Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri

Key facts

Lived

1932–2002, Australian^[1]

Works held in

3 museums

Wikipedia

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• What is Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri known for?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri is known for his paintings, which are aerial maps of country. These paintings depict Dreaming stories, songlines, and ancestral narratives in dot-and-line compositions. His work *Warlugulong* (c.1976^[1]) sold for AUD $2.4 million in 2007.
• What is Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's most famous work?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, a celebrated artist, is known for his paintings rooted in Aboriginal traditions. While pinpointing a single "most famous" work is difficult, several pieces have received considerable attention. *Love Story*, from 1981^[1], is held in the collection of Tim and Vivien Johnson, Sydney. He also collaborated with artist friends such as Michael Nelson Tjakamarra and Tim Johnson. Tjapaltjarri would provide the dots for Johnson's works. Sometimes these roles were reversed. Another significant work, created in collaboration with Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, is *Spirit Dreaming through Napperby Country*, 1980. This large-scale painting (207.7 x 670.8 cm) is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Vivien Johnson, a commentator and theorist on Aboriginal art, wrote the first full-scale monograph on a contemporary Aboriginal artist, *The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri* (1994).
• What should I know about Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's prints?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (circa 1932^[1]-2002^[1]) was an Australian^[1] artist of the Anmatyerre people, known for his paintings that depict Aboriginal Dreamings. His works raise questions about tradition, authorship, and authenticity, as they translate traditional sand paintings onto canvas for a wider audience. The paintings employ a select group of patterns handed down within tribes. These artworks prompt consideration of whether their altered context affects their meanings and how they relate to Postmodern culture. Some critics suggest that the paintings' shared authorship and self-consciousness align with Postmodern thought. Tjapaltjarri's art invites viewers to consider the complexities of cultural representation and the market for Aboriginal art. His paintings are held in collections from Sydney to New York to Paris. One example is *Love Story*, 1981^[1], acrylic on canvas.
• What style or movement did Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri belong to?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri is associated with the Papunya Tula art movement. This artistic style emerged from the community of Papunya, north-west of Alice Springs, in the early 1970s. It involved transferring traditional Aboriginal designs onto canvas, often using acrylic paints. These paintings, made for an outside audience, raise questions about authenticity and the relationship between tradition and modernity. The artists selectively employed patterns handed down within their tribes, adapting them to a new medium and context. The use of dots is a characteristic feature, and while it invokes Aboriginal precedents, it also bears a resemblance to the benday-dot technique used by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein. Tjapaltjarri's work, along with that of other Aboriginal artists, has gained international attention, raising complex issues of cultural appropriation and the representation of Aboriginal identity within Australian^[1] culture. His paintings can be seen as part of a broader Postmodern dialogue, reflecting shared authorship, market awareness, and a departure from Modernist ideals of individual creation.
• What techniques or materials did Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri use?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, an Indigenous Australian^[1] artist, employed techniques and materials that reflected both his cultural background and individual artistic choices. He is best known for his paintings that depict stories from the Dreamtime, a central element of Aboriginal spirituality and culture. Tjapaltjarri primarily used acrylic paints on canvas. This choice allowed for quicker drying times, which suited his style of layering and building up complex compositions. His application involved the use of fine brushes to create detailed patterns and symbolic representations of the Australian desert. A key element of his technique was the use of dots, a common feature in Western Desert art. These dots were applied in varying colours and densities to create texture, depth, and movement within his paintings. He also incorporated lines and circles to represent paths, waterholes, and other significant elements of the natural world and Dreamtime narratives.
• What was Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri known for?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, an Arrernte man, gained recognition for his paintings associated with the Papunya Tula art movement. This movement began in 1971^[1] when Geoffrey Bardon, an art teacher, encouraged Aboriginal men at Papunya, a government settlement, to paint their Dreaming narratives on boards for a wider audience. Tjapaltjarri’s work often incorporated traditional patterns passed down within tribes. These paintings, made for external viewers, prompted discussions about authenticity, tradition, and the interpretation of Aboriginal art by outsiders. His paintings raise questions about whether appreciating them for their aesthetic qualities does injustice to their ritual use and symbolic meanings. Tjapaltjarri also collaborated with Tim Johnson, an Australian^[1] artist of European descent. These collaborations involved Tjapaltjarri providing dotting on Johnson's paintings, or Johnson painting figures with Tjapaltjarri adding the dots, reversing their roles. A monograph on Tjapaltjarri's art was written by Vivien Johnson, a commentator on Aboriginal art.
