Thomas Tjapaltjarri

Thomas Tjapaltjarri painted the Tingari cycle, the ancestral beings of the Pintupi who travelled the desert performing rituals, passing on law, shaping landforms and establishing ceremonial sites. The deeper meanings of these paintings are restricted to the initiated. He was one of the Pintupi group, sometimes called the Last Nomads, who had no contact with Western society until they walked out of the desert, and he began painting within a few years.

Thomas and his brother Walala Tjapaltjarri, both since passed, were among the Pintupi Nine, who walked out of the Gibson Desert in 1984. Browse available Thomas Tjapaltjarri paintings below, or see The Last Nomads collection for works by both brothers.