Rover Thomas facts for kids

Rover Thomas Joolama (born around 1926 – died April 11, 1998), known as Rover Thomas, was an important Aboriginal Australian artist. He belonged to the Wangkajunga and Kukatja people. His paintings often told stories from his culture and history.

Early Life and Inspiration

Rover Thomas was born in 1926 near Gunawaggii. This place is located at Well 33 on the Canning Stock Route in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia. When he was about 10 years old, Thomas and his family moved to the Kimberley region. There, he started working as a stockman, which was common for young men at that time. Later in his life, Thomas lived in a place called Turkey Creek.

A special event inspired Rover Thomas to start painting. In 1977, he had a dream or vision after the terrible Cyclone Tracy hit. He believed his deceased kinship mother visited him. He saw this as a warning that Indigenous cultural practices should not be forgotten.

This experience led him and his uncle, Paddy Jaminji, to create painted dance boards. They used pieces of old tea chests for a ceremony called Krill Krill. The ceremony included dances and songs. The painted boards showed the journey of the woman's spirit after she died near Derby. Her spirit traveled back to her birthplace near Turkey Creek. Thomas later painted about Cyclone Tracy again. This painting is now in the National Gallery of Australia.

The East Kimberley Art Style

In the early 1980s, Rover Thomas began painting with ochre on canvas. Ochre is a natural earth pigment. He quickly became a leading artist in a new style. This style later became known as the East Kimberley School of art.

One of his famous series of paintings showed places where massacres happened. These were events from the Australian frontier wars in the Kimberley. Important works from this series include 'Bedford Downs Massacre' and 'Camp at Mistake Creek'. A curator from the National Gallery of Victoria said his works were both history paintings and landscape paintings. They showed real events that were remembered through oral stories. At the same time, they were beautiful artworks with amazing shapes and colors.

Rover Thomas inspired many other artists from the East Kimberley region. These artists included Queenie Mckenzie, Freddie Timms, and Paddy Bedford.

Art Exhibitions

Rover Thomas had a major solo exhibition in 1994. It was called Roads Cross: The Paintings of Rover Thomas. This show was held at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

In 2000, some of Thomas's artworks were shown in Russia. They were part of an exhibition at the famous Hermitage Museum in the Nicholas Hall. The exhibition featured eight Indigenous Australian artists. Russian art critics really liked the show. One critic wrote that it was "contemporary art" in a very special way. They felt that only Aboriginal artists could show such art at the Hermitage.

Awards and Recognition

In 1990, Rover Thomas won the John McCaughey Prize. This award was given by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Also in 1990, he made history. He became the first Aboriginal Australian artist to show his work at the Venice Biennale. This is a very important international art exhibition. He exhibited there alongside another artist named Trevor Nickolls.

Art Collections

Rover Thomas's artwork is held in many major art collections. These include:

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
• Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
• Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia
• Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, WA
• The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

See also

• Indigenous Australian art