Charlie Mutju Egalie Tjapaltjarri

Wallaby Dreaming in the Sandhills at Tjunti

1977

Wallaby Dreaming in the Sandhills at Tjunti was painted in 1977 and was purchased immediatley by Geoffrey Bardon. It was reproduced in his book Aboriginal Art of the Western Desert published in 1979, which was the first significant monograph on the art of Papunya Tula.

A Wallaby Spirit Being is making a journey across a sandhill country, east of Yuendumu, and his path is shown by his tracks as he moves from one waterhole (concentric circles) to another. The sandhills are indicated by bands of dotting across the painting; various kinds of bush tucker and grass and sand are shown between the sandhills.

GEOFFREY BARDON

Language Groups: Warlpiri and Luritja
Dates: c. 1935-2002

Charlie Mutju Egalie Tjapaltjarri was born at Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs) before it was made into a homestead site for the Mount Doreen station. He worked as a stockman at Haasts Bluff for 7 years and then in Queensland. He married Nora Nakamarra and worked at the Narwietooma station before they moved to Papunya and had two sons and two daughters. He was among the last to join the original artists of Papunya, painting from 1972 until the end of the 1990s. Egalie always worked within the conventions of Western Desert paintings, aligning with tradition and precedent. His works show the Woman, Sugar Ant, Bushfire, Wallaby, Bushfire, Bush Tucker, and Man Dreamings for which he was a custodian. In the 1980s, his daughter, Natalie Corby, began painting under her father’s guidance. She was one of the first young women to begin painting in her own right. In 1985, the National Gallery of Victoria hosted the first survey of the Papunya Tula Artists where Charlie represented the artists and met with Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

Biographical information sourced from Vivien Johnson, Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists. Alice Springs: IAD Press, 2008.

CHARLIE MUTJU EGALIE TJAPALTJARRI, Wallaby Dreaming in the Sandhills at Tjunti, 1977

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas board. 19 9/16 × 19 5/8 in. (49.69 × 49.85 cm). Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Gift of John W. Kluge and Maria T. Kluge, 2008. 2008.0003.003.

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