A large and striking aboriginal painting by celebrated Australian artist Yannima Tommy Watson (1935s-2017; Pitjantjatjara people from Australia’s central western desert). Stretched and ready to display (no frame).
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Year of Creation: 2013
Title: Wati Kutjara
An important aboriginal dreamtime story from the Western Australia (the song line is also known as Two Men Dreaming), the narrative is about two young lizard-men travelling all over the Western Desert. They covered a vast landscape from Kimberley in the north to Southern Australia. The two brothers often took the form of wind and left songs in their epic journey to enlighten the people they encountered with rituals and knowledge. As magical ancestral beings, they destroyed evil spirits and created sacred objects across all over the Western Dessert.
Provenance:
Agathon Galleries, Melbourne 2013
Art Yarramunua, Melbourne (accompanied by a certificate of authenticity)
Private Collection, Melbourne 2017
About the artist (courtesy of Kate Owen and Japingka Gallery)
Yannima Tommy Watson was a celebrated Pitjantjatara artist, born around 1935 in the desert west of Irrunytju in Western Australia. Tommy was a Law man of Karima skin group, and his traditional names were Yannima and Pikarli relate to specific sites near his birthplace at Anumarapiti, west of Irrunytju.
As a young man Tommy learned the bush skills of hunting and gathering, living off the land. In these years his physical and spiritual knowledge of the land was deeply embedded in his life.
Tommy Watson first met white people at Ernabella Mission in the 1940s. He then spent decades working as a stockman and laborer on cattle stations. Not until 2001 when he was in his mid 60s, did Tommy Watson pick up a paint brush and painted his first picture at Irrunytju art center established by a small group of artists.
Watson’s work became quickly recognized for his powerful use of colors and his mesmerizing creation of energetic movement. He exhibited in Alice Springs at Desert Mob and as a finalist at the Telstra NATSIAA Art Awards in Darwin. With his work becoming highly collectable, Tommy soon entered into an exclusive representation agreement with Jon Ioannou of Agathon Gallery. This arrangement marked the start of a second phase of Tommy’s career and saw the creation of a large body of outstanding artworks which were to further propel Tommy into the upper echelons of Australian indigenous artists. This painting was created toward the end of that phase.
In 2005, Tommy was commissioned, along with Ningura Napurrula, Lena Nyadbi, Michael Riley, Judy Watson, John Mawurndjul, Paddy Bedford and Gulumbu Yunupingu, to produce an artwork to be permanently installed in the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris, France.
After suffering from ill health, Tommy left Agathon Gallery in 2013 and returned with his family to Alice Springs where he quickly struck up a relationship with Chris Simon of Yanda Art. This relationship heralded the start of the third and final phase of Tommy’s painting career.
Regaining his health, Tommy embarked on an amazing productive burst. This new phase was announced to the world by an article in The Australian newspaper in September 2013. Exhibitions in Australia and internationally followed as did a second book, this one authored by Ken McGregor and Dr Marie Geissler, about Tommy’s life and his art. Tommy’s art is also featured in his own art hotel in Adelaide, named The Watson.
After suffering from gradually declining health, Tommy passed away in late 2017.
Book: Yannima Pikarli Tommy Watson published in 2010 by Ken McGregor (Author), Marie Geissler (Author), Flore Gregorini (Translator)
Collections
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Musee du Quai Branly, Paris
Laverty Collection
Stokes Collection
Corrigan Collection

Dimensions:

Height: 46 in (116.84 cm)Width: 78 in (198.12 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Style:

Modern(Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:

CanvasHand-Painted
Place of Origin:

Australia
Period:

2010-
Date of Manufacture:

2013
Condition:

GoodWear consistent with age and use. Fine condition, Stretched not framed as shown.
Seller Location:

Atlanta, GA
Reference Number:

Seller: LU945039674652