Ronnie Tjampitjinpa | 1943-2023 - Bush Fire Dreaming
Acrylic on linen
140 x 200 cm
Provenance:
Catalogue Number: RT-140×200-IAGO88-ASB39
Art Index, Sydney
Private Collection, Bowral, acquired from above in 2012.
Acrylic on linen
140 x 200 cm
Provenance:
Catalogue Number: RT-140×200-IAGO88-ASB39
Art Index, Sydney
Private Collection, Bowral, acquired from above in 2012.
Acrylic on linen
140 x 200 cm
Provenance:
Catalogue Number: RT-140×200-IAGO88-ASB39
Art Index, Sydney
Private Collection, Bowral, acquired from above in 2012.
Price: $35,000
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Ronnie Tjampitjinpa (c. 1943 – June 2023) was born at Tjiturrunya, Western Australia, and grew up in Papunya after his family relocated due to drought in the 1950s. Papunya, a government experiment in forced assimilation, was a challenging place to live, fueling his and other Pintupi people's desire to return to their homelands. In the early 1970s, Ronnie became one of the first Pintupi men to take up painting, playing a key role in the Western Desert art movement. His bold, geometric style explored themes of water dreaming, bushfire dreaming, and the Tingari cycle—sacred ancestral stories whose meanings remain partially hidden from the uninitiated. He exhibited for the first time in 1974, held his first solo show in 1989, and moved to Kintore in the 1980s, fulfilling his lifelong dream of returning home.
A winner of the 1988 Alice Springs Art Prize and a finalist in numerous prestigious awards, Ronnie became one of the most collectable Aboriginal artists, with works held in over 30 major collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Musée du quai Branly (Paris), and the Seattle Art Museum. In 2015, the Art Gallery of New South Wales honored his 40-year career with a survey exhibition. Until his passing in June 2023, he lived with his wife, Mary Brown Napangardi, in the remote Pintupi community of Kintore. Revered as the 'King of Kintore,' Ronnie remains a towering figure in Aboriginal art.