Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Aboriginal Australian, 1950-2013

Dorothy Napangardi spent her early childhood living a nomadic life at Mina Mina near Lake Mackay in the Tanami Desert during the late 1950s and early 1960s. She recalled camping at claypans and soakages with her mother, Jeanie Lewis Napururrla, learning to collect the plentiful bush tucker and grinding seeds for damper cooked on hot ashes. This idyllic life came to a close when her family was forcibly relocated to the government settlement at Yuendumu. Dorothy’s early artistic endeavors were heavily influenced by memories of her childhood. Her subject matter was principally the Bush Plum and Bush Banana, wild fruits that grow in abundance near Mina Mina, changing in colour as they ripen, which she mirrored in her depictions. The paintings, at such an early stage in her career, clearly marked Dorothy as an artist of great talent. Her superb sense of composition created a rhythmic effect as semi-naturalistic depictions were entwined in an altogether geometric formation. In the late 1980s, the government marketing company Aboriginal Arts Australia closed its Alice Springs outlet and its manager Roslyn Premont opened her own, Gallery Gondwana. From 1997 onward, Dorothy began producing works which traced the grid-like patterns of the salt encrustations on the Mina Mina clay pans marking a significant artistic shift in her work. Over a three-year period, her paintings became less and less contrived and increasingly spare, all detail pared back to the barest essentials. These new works, in which Dorothy began to explore the Women’s Digging Sticks Dreaming and other stories related to the travels of the Karntakurlangu, compel the spectator’s eye to dance across the painted surface, just as these ancestral women danced in the hundreds across the country during the region’s creation. Dancing digging sticks magically emerged from the ground at Mina Mina, equipping the large band of women for their travels over a vast stretch of country. The tall desert oaks which are found there today symbolise the emergence of the digging sticks that literally rose up out from beneath the ground itself. As these works developed, her extraordinary spatial ability enabled her to create mimetic grids of the salt encrustations across the claypans of Mina Mina. The lines of white dots trace the travels of her female ancestors as they danced their way, in joyous exultation, through the saltpans, spinifex and sandhills, clutching their digging sticks in their outstretched hands. In 2001 Dorothy Napangardi was the recipient of the 18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and in the following year a solo exhibition of her work was curated for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Dorothy’s paintings have enjoyed considerable commercial success. Creating these paintings has in no way undermined her personal integrity. While Dorothy Napangardi’s paintings may be seen as important commodities and major investments, her work can be so beautiful and ethereal, as to border on the sublime.

Artist: Dorothy Napangardi

Dorothy NapangardiWestern Macdonnel Ranges, 1977

Price Upon Request

Western Macdonnel Ranges

By Dorothy Napangardi

Located in Long Island City, NY

Dorothy Napangardi was one of the leading Australian Aboriginal artists who has had her work hung at museums around the world. On the verso of this ...

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1970s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Large Oil Painting, 1950

$3,750

H 46 in W 58 in D 2 in

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Large Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Unsigned. Measuring: 46 by 58 inches overall, and 45 by 57 painting alone.. In excellent original condition...

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1950s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Antique American School Mid Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting, 1950

$1,020Sale Price|20% Off

H 27 in W 33 in D 2 in

Antique American School Mid Century Modern Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Antique American school abstract expressionist painting. Oil on board. Signed. In excellent original condition. Nicely framed in a period wood molding. Excellent condition, read...

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1940s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Modernist Signed Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting, 1970

$975

H 28 in W 31 in D 2 in

Vintage American Modernist Signed Abstract Expressionist Framed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Oil on canvas, 28 x 31 inches overall, 25 x 30 inches image size. A dynamic abstract expressionist composition with an energetic interplay of saturated primaries and gestural impasto...

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1970s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pierre BoscoMid-Century "The Red Village" Pierre Bosco #50 F (Italy/France, 1909-1993), Circa 1960

$1,557Sale Price|65% Off

H 10 in W 12 in

Mid-Century "The Red Village" Pierre Bosco #50 F (Italy/France, 1909-1993)

By Pierre Bosco

Located in SANTA FE, NM

Mid-Century "The Red Village" #50 F Pierre Bosco (Italy/France, 1909-1993) Oil on canvas Signed lower right. 12 x 10 inches, frame size “The savage art of Bosco bears its rudeness ...

