Year Of Birth

1920

Year Of Death

2008

Biography

Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri was one of the senior figures of the Western Desert art movement, celebrated for his powerful depictions of the ancestral narratives and landscapes of the Ngaanyatjarra lands in remote Western Australia. Born in the country surrounding Kiwirrkurra, he lived a traditional nomadic life before sustained contact with European society in the 1960s. Deeply respected as a senior lawman and custodian of important Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) stories, Tjapaltjarri brought an exceptional cultural authority to his paintings, which translate sacred knowledge into dynamic fields of colour, rhythm and symbolism. His works often depict significant waterholes, travelling routes and ceremonial sites associated with ancestral beings, expressed through intricate dotting and bold, luminous compositions that evoke both the physical and spiritual dimensions of Country.