Ronnie Tjampitjinpa | 1943-2023 - Bush Fire Dreaming

Price: $35,000

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Ronnie Tjampitjinpa:

c.1943 – Present (Indigenous Australian)
Language Group: Pintupi
Country: Muyinnga, near Kintore, Western Desert, Northern Territory

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa: Master of Minimalism, Custodian of the Desert Law

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa is a senior Pintupi man and one of the founding figures of the contemporary Western Desert art movement. Born around 1943 at Muyinnga, west of the Kintore Range in the Western Desert of Central Australia, he grew up living a traditional, nomadic lifestyle before relocating to the Haasts Bluff settlement and later to Papunya in the early 1950s.

Ronnie began painting in the early 1970s, shortly after the establishment of the Papunya Tula Artists cooperative, and became one of its youngest contributors. As a custodian of important Dreaming stories connected to his father’s and grandfather’s Country — including Kangaroo Dreaming, Fire Dreaming, and Water Dreaming sites — Ronnie paints with a deep ceremonial authority and cultural responsibility.

His early works were characterised by intricate interlocking motifs and symbols, but over time, Ronnie developed a bold, reductive visual language that came to define his mature style. His canvases are renowned for their formal clarity, strong geometric compositions, and restrained palette — a style that aligns with the desert minimalism pioneered by Pintupi artists. These works map out ceremonial sites, journeys, and the ancestral forces that shape the land, rendered with a sense of rhythm and purpose that speaks directly to the viewer.

Over five decades, Ronnie’s contribution to Aboriginal art has been profound. His paintings have been exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, and his influence helped shape the direction of Papunya Tula painting in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He remains a key figure in the transmission of Pintupi law, culture, and identity through visual expression.

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa’s work is held in all major public collections in Australia and has featured in landmark exhibitions that trace the evolution of desert painting. His standing as both artist and elder places him among the most important voices in Australian art history.

Major Collections Holding Ronnie Tjampitjinpa’s Work:

• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

• Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin

• Artbank, Australia

• Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, University of Virginia, USA

• Fondation Opale, Switzerland

• Numerous private and corporate collections across Australia, Europe, and North America