• When did Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri live and work?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian^[1] artist of the Papunya Tula school, a movement that began in the early 1970s. He was born in about 1932^[1], at a site called Napperby Station, Northern Territory. He died in Alice Springs in 2002^[1]. Tjapaltjarri began painting in the Western Desert style around 1972^[1]. This was a period when acrylic paints on canvas were gaining popularity among Aboriginal artists, moving away from traditional ground paintings. His work often depicted stories and dreamings from his culture, particularly those associated with the Anmatyerre people. He used iconography to represent these narratives. He gained recognition throughout his career, with his works being exhibited both in Australia and internationally. His style is recognisable for its use of colour and complex designs. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in contemporary Indigenous Australian art.
• Where can I see Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's work?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's work can be viewed in several locations. In the Northern Territory, the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs holds a significant collection of early Papunya paintings. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in Darwin also exhibits Indigenous art. Outstation Gallery in Darwin works directly with art centres to promote art from various regions, including the Western Desert. In Queensland, FireWorks Gallery and the Queensland Art Gallery, both in Brisbane, have displayed Indigenous art. The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne has examples of his work; they jointly curated an exhibition with Museum Victoria titled *Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Painting*. This exhibition later travelled to the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. These institutions offer opportunities to see Tjapaltjarri's paintings and learn about the Western Desert art movement.
• Where was Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri from?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was associated with the Papunya Tula painting movement, which began in 1971^[1] in Papunya, a government settlement 240 kilometres west of Alice Springs. In 1934, Albert Namatjira, an Arrernte man, met Rex Battarbee, a watercolourist. This meeting is now recognised as important in changing cultural ideas and acknowledging Aboriginal art's modernity and authority of place. Namatjira spent his last days in Papunya. Geoffrey Bardon, an art teacher, moved to Papunya and encouraged Aboriginal men to translate sacred narratives onto boards for a wider audience. These events gave increasing agency to Aboriginal artists. Tjapaltjarri collaborated with artist Tim Johnson, exchanging painted "stories" or designs. Tjapaltjarri would provide dots for Johnson's works; in other instances, Johnson painted figures, and Tjapaltjarri added the dots.
• Who did Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri influence?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's influence is complex. The Papunya painting movement, which he helped originate, gained traction in the 1980s. It aligned with contemporary art discourses, aided by a shift from ethnographic to fine-art contexts. Some see echoes of Western abstraction in Indigenous painting, allowing it to engage with modernism while asserting Aboriginal identity. This "doubling" is a feature in the reception of other Indigenous painters in Australia, such as Rover Thomas and Emily Kame Kngwarreye. However, some critics suggest that the intercultural character of key practices is easily construed as a threat to the artist’s cultural autonomy and political agency. The role of figures like Tony Oliver is seen by some as merely a "facilitator" rather than a "collaborator". Others see this collaboration as a conscious means for Indigenous artists to engage the artworld and to open a distinct alternative to the modes of representation already available to them.
• Who influenced Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri collaborated with Tim Johnson and Michael Nelson Tjakamarra. Johnson, a post-conceptual artist, had Tjapaltjarri and Tjakamarra give him canvases with their painted "stories", or designs; Johnson would then complete the works with dots and other motifs. This process was later reversed, with Johnson painting figures, clouds, and flowers for Tjapaltjarri to add dots. This dotting technique recalls the multi-coloured concentric rings of Aboriginal art, but also the benday-dot technique used by Roy Lichtenstein. Albert Namatjira, an Arrernte artist, met Melbourne watercolourist Rex Battarbee in 1934^[1]. This meeting is recognised as changing cultural paradigms and acknowledging Aboriginal art's modernity. Geoffrey Bardon, an art teacher, encouraged Aboriginal men to translate sacred narratives onto boards for a wider audience. These figures facilitated cross-cultural exchange and influenced the development of Aboriginal art.
• Who was Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri?+

  Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932^[1]-2002^[1]) was an Australian^[1] Aboriginal artist of the Papunya Tula school. He was from the Arrernte people. His work is associated with the rise in global interest in Aboriginal art during the 1970s, when indigenous artists began painting traditional designs on canvas for international export. Tjapaltjarri, along with other Aboriginal men, was encouraged by art teacher Geoffrey Bardon to translate sacred narratives onto boards. This led to the Western Desert/Papunya Tula painting movement. His 1977^[1] painting *Warlugulong* is one example of these "dot paintings"; it is now held by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Tjapaltjarri also collaborated with non-indigenous artists such as Tim Johnson. These cross-cultural exchanges involved Tjapaltjarri providing painted "stories" or designs for Johnson to complete with dots and other motifs. The two artists later reversed roles. Johnson wrote the first full-scale monograph on Tjapaltjarri in 1994.