Rosie Tasman Napurrurla Art for Sale and Sold Prices

b. 1937 -

Rosie Tasman Napurrurla
Country/Region: Australia

Rosie was born at Pawarla, north of the Granites area in the Tanami Desert. She has ancestral rights over the wampana (wallaby), janganpa (possum), ngurlu (seed) and kulukuku (bush pigeon) Dreamings, which were passed from her father, Wayipurlungu.

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Tasman’s traditional country, Miya Miya and Pawarla and the Dreamings associated with these particular sites, provide the inspiration and imagery for her distinctive paintings. She says that painting provides her with a happy way in which to make her culture strong.

Rosie Napurrurla Tasman was first introduced to the medium of acrylic paint in 1986 when the first works from Lajamanu were created for a public audience. Since then, painting has played a fundamental role in the ritual and ceremonial life of her family. Both of her siblings, Teddy Japurrurla Morrison and Molly Napurrurla Tasman are establised artists in the Lajamanu community, and her daughter Denise Napangardi Robertson is one of the younger generation of Warlpiri artists.

Tasman’s work alternates between intricate dotted circular motifs and bold gestural brush strokes. Her palette oscillates from traditional ochre colours to a freer application of bright yellows, reds and blues. In her janganpa (possum) Dreaming, she employs a technique of a white monochrome background to enhance the kuruwarri (ancestral designs) of the janganpa ancestor and his travels across the country. Her ngurlu (seed) Dreamings employ a technique where the iconography of the seed is mirrored in a background circular pattern of dots. This reinforces the essential elements of the seed Dreaming.

Subjects and Themes

Seed, kalajirri

Collections

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Donald Kahn Collection, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Unwin Collection, Adelaide Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, Darwin NT

EXHIBITIONS

Group exhibitions

1986 People, Place, Art, Hilton International Hotel, Adelaide, SA

1987 Lajamanu Community Exhibition, Warlpiri Art from the North Tanami, Lajamanu, NT

1989 A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne, Vic

Design Warehouse Sydney, NSW [through Lauraine Diggins Fine Art]

1990 Paint Up Big: Warlpiri Women’s Art of Lajamanu, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic

Lajamanu Dreamings, Technical and Further Education College, Darwin, NT

1991 Ngurra Mala, les lieux du Reve, Ecole des beaux-arts, Grenoble, France

Lajamanu Dreamings 2, Technical and Further Education College,Darwin, NT

Aboriginal Art, Australian Embassy, Washington, USA

Peintures du desert australien, Douarnenez, France

Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu, Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris

Lajamanu Warlpiri Artists from Warnayaka, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Sydney, NSW

1992 Maintaining the Dreaming, University of Wollongong Long Gallery in Association with Coo-ee Aboriginal Art

1993 The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

1994 Yapakurlangu Wirrkardu, Batchelor College, Tennant Creek, NT

1996 The Rainbow Serpent, Vaucluse, NSW

Galerie Kouwanhoven, DELFT, The Netherlands

1997 Indigenart, Perth, WA

Batchelor College, Darwin, NT

Gallery Artis, Boschveld 471, De Bosch, The Netherlands

Innenseite Projektgruppe Stofwechsel, Kassel, Germany

Innenseite Projektgruppe Stofwechsel, Gottingen, Germany

Goteborgs Konstforenong, Goteborg, Sweden

Dreamings Aboriginal Kunst uit Australie, Eusebiuskerk, Amhem, The Netherlands

BOSS WOMEN, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, Vic

1998 Culture Store, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Dreamings, Vlaams-Europeesch, Conterentoentrum, Brussles, Belgium

Dreamings, Spazio Pitte Arte, Florence, Italy

The Hagure Unites the Nations, Grote Kerk, The Hague, The Netherlands

Warnayaka Warlpin, Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin, NT

Robert Steele Gallery, New York, USA

2000 Lajamanu Warlpiri Artists, Yuwayi Gallery, Sydney, NSW in Association with Coo-ee Aboriginal Art

Lajamanu, Japingka Gallery, Fremanle,WA

2001 Warlpiri Artists from Lajamanu, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA

Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA

Allison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne, Vic

2002 New Works from Lajamanu, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Sydney, NSW

Bibliography

Diggins, L. (ed.), 1989, A Myriad of Aboriginal Dreaming: Twentieth Century Art, exhib. cat., Malakoff Fine Art Press, North Caulfield, Victoria

Glowczewski, B., 1991, Yapa: Peintres Aborigenes de Balgo et Lajamanu, Lebon Gallery, Paris

Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, New South Wales (C)

Ryan, J., 1990, Paint Up Big: Warlpiri Women’s Art of Lajamanu, Craftsman Press