Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula facts for kids

Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula (1925 – 12 February 2001) was an important Australian painter. His artwork has been admired and collected by many since the late 1960s. His paintings often show the beauty of water and how it changes the land. Many people feel his art stands out from other Aboriginal artists. His works are found in famous galleries and collections around the world. These include the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Life Story of Johnny Warangkula

Johnny Warangkula was a member of the Pintupi people. He spoke a language from the Western Desert. When he was young, his family moved because of a big drought in the 1920s. They settled near Haasts Bluff in the early 1930s. This area was close to a place where Lutheran missionaries gave out food.

Many different Aboriginal groups lived together at Haasts Bluff. Later, a new settlement was built at Papunya in 1954. This was because there was enough water there, and Haasts Bluff was getting too crowded.

His Role as a Storyteller and Artist

Early in his life, Johnny Warangkula became a respected leader. He was known as a law man, a storyteller, and a painter. He was also believed to be a "rainmaker." His main ancestral site was Kalipinypa, a waterhole in the sandhills. This place was about 400 kilometers west of Alice Springs.

Warangkula believed his artistic talent came from an ancestor named Winpa, the Lightning Boss. Winpa was said to have sung up a storm from Kalipinypa. This storm created a series of waterholes, marking a special path called a "songline." A songline is like a map in Aboriginal culture. It connects places through stories, songs, and art. Johnny Warangkula learned these songs and stories when he was young.

The Start of a New Art Movement

In 1971, Johnny Warangkula helped paint the famous Honey Ant murals. These murals were on a school at Papunya. This event is seen as the beginning of the modern Western Desert art movement. This movement opened up new ways for Aboriginal artists to share their culture. Sadly, these murals were painted over in 1974 by a local official.

His Art and Its Value

In 1972, Johnny Warangkula sold a painting called "Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa" for less than $150. Many years later, in 1997, the same painting was sold at a famous Sotheby's auction. It sold for a record-breaking $206,000 to a buyer from California. This was much more than its expected price of $50,000 to $80,000.

After this sale, news stories sometimes showed Warangkula as an artist who was struggling financially. People felt it was unfair that he didn't get much money from the resale of his early work. However, he was actually living comfortably in his later years. In 2000, "Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa" was sold again for an even higher price.

Johnny Warangkula's Painting Style

Johnny Warangkula's early paintings at Papunya helped develop the use of acrylic paint. He created rhythmic dotted patterns in his art. These dots connected to traditional ceremonial decorations and showed plants in the desert. This link between dots and plant life became a well-known style. Many other desert artists now use this way of painting.

His Lasting Impact

Even as his eyesight began to fail around 1997, Warangkula kept painting. He created hundreds more artworks. Many of these later paintings were bought by art dealers. Some people in the art market didn't like these later works as much. They thought they were not as refined as his earlier pieces.

However, his best early works and some successful later paintings are displayed in galleries worldwide. Throughout his thirty-year career, he was a unique artist. He was known for wearing a stockman's hat and charming everyone he met. He seemed less interested in money and more focused on his "Dreamings." These Dreamings are ancient stories and beliefs that inspired his art. His paintings gave viewers a glimpse into this ancient knowledge.

Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula passed away at his home in Alice Springs on 12 February 2001.

Personal Life

In the last ten years of his life, Johnny Warangkula lived with his second wife, Gladys Napanangka, in Papunya. He had two sons and six daughters from this marriage. He also had two daughters from an earlier marriage.

Major Art Collections Featuring His Work

• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
• National Museum of Australia, Canberra, ACT
• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
• Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
• Queensland Art Gallery
• Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, WA
• Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, VA, USA
• Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
• Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA
• Alice Springs Law Courts, NT
• Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, NSW

See also

• Art of Australia