Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula

One of the paintings that I saw in the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs was Tingari Men at Tjikari, by Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula. He was one of the original artists at Papunya and became one of the first aboriginal artists whose art sold at auction for figures around $ 200,000, though he lived and died in poverty.

You'll find plenty on the web about Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula. I found a website that shows some of the paintings, though I have to warn you it also shows the artist himself, who died in 2001. The Aboriginals don't show pictures of the dead, at least that was the way in Uluru, where pictures of artists or national park administrators who had died were covered over. But it shows some good pictures of his paintings, which is why I decided to provide the link here. I hope this doesn't upset his family.

Here is a link to an interesting article about Aboriginal art, its origins in indigenous traditions, how it developed, and some of the main artists.