Lily Kelly Napangardi facts for kids

Lily Kelly Napangardi (born around 1948) is a famous Aboriginal Australian artist. She comes from a place called Watiyawanu in the Northern Territory of Australia. Her paintings show the beautiful land where she lives.

About Lily Kelly Napangardi

Lily was born near Haasts Bluff in Australia's Northern Territory. When she was younger, she lived in a settlement called Papunya. Later, she moved to Watiyawanu, also known as Mount Liebig. This area is about 325 kilometers west of Alice Springs. She moved there with her husband, Norman Kelly, who was also an artist.

Lily Kelly Napangardi is a respected elder in her community. She is a "senior law woman." This means she helps look after important cultural stories. These stories are part of the Women's Dreamtime from a place called Kunajarrayi.

Her Artistic Journey

Lily Kelly Napangardi started painting in the early 1980s. Her talent was quickly noticed. In 1986, she won the Northern Territory Art Award. This award was for excellence in Aboriginal painting. She was also a finalist in a major art award in 2003. This was the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

In 2006, a magazine called Australian Art Collector named her. They said she was one of Australia's 50 most collected artists. This shows how popular and important her art had become.

Her Unique Painting Style

Lily's paintings show her "country." This means the land and places she knows well. She often paints the sand hills, called Tali, around Mount Liebig. Her paintings usually have white dots on a black background. Sometimes she uses red or yellow dots instead of white.

Her dot paintings create an amazing effect. They look almost three-dimensional, like they have depth and space. Some of her rarer works use two colors, usually white and red, on a black background. Today, Lily Kelly Napangardi's art is seen as very new and exciting. It is highly wanted by museums and private collectors all over the world.

You might sometimes see her name spelled "Lilly" with two L's. However, the artist signs her work as "LILY Kelly" with one L.

Where Her Art Is Found

Lily Kelly Napangardi's paintings are in many important collections. These include museums and private collections around the world. Her art can be seen in places like:

• Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France
• The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA
• The Thomas Vroom Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Groninger Museum, The Netherlands
• The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
• The Kerry Stokes Collection
• The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
• Artbank, Sydney
• The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY, USA