Clifford possum tjapaltjarri biography of william

Australian Aboriginal artist (1932–2002)

Clifford Possum TjapaltjarriAO (1932 – 21 June 2002) was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists.

His paintings are held in galleries and collections in Australia and elsewhere, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia, the Kelton Foundation and the Royal Collection.

Life and painting

Possum's father was Tjatjiti Tjungurrayai and his mother was Long Rose Nangala.

After his father's death in the 1940s his mother married Gwoya Jungarai, better known as One Pound Jimmy, whose image was used on a well known Australian postage stamp. His brother was Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, whose artwork appeared on another stamp.^[1] His older brother Cassidy Possum Tjapaltjarri was a traditionalist who barely gone outside of the Yuelamu community and was one of the most respected elders till his passi