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Kathleen Petyarre circa 1940 - Present Day

Style
Indigenous

Career Status
Blue Chip

Biography
Kathleen Petyarre was born circa 1940, at the remote location of Atnangkere, an important water soakage for Aboriginal people on the western boundary of Utopia Station, 150 miles north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Kathleen belongs to the Alyawarre / Eastern Anmatyerre clan and speaks Eastern Anmatyerre, with English as her second language. Kathleen, with her daughter Margaret and her sister's, settled at Mosquito Bore, on Utopia Station near her birthplace. Kathleen now spends part of the yearat her residence in Adelaide. Kathleen's mother and seven sisters have managed to hold onto their land near Utopia Station as a group, establishing a camp at Atneftyeye Boundary Bore. Kathleen was one of the key Anmatyerre women involved in the successful claim for the freehold title, which led to the 1979 formal hand-over of the Utopia pastoral lease back to its traditional owners. Kathleen's inherited Dreaming stories from her father and mother are Mountain Devil Lizard, or Thorny Devil Lizard (Arnkerrthe), Women Hunting Emu, and Dingo (Atnangkerre) and all of her paintings directly refer to these "Dreamings" and the associated country around Utopia in the eastern central desert of Australia.

Collections
H. M. Queen Elizabeth 11National Gallery of Australia.The Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth.
The Museum & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, S.A. Australia
The Kluge-Rhue Collection, University of West Virginia, VA, USA.
Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles, CA The Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle.A.T.S.I.C. Collection, Adelaide, S.A. Australia. National Gallery of Victoria.
Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
University of South Australia Art Museum.Riddoch Regional Art Gallery, Mount Gambier, S.A. Australia.
Edith Cowan University, Perth, W.A. Australia.
Collection de Musee des Arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie, Paris, France.
Peabody - Essex Anthropology and Ethnology Museum, Harvard University,Salem, Mass., USA. Prints & Wood-blocks
The National Gallery of Australia.
Museum & Art Galleries of the NT, Darwin.The Robert Holmes a Court Collection, WA, Australia.
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, USA. 1997
The Art Gallery of Western Australian, Perth, WA, Australia.

Commissions
1997 The John McCaughey Memorial Art Prize Collections
H. M. Queen Elizabeth II
National Gallery of Australia
The Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth.
The Museum & Art Galleries of the NT Darwin.Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, S.A. Australia
The Kluge-Rhue Collection, University of West Virginia, VA, USA.
Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles, CA The Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle.A.T.S.I.C. Collection, Adelaide, S.A. Australia. National Gallery of Victoria.
Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
University of South Australia Art Museum.Riddoch Regional Art Gallery, Mount Gambier, S.A. Australia.
Edith Cowan University, Perth, W.A. Australia.
Collection de Musee des Arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie, Paris, France.
Peabody - Essex Anthropology and Ethnology Museum, Harvard University,Salem, Mass., USA. Prints & Wood-blocks
The National Gallery of Australia.
Museum & Art Galleries of the NT, Darwin.The Robert Holmes a Court Collection, WA, Australia.
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, USA. 1997 The Art Gallery of Western Australian, Perth, WA, Australia.

Artist-in-Residence
1997 Art Gallery of South Australia, Desert Artists-in-Residence, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, January.
1997 Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud Bali, Indonesia, June. Solo Exhibitions1996 "Kathleen Petyarre - Storm in Aknangkerre Country" Alcaston House Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.,Australia.
1998 Arnkerrthe - My Dreaming, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, Vic Australia, 24 July - 15 August.
1999 Recent Paintings by Kathleen Petyarre, Coo-ee Gallery, Mary Place, Sydney, NSW., Australia, 4-21 November.
2000 Landscape: Truth and Beauty,Recent Paintings by Kathleen Petyarre, Alcaston Gallery, November l 6th-December 6th
2000 Kathleen Petyarre, Retrospective Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW., 9th May - 22nd July.
2001 Genius of Place. The work ofKathleen Petyarre. Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW., Australia ,May - 22nd July.

Auction Record
Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming 2008 $96,000
Synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen, inscribed verso: GAKP1108537/ KATHLEEN PETYARRE, 184 x 245 cm, Est: $80,000-100,000, Lawson~Menzies, Sydney, 25/03/2009, Lot No. 139

Awards
1996 Joint Second Prize, Open Award Category - The Third National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Heritage Commission Art Award, Canberra, ACT. Australia.
1996 Overall Winner of the Telstra 13th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin, NT Australia.
1997 Overall Winner of the Visy Board Art Prize, the Barossa Vintage Festival Art Show, Nurioopta, SA. Australia.
1998 Finalist, 1998 Seppelts Contemporary Art Award - Visual Art Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW Australia.
1998 Winner, People's Choice Award, 1998 Seppelts Contemporary Art Award, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW., Australia.

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