WARLIMPIRRNGA TJAPALTJARRI (past sold lots…

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https://www.newsteadart.com.au/artists/warlimpirrnga-tjapaltjarri

https://gagosian.com/artists/warlimpirrnga-tjapaltjarri

https://www.artnet.com/artists/warlimpirrnga-tjapaltjarri

Born: c.1950; Australia
Nationality: Australian
Art Movement: Native Art
Painting School: Papunya Tula
Field: painting
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlimpirrnga_

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (Pintupi ; born late 1950s) is an Australian Aboriginal artist. He is one of central Australia’s most well-known indigenous artists.

Tjapaltjarri was born in the late 1950s, near Lake Mackay, east of where Kiwirrkurra is today. His family were Pintupi hunter-gatherers who lived a traditional nomadic way of life on the western side of the lake, and had never come into contact with Euro-Australian society. Tjapaltjarri’s father died when he was a young boy, and his mother remarried shortly after. Tjapaltjarri himself married his cousin, Yalti, sometime around 1980. He served the family’s main provider of food, hunting with spears, mirru (spear-throwers) and boomerangs.

In 1984, when Tjapaltjarri was about 25, he finally came into contact people from outside his family. Upon seeing a white man for the first time, Tjapaltjarri remembers, “I couldn’t believe it. I thought he was a devil, a bad spirit. He was the colour of clouds at sunrise.” A few days later, he and his family were settled at Kiwirrkurra. News of this group living nomadically so far into the modern world made headlines internationally.

Tjapaltjarri started painting in 1987, working with Papunya Tula. Initially practising under the tutelage of other artists at the company, he finished his first painting for them in April 1987. His first public exhibition was in Melbourne, the following year. It showed eleven of his paintings, all of which were bought for the National Gallery of Victoria. He has since become one of central Australia’s most well-known artists.

Tjapaltjarri paints abstract images of sacred stories and songs from his family’s Dreaming. The stories focus around the Tingari, the ancestors of the Pintupi, spirit beings who are believed to have created all living things. His stories are about his country and sacred sites such as Marruwa and Kanapilya.

His work is held in several major public collections across Australia, such as in the National Gallery in Canberra, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the National Gallery of Victoria. He also has work in galleries overseas, such as the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia. In 2012, his work was shown as part of the documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany. As of 2008, the most one of his paintings has sold for is A$85,000.

In September 2016, one of his paintings sold for 167,000 pounds at Sotheby’s in London, and in October 2016, he had his first solo exhibition in the United States, at the Salon 94 gallery in New York City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlimpirrnga_Tjapaltjarri

Artwork prices for internationally acclaimed Pintupi artist Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri generally range from $12,000 to over $70,000 AUD for standard gallery pieces, depending heavily on the size, complexity, and year of the canvas. Major international secondary market pieces and massive canvases can fetch much higher figures. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Gallery Retail Price Breakdown

Small to Medium Works (approx. 90 x 60 cm or narrow panels): $12,500 – $16,000 AUD

Large Masterworks (approx. 90 x 120 cm up to 120 x 180 cm): $30,000 – $70,000+ AUD

Current Retail Availability: You can explore active secondary market and primary gallery listings via curated spaces such as Kate Owen Gallery, Art Mob, and Mitchell Fine Art Gallery. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Factors Influencing the Cost

Provenance & International Prominence: As a member of the famed “Pintupi Nine” and a participant in major global exhibitions like dOCUMENTA (13), his international demand from high-profile collectors drives strong valuations. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Aesthetic Detail: His mesmerizing, precise optical line work representing sacred Tingari cycles requires intense intricate labor, scaling the price up with dimensions. [1]

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List of all 38 artworks by Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri

February 17, 2026