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1960s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Evy Olsen HalvorsenHigh Slope, Abstract Expressionist Painting, Oil on Canvas, 2010+, 2026

$400

H 12 in W 10 in D 1 in

High Slope, Abstract Expressionist Painting, Oil on Canvas, 2010+

By Evy Olsen Halvorsen

Located in Kingston, WA

I blended abstract and realistic elements to capture the raw energy of a mountain’s slope, a natural expression of memory. I was born surrounded by mountains, steep imposing rocks o...

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2010s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Oil

Ralph RosenborgRalph Rosenborg "Landscape: Garden of Flowers, 1973" Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1973

$8,000

H 30.125 in W 35.875 in D 1.5 in

Ralph Rosenborg "Landscape: Garden of Flowers, 1973" Oil on Canvas, Signed

By Ralph Rosenborg

Located in Miami, FL

RALPH ROSENBORG – "LANDSCAPE: GARDEN OF FLOWERS, 1973" Oil on Canvas ⚜ Signed and Dated Lower Left and on Verso ⚜ Custom Conservation Frame A VIBRANT ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE BY AN AMERIC...

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1970s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Aleksandr Rodin (1922-2001)Double-sided landscape cardboard/oil, 65x73 cm

$1,010

H 25.6 in W 28.75 in D 0.4 in

Double-sided landscape cardboard/oil, 65x73 cm

Located in Riga, LV

Aleksandr Rodin (1922-2001) Painter Born in a family of farmers. Wife Rasma Lace - art scholar. Studied at the Stalingrad School of Art, Saratov Art School, graduated from the Depar...

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1980s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mediterranean Coastal Beach Landscape Blue Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting, 2012

$826Sale Price|20% Off

H 55.12 in W 31.89 in

Mediterranean Coastal Beach Landscape Blue Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting

Located in Sitges, Barcelona

Mediterranean Coastal Beach Landscape Blue Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting Artist: Unknown Year: 2012 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 140 × 81 cm (55.12 × 31.89 in) Frame: Unf...

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2010s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Mid Century Modern Abstract Expressionist New York City Oil Painting, 1970

$556Sale Price|20% Off

H 36 in W 24 in D 2 in

Vintage Mid Century Modern Abstract Expressionist New York City Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Image size, 24L x 36H.

Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Signed '76 Oil Painting, 1976

$1,495

H 29 in W 37 in D 2 in

Vintage American Modernist Abstract Expressionist Framed Signed '76 Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American modernist abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 29 by 37 inches overall, and 24 by 32 painting alone.. In excellent origi...

Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ralph RosenborgRalph Rosenborg "American Landscape: Mountain" 1973 Signed Oil on Canvas, 1973

$6,000Sale Price|50% Off

H 36 in W 46 in D 1.5 in

Ralph Rosenborg "American Landscape: Mountain" 1973 Signed Oil on Canvas

By Ralph Rosenborg

Located in Miami, FL

RALPH ROSENBORG – "AMERICAN LANDSCAPE: MOUNTAIN, 1973" ⚜ Oil on Canvas ⚜ Hand Signed and Dated Lower Right and on Verso ⚜ Conservation Frame ABSTRACTED AMERICAN LANDSCAPE Painted in...

Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Adele BeckerLarge Signed Exhibited Abstract Expressionist Original Framed Oil Painting, 1960

$1,996Sale Price|20% Off

H 32.5 in W 42.5 in D 2 in

Large Signed Exhibited Abstract Expressionist Original Framed Oil Painting

By Adele Becker

Located in Buffalo, NY

Antique American signed abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 41.5L x 31.5H.

Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Napangardi Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dorothy Napangardi paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Dorothy Napangardi paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Dorothy Napangardi in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1970s and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Dorothy Napangardi paintings, so small editions measuring 35 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Sylvia Schwartz, Elwood Howell, and Doris Warner.