Tjumpo Tjapanangka

Warlayirti Artists (Balgo cat #659/00)

Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

Private collection, Melbourne

Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne (SLG Stock No: 7748)

Private Collection, Sydney

This painting is sold with a scanned copy of the Warlayirti Artists certificate which states in part:

"This painting depicts part of an important story for both Tjumpo and the Balgo area. This story is that of the Wati Kutjarra, literally, two men. These two ancestral brothers started their journey west of Balgo, near Mongrel Downs Station in the Tanami Desert, before travelling through the Balgo area, then heading south, on their Tjukurrpa journey. This painting shows the two brothers stopped at a place called Wootja, located far to the south of Balgo, in The Great Sandy Desert. This is important country for Tjumpo, a senior custodian for the land around Lake Mackay, or Wilkinkarra. The brothers are shown here, camping at Wootja, sleeping on either side of their fire."

Cf. For a closely related painting in the collection of Steve Martin and Anne Stringfield, USA, see John Carty, Balgo, Creating Country, Perth, 2021, p. 240