Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri b. c.1932

Also known as Clifford Possum
  • Artist (Painter),
  • Artist (Carver)
Leading Papunya Tula artist. One of last men to join Geoffrey Bardon's group of 'painting men' at the beginning of the 1970s and the first to be recognised as an artist in his own right. His illustrious career has been the subject of several books and a major retrospective organised by the Art Gallery of South Australia, which toured nationally in 2003/5
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Name
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
Also known as Clifford Possum
Gender
Male
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
  • Artist (Carver)
Other Occupation
  • Chairman (Chairman Papunya Tula Artists during early 1980s)
  • Art teacher
  • Stockman
Birth date
c.1932
Birth place
Napperby station, Napperby, NT, Napperby Station, NT
Death date
2002
Death place
Alice Springs NT
Burial place
Mt Allan (Yuelamu) NT
Active Period
  • 1965 - 2002
Residence
  • c.1975 - c.2002 Alice Springs, NT
  • c.1970 - c.1990 Papunya, Napperby Station, Umbungurru outstation near Glen Helen, NT
  • c.1932 - c.1970 Hamilton Downs, Glen Helen, Mt Wedge, Mt Allan and Napperby, NT
  • c.1945 - c.1949 Jay Creek, NT
Indigenous Australian
 
Heritage Country
  • Anmatyerre
Dreaming
  • Goanna
  • Mala
  • Lightning
  • Man's Love Story
  • Snake
  • Fish
  • Kangaroo
  • Water
  • Fire
  • Possum
Languages
  • English
Initial Record Data Source
  • Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert: A Biographical Dictionary
Copyright
  • Estate of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri c/- Office of the Public Trustee of the Northern Territory

Difference between this version and previous

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Related stub people
  • Bardon, Geoffrey (associate of)
  • Possum, Lionel (parent of)
Related stub person groups
  • Papunya Tula Artists (associate of)
Related people
  • Leura, Tim Tjapaltjarri (sibling of)
  • Possum, Gabrielle Nungurrayi (parent of)
  • Possum, Michelle Nungurrayi (parent of)
  • Leura, Tim Tjapaltjarri (associate of)
Related works
  • Men's Ceremony (creator of)
  • Napperby Lakes (creator of)
  • Eagle and Bower-bird Dreaming (Ceremony) (creator of)
  • Lightning Dreaming (creator of)
  • Man's Love Story (creator of)
  • Yuelamu honey ant dreaming (creator of)
  • Warlugulong (creator of)
Related collections
  • Broken Hill Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW (collected in)
  • Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, NT (collected in)
  • South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA (collected in)
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (collected in)
  • University of WA Anthropology Museum, Perth, WA (collected in)
  • Pacific Asia Museum, Los Angeles, USA (collected in)
  • Parliament House, Canberra, ACT (collected in)
  • Victorian Centre for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, NSW (collected in)
  • Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA (collected in)
  • National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic. (collected in)
  • National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT (collected in)
Related recognitions
  • Officer of the Order of Australia (received)
  • 2 large commissions, for the new Strehlow Research Foundation Alice Springs and the new Alice Springs Airport (received)
  • Visited USA - St Louis, New York (received)
  • Mural design Araluen Arts Centre Alice Springs (received)
  • Chairman of Papunya Tula Artists during early 1980s (received)
  • Alice Springs Art Prize (received)
Related events
  • Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (exhibited at)
  • Songlines IV: Clifford Possum and the Papunya Tula Artists (exhibited at)
  • Time before time: Aboriginal art of Australia (exhibited at)
  • Dreamings : The Art of Aboriginal Australia (exhibited at)
  • Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Paintings : 1973-86 (exhibited at)
  • Aboriginal art from the Central Desert and Northern Arnhem Land, featuring the work of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and members of his family (exhibited at)
  • Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Uta Uta Tjangala and Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi (exhibited at)
  • Sao Paulo Biennale (exhibited at)
  • The Past and Present of the Australian Aborigine (exhibited at)