Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

Yannima Tommy Watson
Yannima Tommy Watson "Ngayuku Ngura" - 91x122 cm -2013 - Aboriginal Art

2013

$29,000
£21,573.64
€25,293.41
CA$40,560.18
A$45,286.63
CHF 23,761.41
MX$558,917.06
NOK 298,683.99
SEK 279,471.84
DKK 188,693.16
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Artist: Tommy Watson Yannima Pikarli (c.1935-2017) size: 91x122cm year: 2013 Acrylic on linen Aboriginal Art Provenance: Yanda Art, Australia (certificat) Aborigène Galerie Paris, Nicolas Andrin (certificat) Collections: Musée du Quai Branly, Paris Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney National Museum of Australie, Canberra National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth South Australian Art Gallery, Adelaide Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin Elizabeth and Colin Laverty, Sydney Art Bank, Sydney Patrick Corrigan, Sydney Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth 2002/2003/2008 Finalist in Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Yannima Tommy Watson, also known as Tommy Yannima Pikarli Watson, was a renowned Australian Aboriginal artist from the Pitjantjatjara people. Born around 1935 in Anumarapiti, approximately 75 kilometers west of Irrunytju (also known as Wingellina) in Western Australia, he passed away in November 2017 in Alice Springs. Orphaned at a young age—his mother died during his childhood and his father when he was around eight—Watson was raised by his paternal uncle and later by Nicodemus Watson, his father’s first cousin. It was during this time that he adopted the surname Watson in addition to his Aboriginal names, becoming Tommy Yannima Pikarli Watson. Watson spent his youth traveling through the desert, learning traditional survival skills such as making tools and weapons, hunting, and finding water. These skills were closely tied to the ancestral stories of his people, known as Tjukurrpa. He began painting in 2001 and quickly became one of the most innovative Aboriginal artists, recognized for his bold use of vibrant colors to symbolically represent the ancestral narratives of his homeland. Judith Ryan, Senior Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, described Watson's colors as “incandescent.” His work was associated with the “Colour Power” movement that developed in the Indigenous art scene between 1984 and 2004. One of his most notable contributions is a fresco adorning one of the ceilings of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, a testament to the international recognition of his art. His works are part of prestigious collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Tommy Watson left a lasting legacy as a master of color and a storyteller of his people’s ancestral heritage, making a significant contribution to the preservation and dissemination of Aboriginal culture through contemporary art.
  • Creator:
    Yannima Tommy Watson (1935, Australian)
  • Creation Year:
    2013
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 35.83 in (91 cm)Width: 0.99 in (2.5 cm)Depth: 60.24 in (153 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    PARIS, FR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2847216121822

More From This Seller

View All
Rhoda Tjitayi "Piltati Tjukurpa" 200x300cm - 2021 - Aboriginal Art
Located in PARIS, FR
Artist: RHODA TJITAYI, (1969 -), Titre: Piltati Tjukurpa 200x300 cm - 2021 Acrylique on canvas réf:15021AS Biography: Rhoda Tjitayi’s monumental paintings reflect the richness of...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Rhoda Tjitayi "Piltati Tjukurpa" 200x300cm - 2021 - Aboriginal Art
Located in PARIS, FR
Artist: RHODA TJITAYI, (1969 -), Titre: Piltati Tjukurpa 200x300 cm - 2021 Acrylique on canvas réf:15021AS Biography: Rhoda Tjitayi’s monumental paintings reflect the richness of...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Wingu Tingima "Kungkarrakalpa" 110x203cm - 2006 Aboriginal art
Located in PARIS, FR
Wingu Tingima (c.1920–2010) "Kungkarrakalpa" 110x203cm - 2006 Acrylic on linen Aboriginal art Provenance: Certificate of authenticity from arts centre Biography Wingu Tingima ...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula " Egret Dreaming " 90x155cm - 1998 Aboriginal Art
Located in PARIS, FR
Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula (1925-2001) Titled: « Egret Dreaming » dim: 90x155cm year 1998 Acrylic on canvas
Category

1990s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Rover Joolama Thomas "Marumaru" (Black One) Aboriginal Art 60x90 cm 1996
By Rover Thomas Joolama
Located in PARIS, FR
Rover Thomas Joolama (c.1926-1998) Title: "Marumaru" (Black One) Dimensions: 60x90 cm - Year: 1996 Natural pigments on linen canvas Provenance: Art Centre Warmun (Stamp back...
Category

20th Century Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Pigment

Wenten Rubuntja "Emu Dreaming" Aboriginal Painting 182x275 cm Aboriginal Art
Located in PARIS, FR
Wenten Rubuntja (1926-2005) Title "Emu Dreaming Aboriginal Painting Size: 182x275cm year: 1987 Acrylic and Pigments on canvas inscribed verso with Avant Galleries cat. no. 242 ...
Category

