Old Walter Tjampitjinpa

(circa 1912-1980)

Untitled, 1972

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Painting 173 in consignment 19 to the Stuart Art Centre, Alice Springs (cat. 19173)
Collection of Margaret Carnegie AO, Melbourne
thence by descent
Private collection, Sydney

Early in 1971, Papunya schoolteacher Geoffrey Bardon made the acquaintance of a small group of painters and carvers in the old settlement office, several of whom would go on to become founding members of the Western Desert Art Movement. Amongst them was Old Walter Tjamptjinpa, accompanied by Mick Wallangkari Tjakamarra, Tutuma Tjapangati and Don Ellis Tjapanangka: 'it was here that Bardon witnessed the creation of painted 'archetypes' or 'cultural depictions'".1

One of the first Pintupi to leave their homeland in the 1920s and settle in Papunya, Old Walter was a respected senior figure in the community. He was an integral contributor to the design of the celebrated Honey Ant Mural on the Papunya school walls in 1971. His works were amongst those included in the first consignment to the Stuart Art Centre in Alice Springs. est known for his Water Dreamings, Old Walter also painted several other important ceremonial sites throughout the Western Desert such as Possum Men Dreaming rockhole and the Two Women Dreaming soakage site of Kampurrarrpa (Mount Russell).2

The work offered here was painted in the second half of 1972 in the period between Bardon's departure and Peter Fannin's arrival at Papunya and was included in the 19th consignment to the Stuart Art Centre. As John Kean describes, 'Consignment 19 contains many treasures, it was a period of great expressiveness, without any external oversight'.3

1. Luke Scholes (ed), Tjungunutja: From Having Come Together, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, 2017, p. 129
2. Judith Ryan and Philip Batty, Origins of Western Desert Art: Tjukurrtjanu, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2011, p. 115
3. John Kean (personal correspondence)