CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI, Possum Dreaming, 1977

CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI Anmatyerre language, c.1932 - 2002 Possum Dreaming, 1977 acrylic on masonite 46 x 31 cm; 47 x 32 cm (framed) bears inscription verso: CP771149 PROVENANCE Papunya Tula Artists, Northern Territory, Cat No. CP771149 Private Collection, United States of America Private Collection, Victoria Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists Painted in 1977, this board belongs to the formative years of the Papunya Tula movement, when artists working at Papunya were translating ceremonial knowledge into portable, painted form on Masonite offcuts. Boards from this period are now recognized as foundational documents of contemporary Aboriginal art, and examples by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, whose name is inseparable from the Anmatyerre country of Napperby and from the Possum Dreaming, hold a particular place within that history. The early date, the modest support and the direct economy of the composition position this work firmly within that founding moment, before the larger canvases of the 1980s reshaped the movement's scale and market. The painting relates to the Possum Dreaming near Mount Allen Station, north-west of Alice Springs. A large group of possum ancestors camped at this site, which is represented by the central roundel. While in the area, the ancestors searched ceaselessly for food, and their movements are inscribed across the surface as sinuous lines, made by their tails dragging in the sand. The background dots represent the berries and grains that sustained them, so that the ground of the painting becomes a record of the country's provisions as well as of the ancestors' passage. The composition holds a stable centre against a field of continuous movement, a structure that reads as camp and journey at once. © CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI / Copyright Agency, 2026

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