20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Pigment

You May Also Like

Large Stunning Australian Aboriginal Painting by Naata Nungurrayi
By Naata Nungurrayi
Located in Atlanta, GA
A large and stunning contemporary abstract painting by celebrated Australian Aboriginal artist Naata Nungurrayi (1932-2021), stretched and ready for display. A rare masterpiece of the museum quality dating from the peak of the artist's creative output in 2003. The canvas is singular in both the impressive size and tine quality, and it comes with full provenance and step by step photos (100 in total) recording the creation of this significant piece of work. The artist used fine dots as the sole element to compose a complex dreamtime landscape where Women's Ceremony took place in her ancestral time. The place is located at Marrapinti and its surrounds, where many water soakage holes were located. Dots in brilliant shifting and contrasting colors form ceremonial Tingari symbols performed by the women, black crawling tracks that may be associated with a site called Karilywarra (two carpet snakes) and mesmerizing Tali (sandhill) movements surrounding the canvas. The work is of the signature style of the artist, singular and easily recognizable. The fine quality of this work is exemplary. Medium: acrylic on Belgium Linen Cat no. NN200315 Provenance: Yanda Aboriginal Art, NT. The painting comes with a COA letter and an artist biograph issued by Yanda Aboriginal Art and a presentation album with 100 photos that documented the entire process of the creation of this large work of art. The edge of the painting bears name of the artist as well as the stamp of the gallery as shown. Reference and further reading: For a relevant work by the artist, See Plate 88 and Page 220-222 in the book "Past and Present Together: Fifty Years of Papunya Tula Artists" by Meyers and Skerritt. Another similar work is illustrated on plate 13 in "Pintupi" by Hamiltons. Artist's biography: Naata Nungurrayi (1932-2021) is an Australian Aboriginal artist who was born at the site of Kumil, west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia. She is from the Pintupi group from Kintore, Northern Territory and is one of the senior elders of the Kintore women artist movement. Naata is the sister of George Tjungurrayi and Nancy Nungurrayi, and her son is Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Australian Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas

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

Aboriginal Painting by Michael Nelson Tjakamarra
By Michael Nelson Tjakamarra
Located in Miami, FL
Michael Nelson Tjakamarra (also cited as: Michael Nelson Jagamarra, or Jakamara) is a Senior Warlpiri Tribesman and an Elder of the Papunya Community in central Australia. Born c. 19...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Aboriginal Painting by Ningura Napurrula
By Ningura Napurrula
Located in Miami, FL
Ningura Napurrula was born at Watulka, south of Kiwirrkurra, Western Australia c.1938. She is the widow of Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi, a highly respected Pintupi elder who held sign...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Aboriginal Painting by Michael Nelson Tjakamarra
By Michael Nelson Tjakamarra
Located in Miami, FL
Michael Nelson Tjakamarra (also cited as: Michael Nelson Jagamarra, or Jakamara) is a Senior Warlpiri Tribesman and an Elder of the Papunya Community in central Australia. Born c. 1949 at Pikilyi, Vaughan Springs west of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory, he grew up ‘in the bush’. His father was an important tribal elder and medicine man at Yuendumu. It was therefore automatic that he would grow up with the traditional values and knowledge that now influences his paintings. Michael lived at Haasts Bluff until his parents took him to Yuendumu for European education at the mission school. He left school at thirteen, after initiation, and worked at buffalo shooting, driving trucks, droving cattle and in the army, before returning to Yuendumu and then to Papunya to settle in 1976. He worked for a time in the Government store and for the Council. Michael learned to paint at Papunya by observing the senior men such as Billy Stockman and Old Mick Tjakamarra. Although he was tutored by his uncle, Jack Tjupurrula, Michael developed his own style and began painting earnestly from 1983. Michael is known as master desert painter for his depiction of several Dreamings in one painting. For him the understanding of the Dreaming stories that go with his paintings is all important – without the stories his paintings would ‘mean nothing’ as far as he is concerned. His Dreamings include the Possum, Snake, Two Kangaroos, Rock Wallaby, Bush Banana, Honey Ant and Yam. In 1984 Michael won the National Aboriginal Art Award with his painting ‘Three Dreamings’. His reputation as a painter rose rapidly after this. He exhibited his work in the 1986 Biennale of Sydney and featured in ‘The State of the Art’, a British art documentary. In 1987 Michael had been asked to paint a major work (27’long) to decorate the foyer of Sydney’s Opera House and he chose to paint his ‘Possum Dreaming’ story. A great highlight in Michael’s career was in 1988 when he was commissioned to design a 196 sq-metre mosaic in the main forecourt of Australia’s new Parliament House in Canberra. The work was based on his ‘Kangaroo and Emu’ dreaming. Michael was presented to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 11...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Acrylic

Aboriginal Painting by George Ward Tjungurrayi
Located in Miami, FL
George Ward Tjungurrayi was born near Kiwirrkura. It was only in his teenage years that he first encountered Europeans, when a commonwealth welfare patrol came upon his family group camped by a desert waterhole. After travelling to the government settlement at Papunya, first home of the desert painting movement, George Ward worked briefly as a fencer and a butcher in the community kitchen. He began painting for the Papunya Tula Artists in about 1976. His country covers the sites around Wala Wala, Kiwirrkura, Lake Mackay, Kulkuta, Karku, Ngaluwinyamana and Kilpinya to the north-west of Kintore across the West Australian border.George paints the Tingari stories for this region. In 2004 George Ward Tjungurrayi won the 2004 Wynne Art Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for his topographical depiction of the Western Desert...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic