Eileen Napaltjarri Anyama was born in 1956 at Haasts Bluff. Her father was Charlie Tararu Tjungurrayi, who was a founding artist of the early Desert Art movement at Papunya. Charlie Tararu had a strong reputation for his innovative art works, as did Eileen’s mother, Tatali Nangala, who was a prolific painter. Eileen is the niece of Narputta Nangala and cousin of Daisy Napaltjarri, both significant artists of Ikuntji Artists. Eileen was married to senior Kintore artist Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa.
Eileen paints stories from her father’s ancestral country at Tjitjurrulnga (also known as Titjurrulpa rockhole), which is located west of Kintore.
Eileen originally moved from Haasts Bluff to Kintore in the early 1980s, travelling there with her family when the new outstation was first established. Eileen Napaltjarri spent time watching her parents as they worked on their paintings. Then after her mother died in 1999, Eileen set about painting those stories that had been passed down to her.
Writer Nicolas Rothwell described her work as “rhythmically abstract paintings”, in a 2006 Papunya Tula exhibition in Alice Springs, that “have become the newest sign of the inventiveness of Kintore women.”
She now lives by herself in Kintore where she paints occasionally. From time to time she visits her family in Haasts Buff where she paints at Ikuntji Artists.
Eileen has consolidated her reputation as one of the most important second generation Aboriginal artists of the Western Desert movement.
Eileen Napaltjarri is represented in major collections including in Australian National Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW and Artbank Collection. Japingka Gallery curated a solo exhibition of EileenNapaltjarri’s paintings in 2008. Napaltjarri won the “emerging artist” category of the Redlands Westpac Art Prize in 2005. In 2006, journalist and writer Nicolas Rothwell named her as the successor to Papunya Tula’s most significant founding women: Makinti Napanangka, Wintjiya Napaltjarri and Tjunkiya Napaltjarri. Australian Art Collector magazine, in its annual survey of Australian art, included Napaltjarri in its 50 Most Collectable Artists for 2008.
Selected collections:
Art Gallery Of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
Artbank
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Eileen Anyama Napaltjarri painting – Courtesy of Ikuntji Artists, Photo Chrischona Schmidt
Top image: Eileen Anyama Napaltjarri – Artist Portrait – Courtesy Ikuntji Artists – Photo Tobias Titz