Walangkura Napanangka (c.1946 - 2014)

UNTITLED, 1996

synthetic polymer paint on linen
bears inscription verso: artist's name, size and Papunya Tula Artists cat. WN0603107

106.0 x 91.5 cm

Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs
Chapman Gallery, Canberra
The Alan Boxer Collection, Canberra
Mossgreen Auctions, Melbourne, 17 March 2015, lot 170
Private collection, New South Wales

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula that states: ‘This painting depicts designs associated with the lake site of Tjukurla, near where the community now stands in Western Australia. The roundels in this work represent the rockholes at this site. The lines represent the surrounding sandhills and the arc shapes depict the nearby rocky outcrops. During mythological times a group of ancestral women, represented by the ‘U’ shapes, gathered at this site to perform the dances and sing the songs associated with the area. While at Tjukurla the women spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts) which are worn during ceremonies. The women also gathered large quantities of the edible fruit known as pura, (also known in Pintupi as pintalypa) or bush tomato from the small shrub Solanum chippendalei. This fruit is the size of a small apricot, and after the seeds have been removed, can be stored for long periods by halving the fruit and skewering them onto a stick. The small circles in this work depict the pura collected by the women. Upon completion of the ceremonies the women continued their travels north toward the rockhole site of Illpilli and then onto a site near Nyirrpi.’

CONDITION REPORT:

This work is in excellent, stable and original condition.