One of Australia's "Grand Old Masters" of aboriginal art from Arnhem Land




George Milpurrurru



George Milpurrurru

Other names: George Nulumba, Milpurru, Milburru, Milbururu, 

Born: 			1934
Died:			1998
Community Centre:    	Ramingining  Central Arnhem Land
Outstation/ Country: 	Ngalyindi

COLLECTIONS:

Artbank, Sydney. 
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. 
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. 
Australian Museum, Sydney. 
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Queensland. 
Milingimbi Collection, MECA, Milingimbi Educational and Cultural Association. 
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 
Museum of Contemporary Art, Ramingining Collection, Sydney. 
Museum of Mankind, British Museum, London. 
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. 
National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney. 
National Museum of Australia, Canberra. 
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra. 
South Australian Museum, Adelaide. 
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth.


EXHIBITIONS:

1985, Aboriginal Artists Gallery, Sydney. 
1993, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 
1993, Hogarth Gallery, Paddington, NSW 
1993, Desert Designs, Fairmont WA GROUP EXHIBITIONS: 
1975, Australian Bark Painting, from the collection of Dr. Edward L. 
	Ruhe, Meadow Brook Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA 
1979, Traditions and Innovations, National Assembly Building, Darwin 
1979, European Dialogue, Sydney Biennale 
1982, Aboriginal Art at the Top, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern 
	Territory, Darwin. 1983, Artists of Arnhem Land, Canberra School of Arts 
1983, Mulgurrum Exhibition George Paton Gallery, Melbourne 
1983, Arnhem Land Art, Perc Tucker Gallery, Townsville 
1983, NAIDOC Week Ramingining Exhibition, Campbelltown, NSW 
1984, Objects and Representations from Ramingining, Power Gallery of 
	Contemporary Art [Now the Museum of Contemporary Art], Sydney 
1984, Aboriginal Art, an Exhibition Presented by the Australian Institute 
	of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra 
1985, National Aboriginal Week Exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney 
1985, Ramingining Art Exhibition, Nerang Gallery, Gold Coast, Qld 
1986, Central Arnhem Land Art, National Gallery of Victoria 
1986, Origins, Originality + Beyond, Bienalle of Sydney 
1986, The Third National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery 
	of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1986, Ramingining Art, Dreamtime Gallery, Perth 
1986, Ramingining Art, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, NT 
1986, My Country, My Story, My Painting: Recent Paintings by Twelve Arnhem Land 
	Artists, National Gallery of Australia exhibition at the Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra.
1987, Australia: Art & Aboriginality, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK 
1987, Ramingining Art, The Centre Gallery, Gold Coast, Qld 
1987, Ramingining Art, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW 
1987, Ramingining Art, Birukmarri Gallery, Freemantle, WA 
1987, Dalkuna mnunuwuy nhe rom, Foreign Exchange, Armadale, Victoria 
1988, Beneath the Southern Cross, Bienalle of Sydney 
1988, The Aboriginal Memorial, Sydney Biennale, Pier One, now on permanent 
	display, National Gallery of Australia 
1988, The Inspired Dream, Queensland Art Gallery, toured S/E Asia 
1989, Aboriginal Art: The Continuing Tradition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 
1989, Recent Works from Ramingining and Maningrida, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Paddington, NSW 1989, Masterpiece Fine Art Gallery, Hobart. 
1989, Ramingining/Yuendumu, Friends of the Earth Gallery, Melbourne 
1989, Ramingining Art, Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra 
1989, Ramingining Art, Shades of Ochre Gallery, Darwin 
1989, On the Edge: Five Contemporary Aboriginal Artists, Art Gallery of 
	Western Australia, Perth 
1989, The Sixth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art 
	Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin 
1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, Westpac Gallery, 
	Melbourne; Design Warehouse Sydney [through Lauraine Diggins Fine Art] 
1990, l'ete Australien a' Montpellier, Musee Fabre Gallery, Montpellier, France. 
1990, Spirit in Land, Bark Paintings from Arnhem Land, National Gallery of Victoria 
1990, Ramingining/Bathurst Island, The Centre Arts, Adelaide Arts Festival 
1990, Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs 
1990, Painted Ship, Painted Oceans, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney. 
1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art 199S from Australia, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, 
	and toured UK 
1990, Keepers of the Secrets, Aboriginal Art from Arnhernland, Art Gallery 
	of Western Australia, Perth. 
1991, Ramingining and Fiona Foley, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 
1991, Selection from the John Kluge Collection: Painting Their Land, 24 Hour Art, 
	Contemporary Art Space, Darwin 
1991, Art from the Arafura Swamp, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs 
1991, Ramingining Art, Birukmarri Gallery, Freemantle, WA 
1992, Crossroads-Towards a New Reality, Aboriginal Art from Australia, National 
	Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo. 
1992/3, New Tracks Old Land: An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal 
	Australia, touring USA and Australia 
1993, The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery 
	of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 
1993, Prints by Ramingining Artists, Hogarth Gallery, Paddington, NSW. 
1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria 
1994, Art of the Rainbow Snake, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

AWARDS\GRANTS\COMMISSIONS:
 
J. J. Kluge: "Painting their Land" Commission U.S.A. 1990/91 
1993, Australia Post, Dreamings series, for International Year for 
the World's International People, Goose Egg Hunt, 1981, reproduced 
on 85 c. postage stamp



SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Aboriginal Arts Board, 1976, Art of the First Australians, Australia Council, Sydney 
Aboriginal Arts Management Association, 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art 
1990 - from Australia (presented by the Aboriginal Arts Committee, Australia 
Council and Third Eye Centre, Glasgow), exhib. cat., Redfern, New South 
Wales. (C) - Crossman, S. and Barou, J-P. (eds), 1990, L'ete Australien a 
Montpellier: 100 Chefs d'Oevre de la Peinture Australienne, Musee Fabre, 
Montpellier, France. (C) - Caruana, W., 1987, Australian Aboriginal Art, a 
Souvenir Book of Aboriginal Art in the Australian National Gallery, Australian 
National Gallery, Parkes, Australian Capital Territory. (C) - Caruana, W. (ed.), 
1989, Windows on the Dreaming, Ellsyd Press, Sydney. (C) - Caruana, W., 
1993, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London. (C) - Chanin, E., 1990, 
(ed.), Contemporary Australian Painting, Craftsman House, Roseville, NSW, 
Australia - Cook, P. and Altman, J. (eds), 1982, Aboriginal Art at the Top: a 
Regional Exhibition, exhib. cat., Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Maningrida, 
Northern Territory. (C) - Diggins, L. (ed.), 1989, A Myriad of Dreaming: 
Twentieth Century Aboriginal Art, exhib. cat., Malakoff Fine Art Press, North 
Caulfield, Victoria. - Groger-Wurm, H., 1973, Australian Aboriginal Paintings 
and their Mythological Interpretation, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 
Canberra. (C) Hill, M., and McLeod, N.,1984, From the Ochres of Mungo, 
Aboriginal Art Today, Dorr McLeod Publishing, West Heidleberg, Victoria. (C) 
- Isaacs, J., 1984, Australia's Living Heritage, Arts of the Dreaming, Lansdowne 
Press, Sydney. (C) - Isaacs, J., 1989, Australian Aboriginal Paintings, Weldon
Publishing, New South Wales. - Johnson, V., 1987, Art and Aboriginality. 
exhib. cat. Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK - Milpurrurru, G., & Getjpula, G., et
al, The Art of George Milpurrurru, exhib. cat., Australian National Gallery, 
Canberra - O'Ferrall, M., 1990, Keepers of the Secrets, Aboriginal Art from 
Arnhemland in the Collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art 
Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. (C) - Reser, J., 1977, 'The dwelling as motif 
in Aboriginal bark painting.' In Ucko, P. (ed.), Form in Indigenous Art, 
Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. Reser, J., 1993, 'The land is 
living,' Art Monthly Australia 62, 20-21. (C) - Ruhe, E. L., 1975, Australian 
bark painting, from the collection of Dr. Edward L. Ruhe, exhib. cat. Meadow 
Brook Art Gallery, Michigan, USA. - Ryan, J., 1990, Spirit in Land, exhib. cat.,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. - Tweedie, P., 1985, This My Country, 
A View of Arnhem Land, William Collins Pty Ltd, Sydney. - Watson, C., 1987, 
Dalkuna Mnunuwuy Nhe Rom, exhib. cat., Foreign Exchange, Armadale, 
Victoria. - Tweedie, P. and Scollay, C., 1979, 'Art of the Aboriginal,' Panorama: 
the Journal of Ansett Airlines Australia 21 (2), 1,4. (C) - 1992, 'Aboriginal Art', 
National Gallery News, 10th Birthday edition, September/October 1992, p. 5-7. 
- Douglas, M. and Oldmeadow, D., 1972, Across the Top, Rigby Ltd, Adelaide. 
(C) FILMS: - Here's My Hand a Testimony to an Aboriginal Memorial (d: 
Michael Edols and Mark Gold) 1988. (C) - 1993, Bulabula Artists, Cecile 
Babiole and Bulabula Arts, for European distribution


FOR SALE



Flying Fox Dreaming

Cat No. A2495
Size 153 x 102 cm
Natural ochres on Arches Rives paper



FLYING FOX DREAMING

In the Dreamtime, Ngulmarmar, an Ancestral Being, went walking with his dog Gurlgaragoar. When they came to the Glyde River near Ramingining, they found a rocky plateau. The dog sniffed around and became very excited, realising that there was something in the cave below. He thrust his hard penis through the rock and urinated, forming a pool in the ground of the cave.

The man and his dog went down a steep track into the cave, and when he saw the pool, Ngulmarmar declared it to be sacred, so that only old initiated men could drink from it. The artist said that he knew of one young man who drank from the pool, and subsequently died. Flying foxes (warrnyu) were flying around the cave and hanging upside down from the ceiling. Droppings from the flying foxes littered the floor and ledges of the cave, and Ngulmarmar declared both the flying foxes and their droppings were to be sacred totems of the Gurrumba Gurrumba Clan.

The dog ran around the cave barking to chase the flying foxes away, then he and Ngulmarmar went outside. Enticed by the smell of cooking, they set off towards the source. They came to a camp, where Ngulmarmar sat down to eat with his friend. The dog Gurlgaragoar met a female dog and the pair travelled towards the Arafura Sea, where they went into the water. They still live there today and Aborigines crossing from the island of Milingimbi to Ramingining say that they are sometimes chased by the dog sea monsters.

The flying foxes flew away and circled over the Arafura Swamp, finally settling hanging upside down from trees growing along the banks. They were the first creatures to cut the penises of their young males and the circumcision ceremonies performed on young boys today is accompanied by a repetition of the songs sung by the flying foxes as they initiated the original ceremony.

(Story courtesy of Dorothy Bennett)



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