CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI

Commissioned by Hinton Lowe and painted at MBUNGHARA (50 kilometres east of Papunya) in 1983
The Holmes à Court Collection, Heytesbury
Sotheby's, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 30 June, 1997, lot 56
Private collection

Johnson, V., The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Gordon and Breach International, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994, p.94, pl.35 illus

The painting is in good and stable overall condition and there is no visible repairs or restoration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Cf. For earlier paintings on the theme of the two Tjampitjinpa brothers and the Fire Dreaming see Lungkata's Two Sons at Warlugulong, 1976, in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Warlugulong, 1977, in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia in Johnson, V., Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2003, pp.87 and 94-95 respectively, and the latter in Sotheby's, Important Aboriginal Art, 24 July 2007, lot 114, illus; Bushfire Dreaming, 1982, in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, and Warlugulong, 1976, in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, in Johnson, V., The Art of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Gordon and Breach Arts International, Sydney, 1994, p.94, plate 33, and pp.52-3, plate 15, respectively, illus

The painting describes a part of the first section of the great Fire Dreaming represented to its full extent in Warlugulong, 1977, where two brothers of the Tjampitjinpa skin group are punished by their father, Lungkata, the Blue-Tongue Lizard, for not sharing their catch of kangaroo. Lungkata sets fire to the country and the flames pursue the young men to Kerrinyarra (Mt Wedge) where they are overcome by the flames. The painting shows the brothers' footprints as they flee the fire, as well as the tracks of the Wallaby and Possum ancestors whose Dreaming paths the young men crossed. The landscape is rendered as a patchwork of red and yellow clusters representing fire and spinifex, respectively, surrounded by areas of black and grey  representing the burnt earth and smoke. The patchwork composition of this painting contrasts with the composition in Warlugulong, 1977 where the areas of smoke and ash are separate from the depiction of the land and the vegetation. According to Vivien Johnson the artist used the patchwork composition, which was to become a feature of several later works, for the first time in Story of two brothers (Tjampitjinpa),1983 (Johnson 1994, p.94)