Busacca Gallery

Water Dreaming (Near Alice Springs) is an oil painting on canvas measuring 33x53 inches, painted by the famous Aboriginal artist Clifford Possum in December 1989. Possum was a member of the Anmatyerre tribe from Napperby in the Northern Territory of Australia and was the first Indigenous artist to gain international recognition. He passed away at the age of 70 on 21 June 2002. The painting depicts a Dreamtime story and is executed using synthetic polymer paint. It is signed by the artist but not dated. The area depicted in the painting is Jay Creek, located on Napperby Station. This artwork comes from a well-known private estate in the US and was originally sold by the Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery in Australia in 1991. We have the original documentation from the gallery, which is stamped and certified. For more information or to inquire about purchasing this piece, *please email or call us. The gallery has provided a description of the painting, including a drawing of its symbols, obtained from the artist. We have the drawing and Description of the painting by the gallery from the artist! back in 1989*** ---> Water Dreaming: The water courses in this area are wide and filled with sand but there is seldom water, unless there is a Big Rain. There are approximately 10 inches of rain in Alice Springs each year, but sometimes (as in 1974) there is 36 inches. Water flows along, and builds up and people can sit on the warm sand in Winter as it holds the heat from the sun. The men and women come to hunt (men) and search for bush tucker (women). The women collect food in the coolamon (carved from a tree trunk). Spinafex, a spiked grass which is used for food for the animals particularly the Kangaroo when the green shoots appear after burning, and medicine Wild Bush Potato- which the women collect and cook. as they get larger a crack appears in the ground so they (wild bush potato) are easily found. The men hunt for animals and snakes fro food e.g. Kangaroo, Perenti, GOANNA, snakes, PORCUPINE, any eggs, WALLABY. The people would be celebrating the arrival of water as that means there will be more food. ***

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian Indigenous artist born in 1932 in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was a member of the Anmatyerre tribe and later moved to the Papunya settlement in Central Australia, where he became involved in the Western Desert art movement. In the 1970s, Possum began to create large-scale paintings that depicted ancestral stories and Dreamtime narratives. His works were characterized by intricate designs and bright colors, and he used traditional dotting techniques to create complex patterns and textures. One of Possum's most famous works is "Warlugulong", which measures 2.4 by 5 meters and took him almost a year to complete. The painting depicts the story of a group of ancestral beings who travel across the desert, stopping at various sites along the way to perform sacred rituals. Possum's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and he is widely regarded as one of Australia's most important Indigenous artists. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 2002 for his services to art, and his paintings have sold for millions of dollars at auction. Despite his success, Possum remained committed to his cultural heritage and continued to live a traditional lifestyle in his later years. He passed away in 2002, leaving behind a legacy of stunning artworks that continue to inspire and captivate audiences around the world.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Possum_Tjapaltjarri

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932—21 June 2002) was an Australian painter considered one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists. His paintings are held in many galleries and collections, Australian and worldwide.

He was the most famous of the Aboriginal 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. Geoffrey Bardon came to Papunya in the early 1970s and encouraged the Aboriginal people to put their dreaming stories on canvas, stories which had previously been depicted ephemerally on the ground. Clifford Possum emerged as one of the leaders in this school of painting, which has come to be called Papunya Tula. Possum was of the Anmatyerre culture-linguistic group from around Alherramp (Laramba) community. He was of the Peltharr skin.

When it held an exhibition of his work in 2004, the Art Gallery of New South Wales described his artistic background:

He was an expert wood-carver and took up painting long before the emergence of the Papunya Tula School in the early 1970s. 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.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri led a groundbreaking career and was amongst the vanguard of Indigenous Australian artists to be recognised by the international art world. Like Albert Namatjira before him, Clifford Possum blazed a trail for future generations of Indigenous artists; bridging the gap between Aboriginal art and contemporary Australian art.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri died in Alice Springs on the day he was scheduled to receive a medal praising his contribution to art and to the Indigenous community and awarding him the Order of Australia. His obituaries, which appeared in newspapers around the world, generally referred to him as Clifford Possum and gave his age as about 70. While his year of birth is considered to be approximately correct, the day and month remained undocumented. His two daughters, Gabriella Possum Nungurayyi and Michelle Possum Nungurayyi, are renowned artists in their own right. There was legal controversy surrounding his burial, as his surviving family and community maintained he wished to be buried in a location different from that specified in his will. He was buried at Yuelamu, which had been the preference of his community and daughters, several weeks after his death.

Posthumously, Tjapaltjarri's works are drawing increasing attention. The artist's majestic painting Warlugulong (previously bought by the Commonwealth Bank for just $1200) was auctioned by Sothebys on 24 July 2007. Pre-auction, the work was expected to make art history as the most expensive Aboriginal canvas at auction. The work was tipped to fetch up to $2.5 million AUD, more than double the then-record for Aboriginal art at auction[4]. The work in fact sold for $2.4 million. and the day after the auction it was revealed that the National Gallery of Australia was the buyer. 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.