back into the desert with his spear. His fate is the enduring mystery. Meantime, Warlimpirrnga and his brothers were taken under the watchful guidance of Dr. George Tjapaltjarri, a 'medicine man' of high regard who continued their instruction through the 'law'. After observing Dr. George and other artists at work, Warlimpirrnga approached Daphne Williams of Papunya Tula Artists, with the request that he be allowed to paint. Other artists instructed him in the use of paint and canvas, and he completed his first painting in 1987. His first eleven paintings were exhibited at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in 1988 and acquired as a lot by the National Gallery of Victoria. After painting for some time, Warlimpirrnga began teaching his brothers Walala and Thomas Tjapaltjarri to paint, and by 1996 Walala had taken to accompanying his brother on trips to Alice Springs. All three brothers, as well as Dr. George, began painting for Gallery Gondwana during the late 1990's. This was due in large part to their personal relationship with Gallery Gondwana Manager Brice Ponsford, who had worked for Papunya Tula in Kiwirrkurra when they first arrived in the community a decade earlier. By 1999 Dr. George painted less and less frequently as his eyesight began to fail. Walala, preferring his independence, lived in Alice Springs and Katherine, where he painted for a number of independent dealers. Warlimpirrnga, however, tired of life too far from his family and homeland and returned to paint principally for the Papunya Tula art centre. Since then, he has appeared in many exhibitions. In 2000, he travelled to Sydney with a group of four men from Kiwirrkurra to make a ground painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the opening of 'Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius'. In 2012, he was amongst a small group of Australian artists to have work included in DOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany. In 2015, Warlimpirrnga had his first solo exhibition in the United States, when 'Maparntjarra' opened at Salon 94 In New York City. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both wrote articles about the ground-breaking show. The show represented a critical first step in the re-emergence of Australian Aboriginal art in the American market. It also marked the start of the second phase of growth of Warlimpirrnga's reputation as a leading Aboriginal artist. Warlimpirrnga paints Snake and Tingari Dreaming stories for his country, including the sites of Marawa and Kanapilya and the salt lake and soakage area of Kalparti. Other recurrent subjects are Minatapinya, a large swamp south of Marawa, where Tingari men camped as they made their way east towards Wilkinkarra, as well as Malu (Kangaroo) Dreaming. Viewing his art is an extraordinary visual experience, and thus it is no surprise that he has been at the forefront of the Men's Painting Movement at Papunya for decades. The designs featured in his paintings display the rich optical effect that is a feature of many western desert Aboriginal paintings. Lozenge shapes appear to gaze from the almost hypnotic field of dotted lines, resembling the effects of wind on the desert sandhills. His earlier paintings depict segments of the Tingari cycle in the classic Pintupi style. This vast, undulating religious cycle re-enacted in men's and women's ceremonies, tells of the journeyings of large groups of ancestral beings and novices across the country. Fred R. Myers, an anthropologist at New York University, who has studied the Pintupi and their art since the early 1970s, explains that "he is highly respected in his homeland for his knowledge and experience, and his paintings of his stories are really very much tied to that respect." Warlimpirrnga's work can be found in many public and corporate collections, including the the National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Musee National des Arts Africains et Oceaniens, Paris, and the Kelton Foundation, USA. He has four children to an earlier relationship with Yalti Napangati and lives in Kiwirrkurra Community. This painting comes with images of the artist working on creating the work.
  • Creator:
    Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri
  • Creation Year:
    2021
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 47.25 in (120 cm)Width: 70.87 in (180 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Miami, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU13614447162

More From This Seller

View All
Tingari
By Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
Located in Miami, FL
Ronnie Tjampitjinpa was born around 1943 at Tjiturrunya, about 100km west of the Kintore ranges in Western Australia. Following an extended drought in the 1950s, Ronnie's family move...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Medicine leaves
By Gloria Petyarre
Located in Miami, FL
Gloria Petyarre, sometimes referred to as Gloria Pitjara, was one of Australia's most successful and significant female artists. Her depiction of the K...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Women's Story
Located in Miami, FL
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula 1925 - 2001 Born : Mintjilpirri, Kintore, NT Language group : Pintupi/Warlpiri Community : Papunya, NT Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula was born in 1925 at ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Polymer

Aboriginal painting on canvas board by Johnny Warangkula
Located in Miami, FL
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula 1925 - 2001 Born : Mintjilpirri, Kintore, NT Language group : Pintupi/Warlpiri Community : Papunya, NT Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula was born in 1925 at ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Polymer

Emu Story
Located in Miami, FL
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula 1925 - 2001 Born : Mintjilpirri, Kintore, NT Language group : Pintupi/Warlpiri Community : Papunya, NT Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula was born in 1925 at ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Polymer

Men's Ceremony
Located in Miami, FL
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula 1925 - 2001 Born : Mintjilpirri, Kintore, NT Language group : Pintupi/Warlpiri Community : Papunya, NT Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula was born in 1925 at ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Polymer

You May Also Like

"Floral IV" (abstract, dark, floral, red, pink, roses, oil painting, canvas)
By Nicholas Evans
Located in Paris, IDF
FLORAL IV 2024 Paris, France This dark complex and layered floral painting of an abstract of flowers presents an energetic and mesmerizing subject. This original painting on cotton ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil Crayon, Dye, Cotton Canvas, Ink, Oil, Acrylic

"Floruit" (abstract green, pink, floral, landscape, oil painting, cotton canvas)
By Nicholas Evans
Located in Paris, IDF
FLORUIT 2024 Paris, France This complex and layered floral painting of an abstract vase of flowers presents an energetic and mesmerizing subject. This original painting on cotton ca...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Dye, Ink, Oil Crayon, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Wondering Lonely Like A Cloud, Lloyd Tabing, Abstract, Contemporary
Located in Jönköping, SE
"Wondering Like A Cloud". Acrylic on canvas. Includes hanging material An exploration of beauty and energy, Tabing’s paintings are a visual representation of the dichotomy between ...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

'The Melancholy and Euphoria of feeling small'- soak stain landscape abstraction
Located in Philadelphia, PA
'The Melancholy and Euphoria of feeling small'- 34"x 46" abstract tantric painting by contemporary artist Elisa Niva Inspired by the landscapes, colors, and feeling evoked driving a...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Gyre, Abstract Art, Contemporary Art, Bayou Reflections Series, White Oak Bayou
By Ellen Hart
Located in Houston, TX
Celadon Sea Gyre is part of C. Ellen Hart’s The Bayou Reflections Series which investigates reflections on my local waterways. An arm of White Oak Bayou meanders across the foot o...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

September, Abstract Art, Contemporary Art, Reflection Series of Water &Glass
By Ellen Hart
Located in Houston, TX
September September is part of C. Ellen Hart’s Reflection Series. The works feature reflections found on the surfaces of water and glass. She seeks out images that commonly surr...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Recently Viewed

View All