Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula
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Artist Profile · Western Desert
Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula
Pintupi painter and longest-serving chairman of Papunya Tula, famed for his austere Straightening Spears.
Lived
c. 1943 – 2001
Language group
Pintupi
Born
Near Ikuntji (Haasts Bluff), NT
Also spelled
Turkey Tolsen, Tjupurrulla
From stockman to chairman
Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula was born around 1943 near Ikuntji (Haasts Bluff), west of Alice Springs. He worked as a stockman on the Haasts Bluff cattle station and later as a labourer at Papunya.
He was one of the youngest of the original shareholders of Papunya Tula Artists, and first appears in the company’s records as a painter in 1973. In 1979 he was artist-in-residence at Flinders University in South Australia. As part of the younger generation who took over the company in the 1980s, he served as chairman from 1985 to 1995, the longest term in its history. He died in Alice Springs in 2001.
His work
Turkey’s early paintings use the classic Papunya language: concentric circles for camps, waterholes and caves, U shapes for people, straight lines for digging sticks, and dots for spinifex and sandhills. Among them are paintings of Kampurrarrpa, a women’s ceremonial site, and of the Two Women at Putja rockhole.
He is best known for his Straightening Spears paintings, which show the Tingari men straightening their spears for an epic battle. Built from rows of straight parallel lines, these austere works helped bring a minimalist abstraction to Western Desert painting.
Tingari
Two Women Dreaming
Kampurrarrpa
Minimalism
Highlights
- 1973 – First recorded as a painter with Papunya Tula Artists
- 1979 – Artist-in-residence, Flinders University, Adelaide
- 1985–1995 – Chairman of Papunya Tula Artists
- 1993 – Straightening Spears at Ilingawurrngawurrnga, now in the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, USA
- Collections include the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Museum of Australia
Related artists
Turkey’s half-sister Mitjili Napurrula became one of the stars of the Haasts Bluff art movement.
Buying Turkey’s work
For authenticated paintings with provenance, buy through Papunya Tula Artists, a recognised gallery or an established auction house, and always ask for a certificate of authenticity.
Paintings by Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula on eBay
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